Getting Personal

For everyone who is waiting for a sequel to Dark Days, it's coming, I promise. I have my Beta (sticksrogue11) helping me with it right now & so yall should get something soon. I have a bit of a writer's block where that story is concerned right now. And for yall who were wondering, I did get in touch with Burgosdamasco & it's cool with her for me to write Dark Days & its (untitled) sequel. If you desperately want to know about the sequel, go to my live journal.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/jessakitty

Chapter 1 Watching

“Good game,” a voice came from behind Ginny.

She finished placing her broom in the broom shed and then turned around to face Draco Malfoy. She expected a sneer, or a comment about Ron's goal keeping or Harry's flying ability, but there was none. His narrow face was blank and expressionless.

“You're good.” Where most people would have been smiling, Malfoy's lips didn't even begin to curve upward. As Ginny tried to figure out what he wanted, she wondered if his not smiling was the equivalent of a normal person's smile. She couldn't recall a single time when she had seen him smile because something good had happened; usually he smiled because something bad happened.

“Thanks,” she said cautiously, trying to sidestep him.

He stayed still, blocking her way for several moments longer and then turned on her heel and walked off.

What was that all about? She brushed her loose red hairs out of her face and stared at Malfoy's shrinking back. He had been hanging around a little more than usual lately, but she had thought nothing of it. Ron was convinced that he was spying on Harry for his father, but Hermione told him he was being ridiculous.

“He's not a total moron, you know,” Hermione scolded Ron. “If he wanted to spy he'd be a bit more subtle about it.”

Ginny had learned a long time ago that when Hermione and Ron disagreed, she was almost always right, where he was almost always wrong.

“Then what's he doing?” Ron demanded. “He's up to something.”

Hermione just shrugged. “It doesn't really matter. He's not going to find out anything important just by sulking around.”

“I'd like to hex him good next time I see him sulking around,” Ron retorted sullenly.

“Honestly Ron,” she had told him, shoving her Transfiguration book aside. “Maybe you should make a bit of effort. Dumbledore has reminded us countless times that we need to focus on uniting ourselves.”

This time even Harry joined in. “Hermione, you're smart about almost everything, but this may just be one thing you don't understand.”

Ginny had laughed silently to herself as Hermione glared at the two boys and then went back to her homework, refusing to help them for the rest of the evening.

Ginny felt the evening wind pick up around her and suddenly realized she was still standing on the Quidditch field, with Malfoy long gone. Quickly, she pushed the door to the broom shed closed and darted towards the castle.

By the time Ginny crawled through the Gryffindor portrait hall, the celebration party was in full swing.

“What took you so long?” Harry yelled over the noise, tossing her a bottle of warm butterbeer.

She shook her head and quickly opened the bottle.

“You were amazing Ginny,” a blond second year, Euan Abercrombie told her.

Quickly she was surrounded by her fellow housemates.

“You probably got the record for most scores made at Hogwarts,” Neville told her enthusiastically.

“I think you do,” Hermione added thoughtfully. “It says in Hogwarts, A History that the most goal's scored by a Hogwarts Chaser in a single game was 21. You scored 23.”

Ginny just laughed, the passion in the room erasing the memories of her encounter with Malfoy. “Well, it wouldn't have been quite so amazing if Ron hadn't of kept the Ravenclaws from scoring any points at all!”

It wasn't until well after 2am, when McGonagall came in for the 3^rd time to tell them to get to bed that Ginny recalled what had been nagging at the bottom of her stomach. Malfoy. She refused to let her mind analyze him; instead, she relived the evening's game over and over until she fell asleep.

The week passed by smoothly, until Quidditch practice on Thursday night. “What is he doing here?” Harry muttered as she flew by.

Ginny quickly wrenched her head over her shoulder and saw down at the edge of the field, Draco Malfoy, sitting alone on a stone bench. What is he doing? Ginny narrowed her eyes against the dimming sunlight. He was staring straight at her and holding a book or a tablet or -

“Weasley!”

She looked forward just in time to avoid slamming into Katie.

“Keep your mind on the game, not on any distractions!” Katie shouted.

“Sorry Captain,” she called back, scanning the field for the Quaffle, determined not to let Malfoy distract her.

He was still sitting there when Katie ended practice. “What do you say we get him now?” Ron asked Harry in a low voice. “There's no one to stop us.”

Harry chuckled as they placed their brooms in the shed. “No time. We've got to finish Potion's homework.”

They were half way to the castle when Harry suddenly stopped. “I'll be right back. I left my Quidditch goggles lying back there.”

“Hurry,” Ron warned. “Snape wants 24 inches of parchment.”

“I'll go get them,” Ginny offered suddenly. “I've finished most of my homework.”

“Thanks,” Harry said, looking relieved and squeezing her arm.

“If Malfoy is still there, hex him good,” Ron suggested.

Ginny doubled back and hurried across the now dark field. It only took her a few moments to find Harry's flying goggles, but as she leaned down to retrieve them, the uncomfortable, prickling feeling that she wasn't alone washed over her. Slowly and deliberately, she slid them into her pocket and firmly grasped her wand that was hidden inside. Dumbledore and the other professors had given them countless warnings not to be alone or vulnerable outdoors, since He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the Death Eaters were back in full force. She felt her heart beating wildly in her throat and tried to calm herself by walking carefully back towards the lighted castle.

Ginny was only several feet away from the entrance tunnel when a figure stepped out of the shadows. “Aren't you afraid to be alone after dark?”

She sucked in a quick breath and fixed her eyes on Malfoy's tall form. “Aren't you?”

“No. Not really. Somehow I think the danger doesn't really apply to me.” His pink colored mouth remained parted and Ginny suddenly wondered what it would be like to kiss it, to have Draco's lips pressed into her own.

“Well aren't you lucky,” she snapped, trying to clear her head.

He just shrugged.

“What are you doing out here?”

“Watching.” His tone was infuriatingly calm.

“Watching?”

“You practice.”

She narrowed her eyes and was about to leave when she noticed the leather bound book in Malfoy's hand. “What's that?”

“My book.”

“Can I see it?” Ginny asked, surprising herself.

Malfoy's pale eyebrows shot up. “What's in it for me?”

She shook her head and looked at him in disgust. “Forget it.” Without warning, she felt her insides shake loose. Her run in with Tom Riddle during her first year had changed her somehow, and she was just now realizing it. Why she had to find herself continually attracted to unattainable, irresistible, trouble magnet type of boys she hadn't known until right then. She suddenly became aware that the way her stomach twisted when she saw Malfoy wasn't because she hated him.

“Come on Weasley. Tell me.” The corners of his lips were twisted and a smirk filled his eyes, but it wasn't the angry or cruel glint Ginny was used to.

“What do you want?” she asked, sounding braver than she felt.

Time froze as the space between her and Malfoy decreased. He was only inches away and her heart was banging wildly against her ribcage when he shoved his book in her hands. She managed to tear her eyes away from him and looked down. Carefully she undid the leather strap that held the book shut. She could feel his gaze burning into her skull as she opened the book. Her own face stared out at her from the pages. Meticulously drawn in charcoal was her exactly likeness. In some, parts of her face were hidden behind her hair and she appeared to be much older and far sexier than she really was.

“You did these?” she asked finally. “Why?”

He nodded and took back the book, offering no explanation. “Time to pay up.”

The space between them closed, and Ginny felt all the air being sucked out of her lungs as Draco pressed his lips against hers. The kiss was soft and perfect for a few seconds and then grew harder. His teeth raked against her lips, and then they were biting, clamping her lip down painfully.

“Better go to bed,” he said softly when they parted. “There could be lots of bad things out here.”

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“Ginny! Ginny, come here!” Hermione's voice cut through the quiet of the common room.

“What's wrong?” Ginny asked as she and her study partners, Zoë Pierceton, Bianca Duncan, Colin Creevey, and Michelle Blocks, all looked up.

“Hurry!” Hermione grabbed Ginny's arm. “Come on!”

Ginny stumbled behind her as Hermione pulled them up to the dorms. “Are you okay?”

“Oh Ginny,” she gasped for breath, “I had to find you before anyone else did. Harry and Malfoy got in a huge fight during Hagrid's class today!”

“So? They've gotten in plenty of fights before.”

“No! Listen! It was a real fight. They were rolling on the ground, just like Muggles!”

“Why?” Ginny frowned, unsure why she had been dragged away from her studies. She had skipped dinner just to study since her O.W.L.s were creeping closer, and Hermione knew how important the O.W.L.s were.

“Well, Malfoy was insulting Hagrid like he always does, but today Harry told him to shut his fat mouth or he was going to do it permanently, and Malfoy said that would be too bad because it would disappoint the youngest Weasley.”

Ginny felt the blood leak out of her face. “No he did not.”

Hermione nodded. “It shocked Harry. He looked at Malfoy and then called him a liar and Malfoy said he wasn't lying, that Harry could ask you, and then Harry jumped on him.”

Ginny bit her bottom lip. “Did Ron hear?”

Hermione's mouth fell open. “Ginny! Harry blew up because he though Malfoy was lying!”

“Did Ron hear?”

“Well, no. I mean, he saw the fight of course, but I just told him they were arguing. I can't believe this.” Hermione shook her head furiously. “His father is a Death Eater! His father is helping You Know Who try to kill Harry!”

“I never said I did kiss him.”

“Well, did you?”

“It was one kiss,” she defended herself. “And it was more than a month ago, so it's not like there is anything going on. Besides, I kissed Draco, not his father.”

“What is your family going to say?”

“Hermione! It was a kiss! We didn't elope. They're not going to know, so calm down!”

“And what are you going to say when Harry asks?” she demanded.

“I'm going to roll my eyes and say `Really Harry, why would you believe Malfoy?' and hopefully, you're not going to say anything either!”

Hermione stopped pacing the room and sat down on the trunk at the foot of Ginny's bed. “You know, Harry loves you. You're like his sister. This really upset him.”

“Great,” Ginny rolled her eyes. “Just what I've always wanted. Another brother.”

“Ginny!”

“Well!”

“Did you want Harry to like you as more than family?” Hermione asked carefully.

“No. I used to, but not any more.”

“Sometimes I think he does,” she told Ginny softly.

Ginny raised one eyebrow sharply. “You could have fooled me.”

“You know, after that mess last year with Cho . . .”

“I really need to go study,” Ginny said finally.

“Right,” Hermione answered, staring blankly out the window. “And I won't say anything to Harry.”

“Thanks,” Ginny answered heading down the stairs.

Ginny managed to avoid being alone with Harry for over a week, and Malfoy seemed to have the same thing in mind; he refused to even look at Ginny. She had all but given up on telling him off, when he sauntered up to her table in the library and said in a low voice, “Can I talk to you, Weasley?”

Ginny ignored the high eyebrows and open mouthed stares from Luna, Colin, Zoë Huckerstein, and Bianca Duncan - all who had, of course, heard about Harry and Draco's fight - and followed him out into the hall. Her mind was turning angrily with nasty things to say, but her stomach was as loose and quivery as if she had swallowed the bowl of snakes they had studied with in Transfiguration. “What?” she managed to snap.

“Are you going to the dance with me?” he asked her, his blond hair falling into his eyes.

“What?” Ginny asked again, this time confused.

“The Yule Ball. It's in two weeks.” His eyes looked like they were laughing at her but his face remained hard and blank.

“Sure, I'll go.”

Something that resembled a smile tried to carve its way onto Malfoy's lips. “Good.” Then he leaned forward and kissed her directly above her left eye.

When he left, Ginny slumped against the wall and rubbed her temples. What was she going to tell Harry and Ron and Hermione when they found out about this? And what was Malfoy's problem? How could he ignore her, kiss her, ignore her again, and then ask her to the dance? She took a deep breath and tried to recall if she had seen Malfoy with any girl's recently. She could think of none. She stood up and sucked in another mouthful of air. You need to study, she told herself firmly.

“Hey Ginny. There you are.”

Her heart sank down to her toes as Harry called to her.

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Alright, I do promise that the chapters after this are going to be a bit longer, and just a note to all you darlings who ship H/Hr, **don't kill me now, I know what I'm doing**!!!!

Thanks a bunch to everyone who reviewed. I love reviews!

CHAPTER 3 Telling Lies

“Hey,” Ginny greeted Harry.

He skidded to a stop in front of her. “You studying?”

“Uh-huh. Just needed some fresh air,” she lied.

“Right,” he said, distractedly. “How's that coming.”

“Good, I guess. I've just been studying the hardest in the subjects I'm good at. The ones I'll really need when I leave here.”

“Uh-huh.” He looked around the hall, as if making sure they were alone. “I've been wanting to ask you this, but I haven't had the chance.”
She prepared herself for another lie. Why does he have to even ask me about Malfoy? Shouldn't he trust me enough to automatically assume Draco's lying?

“Do you have a date for the dance?”

Ginny's eyes widened. “The dance?”

“You know, the Yule Ball.”

“Oh, right.” She was immediately relieved.

“Uh, do you?”

“Um, I do, actually. I'm sorry.”

Harry nodded quickly, and looked as if he couldn't decide whether to be disappointed or relieved. “Okay then.”

“I thought you would be going with Teraysa Topkins.” The fourth year girl had been hanging all over Harry and he didn't seem to mind one bit.

“Oh, well, um, I hadn't planned on it, but . . .”

Ginny could tell he was lying. The only reason he had asked her to the dance was for information about Malfoy. “Thanks for asking, though.” There was an awkward silence. “I better go back.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Hey Ginny?”

She turned around slowly. “Hm?”

“There's not anything . . . I mean, you haven't . . . well, Malfoy was saying that-”

“I know,” she interrupted, shaking her head and praying he wouldn't ask anymore questions.

“He was lying right?”

“There's nothing between me and Malfoy.” Her face was burning and she could only focus on the hem of her robe. She was positive that the small kiss Draco had planted on her forehead was standing out now, visible like her own personal scarlet letter.

“Nothing?” Harry's voice was growing louder.

She was a miserable liar.

“As in nothing, at this very moment, or nothing in general?”

“I have to go study, Harry.”

“No! Wait!” He grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. “I need to know.”

“No, you don't.”

“Ginny!”

“Let go of me please.”

“I'm sorry,” he pleaded, loosening his grasp on her arm, but not letting go. “Tell me.”

“I don't see how it's any of your business what I do,” she snapped crossly.

“I got a week of detention with Filch for fighting with him because I thought he was lying!” he sputtered. “I had to clean the loos without magic!”

“I'm sorry, but Harry, a kiss is nothing,” Ginny explained with faux patience. “Like you've never kissed someone who meant nothing to you.”

Harry looked taken back and she was instantly sorry she had taken such a cheap shot. No matter what he said now, he probably had actually liked Cho when he kissed her.

“I have to go study.” She yanked herself out of his grasp and darted back into the library.

“Ginny wait!”

Instantly every pair of eyes in the library was fixed on her. She nearly dove into her seat and ignored the looks of her classmates.

“Ginny!” Harry's voice called out again.

“Out, out, out!” Madam Pince shrieked, making her way to the table with a murderous look in her eyes. “I do not have time for a lover's spat!”

“I'm sorry,” Ginny stammered. “It's not-”

“Out!” she demanded, pointed towards the door.

Ginny scooped her books and parchment into her bag, and stomped out the door her face flaming. “Thanks a lot,” she hissed as they entered the hall.

“I just wanted to talk to you,” Harry sputtered. “I didn't mean to get you kicked out.”

“I was studying for my O.W.L.s!”

“Where are you going?”

“I guess I'll go eat now,” she snapped. “Since I can't study!”

“Hey!” Harry grabbed hold of her arm and stopped her mid-stride.

“Harry let go of me,” Ginny commanded. “I don't want to talk to you right now!”

“Ginny,” his voice dropped several notches, “I'm just worried about you. He's evil.”

“You sound like Ron,” she muttered, attempting to pry his fingers off her wrists.

“Come on, I mean, have you two ever even talked before?”

“It's none of your business!” she exploded. “Why do you even care? Why are you suddenly so interested in me? If I want to go to the dance with him I will! You can't stop me!”

“You're going to the dance with him?”

“Let go!”

Harry's grip on her wrists suddenly tighten. “He's got you under the controlling curse, doesn't he?”

“Now you really sound like Ron,” she shouted, shaking her arms and even kicking at him.

“Look at you,” Harry said slowly, his eyes wide. “This isn't you.”

“You don't even know me!” she exploded. “You know Ron! I am not Ron. You have no idea about me!”

“But,” he sputtered, “but I do! I have spent time with your family, I got you out of that Chamber-”

“Yeah, yeah,” she growled. “I am not exactly my family. I was eleven when you got me out of there. That's not who I am. I'm not the little girl you can keep saving. I don't need to be saved!”

Harry pulled her closer. “I think I should take you to Madam Pomfrey. No, Dumbledore. He'll know what to do.”

“Nothing is wrong with me! Now let go of me. You're hurting me!”

The doors of the Great Hall swung open. “Let go of her Potter.”

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I would like to take this moment to thank all my . . . wait, wrong speech. Really, due to um, overwhelming response, I will not be pausing this story to work on Starting Over, which is of course, the sequel to Dark Days. I have decided to for go any type of social life and dedicate myself to Harry Potter fan fics. Particularly, those having to do with Draco and Ginny. Okay, not really, but since I don't have much (or any) of a social life, I will keep working on both stories. Cut me some slack though, I do have a 3 year old daughter! And seriously, thanks to all yall who reviewed. Kisses!

CHAPTER 4 Confusion

Ginny guessed that by the furious look on Malfoy's face, he had been standing there quite a while.

Harry just stared at him, unsure of what to do.

“Let. Go.” He jabbed his wand into Harry's forehead. “Now.”

Harry dropped Ginny's wrists and shot her a disgusted look, then turned and walked off.

Ginny rubbed her wrists and glanced up at Draco, unsure of what to say. “Thanks,” she told him finally.

A group of Slytherin's poured from the Great Hall, directly behind Malfoy just as he opened his mouth to speak. But as he heard their voices behind him, he let his eyes slide slowly down from her face all the way to her worn black and red trainers poking out from beneath her robes, back up, and then turned on his heel and left, a sneer curling across his lips.

Ginny nearly threw her hands up in disgust as she stomped into the Great Hall. What kind of person asked you to the dance, rescued you, and then walked off without even asking how you were doing? Of course, Draco Malfoy would never ever wear ratty, worn trainers, even if they were the most comfortable shoes ever. No, he always wore his shined dress shoes and even on the weekends, when they weren't required to wear the Hogwarts uniform, he wore his immaculately pressed trousers and dress shirts. Draco would never wear the Muggle type denim pants with holes in them that she and Ron, Harry and Hermione all wore. That would just be beneath a Malfoy! Ginny was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she didn't even realize until she took a long drink of her Pumpkin Juice, that she was sitting directly across from Ron and Hermione and they were staring. Ginny didn't even make an attempt to cover up her audible groan.

“Harry was looking for you,” Ron said cheerfully.

“I know,” she snapped.

“He was?” Hermione asked, her eyebrows knitting together. “What did he want?”

Ginny chose to ignore the both of them and shoveled a spoon of potatoes into her mouth instead.

“He was going to ask her to the ball,” Ron said, looking confused.

“What?” Hermione asked, her voice rising. “Did he?”

Ginny nodded and swallowed. “Yeah.”

There was a brief silence.

“Well?” Ron prompted.

“I already have a date.”

Hermione's eyes widened.

“With who?” her brother demanded.

Ginny closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. Why did life suddenly have to get so completely and totally confusing? She had spent nearly three years adoring Harry, and even though it was probably just a crush, he had decided to show interest when she decided to get over him. The worst part was she had no idea what she really wanted. True, everything about Draco Malfoy was incredibly intriguing and appealing, but with him, she could never be sure, and Harry was, well, now he was just Harry. It might, she considered, but fun to kiss him just once or twice and see what that was like, but-

“Well?” Ron was still staring at her.

“Why don't you ask Harry?” she said sourly.

“I thought you liked Harry.”

“Oh Ron,” Hermione sighed. “That was years ago.”

“It was not,” he protested. “It was, well . . . I thought you still did.”

“Did you put him up to this?” Ginny demanded.

“No,” he shook his head, his face turning bright red. “It was his idea.”

“If you wanted information, you could have just asked me!”

“Right,” he mumbled. “I'm sure you'd be telling me the truth!”

“And you thought I'd tell Harry?”

“I thought you liked him.”

Ginny slammed her fork back down on the table. “Well I'm going to see if Madam Pince will let me back in the library since Harry got me thrown out.”

“Harry did?” Ron asked, his confusion growing.

Ginny stood and left the room, still unsure why she was so angry. Maybe I should just go to the ball with Neville. That would be less dramatic. Ginny walked, lost in thought, until she found herself on the seventh floor. It was eerily silent and cold up there with all the unused classrooms. She smiled to herself, recalling the time she had spent up here last year, practicing with the D.A.

“Recalling memories, Weasley?” a low voice behind her asked. “Remembering how I caught you last year?”

Ginny turned around to face Malfoy. “Not exactly.”

“Then what?”

She shrugged. “I was going back to the library, and . . .”

“The library's not up here.”

“I know! I was just thinking. What are you doing up here?”

“Following you,” he said simply.

For a brief moment, Ginny allowed her eyes to drink in his pale hair and eyes, the perfect shape of his pink lips, and let her eyes slide down his robes. “What do you want?”

“Why do you keep asking me that?” he demanded, his eyes locking into hers.

“You're not exactly trustworthy,” she told him, leaning against the wall.

“Maybe I'm a different person,” he answered, stepping closer.

“Maybe. But maybe not.”

“I guess there's nothing to do but wait and find out, is there?” He was so close to Ginny, she could see individual silvery eyelashes and feel his warm breath against her cheek. He reached up and slip the straps of her back pack off her shoulders. It fell to the floor with a dull thunk, and his lips grazed the tops of hers. Once, twice, and then a third time they washed over her mouth, then Draco dropped his forehead to her shoulder. Ginny stared down at the top of his head, unsure of what to do next, and trying to banish the ridiculously timed thought that she was ever so glad he had stopped gelling his hair straight back.

“So I'll meet you downstairs at 7?” he asked, speaking directly to her chest.

“Huh?” she asked, confused.

“The dance, Weasley! The dance,” he snapped, lifting his head. “It's this Saturday.”

“Oh. Right. That's fine.”

“I'll see you then.” He removed his hands from her hips and turned away, leaving her staring at his delicious retreating form.

***

“I think it's a good thing,” Hermione told her that night, after she had crept back into bed.

“You do?” Ginny asked, disbelieving. She had been waiting for the explosion. When she entered the common room both Harry and Ron were glaring at her.

“Well, yes. Remember the song the Sorting Hat sang last year? And this year? It said we'll only be strong if we unite. I know Harry and Ron can't see it now, but if Malfoy is really interested in you, it could be a good thing.”

“He could only be interested in me because he is Malfoy and he can't think of anything better to do to make Ron and Harry furious.”

Hermione bit her lower lip and nodded. “That's true. They are angry. What do you think?”

“I don't know,” Ginny sighed, tying her red hair up behind her. “I have no idea.”

“Well, I guess the ball will be a good time for you to find out more.”

Ginny groaned and buried her face in her pillow. “I'm not going.”

“Why not?” she demanded.

“Have you seen my dress robes? They're horrible.”

“What's wrong with them?” Hermione asked.

“They're not as bad as Ron's old ones, but they have a couple holes in the seam, plus they're too short. Remember Draco's robes last time? They were nice,” Ginny pouted.

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Ron and Harry made fun of them for weeks. Said he looked like a priest.”

Ginny cracked a smile. “I guess I'll write Fred and George and beg them. If they can hurry, I'll go. I mean, the dance is at the end of the week!”
“No wait!” Hermione grabbed her hand. “Come here.”

Ginny followed her into the next dorm room.

“Look,” Hermione whispered loudly, using her wand to light the space in front of her trunk. “What about this? My parents bought these, but they're just not me. My mum always wanted me to be more of a girly girl, you know.” She held up a gorgeous robe made of a fairly bold shade of pink. It had a dipped neckline, wide sleeves, and even a slit on the left side of the dress.

“It's beautiful,” Ginny breathed.

“Try it on.”

They scurried to the girl's restroom, and Ginny held the gown in front of her. “I don't know. Pink with my hair?”

“Just try it. I think it will work.”

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For everyone who ships H/Hr, don't worry, I know what I'm doing, okay??? Anyways, thanks for the smashing reviews & here's another update for y'all. (Got time, will write!)

CHAPTER 5 Fights and Flowers

Breakfast the following morning was awkward, with both Harry and Ron ignoring Ginny. She ate as fast as she could and then quickly dashed off to her first class. Usually she met up with some of the other 5^th years to study before Monday morning potions, but today, she would just be extra early.

“Hey,” an angry voice rang out as Ginny clattered down the steps to the dungeon. She turned and found her self face to face with Pansy Parkinson. “Hey.”

“Yes?” Ginny asked testily.

“Did Draco ask you to the dance?” Pansy stepped closer to Ginny.

“What?”

“That's what everyone is saying.”

Ginny shrugged. “People say a lot of things.”

“Did he?”

“Why don't you ask him?”

Pansy's lips narrowed and her nostril's flared. “Because for some reason he won't talk to me!”

“That's not my problem,” Ginny shrugged. “I don't control him.”

“It's going to be your problem,” Pansy hissed, standing straighter, but failing to become taller than Ginny.

“Somehow, I'm just not scared,” she said coldly.

Pansy yanked her robe out of her pocket.

“Ms. Parkinson!” Snape's voice pierced the still air.

Ginny let a smile cross her lips. “Not scared at all,” she whispered.

“What is going on?” Snape demanded, stepping between them.

“Just going to class to meet my study group, Professor,” Ginny told him. “And having this lovely little chat with Pansy.”

Snape frowned at her but said nothing. “Move along, Ms. Parkinson.”

Snape was never as hard on Ginny as he had been on Fred, George, Ron, Harry, or even Hermione. She always did well in his class, because she was actually interested. Some of the potions seemed like they might be valuable one day. Ginny followed Snape down the dungeon stairs and waited until he had unlocked the door. “Thank you, sir.”

“Why are you here so early, Ms. Weasley?” he demanded, letting her in.

“Just meeting some of the other students to study,” she reminded him again, dropping her bag beside her usual desk.

“This early?” His tone was bored and uninterested, but Ginny knew better.

“Harry and Ron aren't speaking to me,” she shrugged. “Breakfast was a bit uncomfortable.” She knew that if Pansy was hearing rumors, Snape probably was too.

Snape looked as if he was going to say more, but when Helena Hedricks, Bianca, Colin, and Winston Morehouse filed in sleepily, he nodded his head curtly and left the room.

“What's going on?” Colin asked, dropping his bag beside hers.

“Nothing,” Ginny shook her head. “Why?”

“I heard that Malfoy asked you to the Ball.”

“From who?” she demanded, and Bianca and Helena looked up with interest.

“Doesn't matter. Is it true?”

“Well, yes.”

“You said you'd go with me!”

“We said we'd go together if we didn't have dates by Wednesday. It's Tuesday!”

“I know,” he smiled. “It's okay. Zoë asked me.”

“Ah,” Ginny raised an eyebrow. “I see.”

***

Wednesday morning, at the breakfast table while Ginny and Zoë talked about their dress robes, an eagle owl swooped in shortly after the regular post had been delivered, carrying a large package. Ginny paid it no attention until it dropped the parcel on the table in front of her.

“What's that?” Zoë asked, leaning forward.

“I don't know,” she shrugged. “I'm not expecting anything.”

“It has your name on it.”

Ginny glanced down the table and saw Ron and Harry glaring at her. With a sigh, she pulled the paper off the package. As she opened the top, an enormous bouquet of salmon colored roses and white oriental lilies popped out.

“Wow!” Bianca announced, scooting closer. “Who are those from?”

“Who do we know with an eagle owl?” Zoë smiled.

“And who would be sending Ginny flowers?” Colin chimed in.

“Really. Roses and lilies in the middle of winter?” Bianca raised an eyebrow.

There was no card, but Ginny could feel the silver eyes burning into her back, and slowly she turned around in her seat, finding Draco staring at her from across the room.

“I don't remember Pansy ever getting such flowers,” Zoë crowed.

“Thank you,” Ginny mouthed, her face flushed.

Draco gave a short nod and went back to his breakfast.

When she finished eating, Draco was gone, so Ginny hurried up to her room to place the flowers and then headed back down to search for him. But it was Ron who Ginny spotted first talking loudly to Harry and Hermione at the bottom of the stairs.

“. . . what that bloody git thinks he's doing!”

“Well, he is taking her to the Ball,” Hermione told him dryly.

“But he's Malfoy! For all we know, he's probably a Death Eater!” Ron snapped.

Ginny was about to fly down the stairs and let Ron have it, but someone beat her to it.

“So now I'm a Death Eater?!” Draco's silky voice asked fiercely. He stepped up to Ron, and although he wasn't quite as tall as Ron, he didn't back down.

Ron looked a bit put out at having Draco Malfoy directly in his face. “Stay away from my sister!” he managed to snap.

Harry looked on, mildly impressed, but Hermione took his arm and said, “Oh Ron. Just stop.”

“You don't know a single thing about me,” Draco hissed. “And I'm not going to stay away from her, so deal with it!”

“Right,” Ron scoffed. “I'm supposed to believe that you're not jumping into your daddy's footprints?”

Ginny stepped up to the group. “Shut it Ron!”

Angrily, Draco wrenched up the left sleeve of his sweater and bared his forearm to the group. “You won't ever see that mark on me!” He yanked his sleeve back down and glared at Ron so fiercely, Ginny was surprised he didn't pull out his wand and hex her brother into oblivion. He cast an unreadable look at Ginny and then turned and left.

“Good job,” Ginny snapped furiously. “You can't even be civil towards my date, can you?”

“You're going with Malfoy!” he spat back. “It's not like you're going with someone I don't really know or just barely dislike! No! You had to pick that stupid prat! Just wait until mum and dad find out!”

“Why don't you go tell them then?” Ginny shouted. “Run on and tattle Ron!”

She threw a furious glance over her shoulder as she took off in the direction Draco had headed.

Ginny found Draco in the 4^th floor corridor, heading she assumed, to the library. “Hey!”

He turned to face her, but said nothing.

“I'm sorry about Ron. He's so . . . protective.”

“Didn't seem that way when he sent Potter to ask you for a date.”

Ginny sighed. “Thank you for the flowers. They're gorgeous.”

He nodded curtly, his blond hair dancing across his eyes.

“So, you're not going to cancel our date because of my brother, are you?”

“No,” he snorted. “Nobody tells me what to do.”

“Right,” she felt a small weight lift from her chest. “That's good.”

-->

Alright people. I like the color pink. Obviously. Yes, yes, yes, I am aware that H/Hr are supposed to be a couple (oh please no) and rest assured, they'll get around to that. On a lighter note, I had absolutely no idea what Draco should wear to the ball, so I thought about the yummiest thing I could come up with and this was it. However, I'm not sure my description did it any justice, so use your imagination! I love y'all!

CHAPTER 6 The Yule Ball

Ginny decided secretly that she like Draco's dress robes this year much better than the ones from two years previous. They were black of course, and made of a thick, muted satin or silk, Ginny wasn't sure. She was reminded of the few photos she had seen in Muggle studies of Muggle cowboys from the century before, and as ludicrous as it was to think of Draco as a Muggle cowboy from the Wild West, a strange tingling was spreading through her legs, making them weak. They hung straight, all the way to his ankles and she thought that if he brought out a bolo tie or a cowboy hat, she would positively faint dead away.

She had agreed to wear Hermione's robes, but only after charming them to a more suitable shade of pink for her hair. Hermione had gone for a new set of light green robes that were a bit more modest than the pink ones.

The new tables in the Great Hall were small, most holding about a dozen, and Ginny suddenly grew nervous. What if they had to share a table with Crabbe and Goyle? Or Pansy and her date? Or worse, Ron and Hermione, or Harry and- Ginny scanned the room. She had no idea who Harry's date was. To her relief, she saw him and Teraysa already sharing a table with Ron and Hermione, who had stopped arguing long enough to go to the ball together.

“Did I tell you that you look absolutely gorgeous?” Draco asked quietly, his breath heavy and warm against Ginny's exposed neck.

“Thank you,” she smiled, swallowing the butterflies that had surged up in her throat. “You look nice too.”

Ginny's nerves began to die down as they shared a table with Luna, Neville, Colin and Zoë, and several couples from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw whom she did not know and who were far to interested in each other to notice anyone around them.

“Come with me,” Draco tugged on the sleeve of her pink robe after they had danced to several songs.

“Where are we going?” she asked apprehensively. She had heard far too many rumors about students getting carried away and getting caught at previous Balls.

“Just to talk,” he answered, a slight smirk on his face. “Worried you won't be able to resist me?”

“Hardly,” she retorted, doubting her own words as Draco laced his fingers through hers. The moon was high above them, so with the help of the tiny fairies in the bushes, the night was well lit. The moonlight didn't bounce off Draco's hair the way she would have expected though, it seemed to be absorbed into in, making it darker, and making his features more shadowed and more exotic. He was absolutely, positively, deliciously gorgeous, and right then Ginny decided she had fallen head first for him. Or at least her hormones had. But wait, her reasonable voice persisted. Who is this person? You don't know him! The Malfoy you know is nothing like this. This is all an act.

“Here,” Draco sat down on one of the stone benches that had been placed in the rose garden. It was plenty well hidden from the main path, but not so secretive they could be accused of anything. He sat with his back against the left arm rest and stretched his legs across the seat. “Sit here.”

Gingerly, Ginny eased herself down on his lap, feeling stiff and uncomfortable until Draco pulled her head towards his and kissed her. Ginny didn't know exactly how much time had passed by the time she came up for air, but was certain that the moon had shifted.

“I have something to tell you,” Draco said finally. “Several things, actually.”

“Yeah?” Ginny could unconsciously feel herself holding her breath; she always felt like this around Draco, as if she was waiting for the punch line or the explosion. Around Draco, nothing was comfortable.

“Do you remember what Dumbledore has been telling us all year?” His arms were still wrapped tightly around her waist, and their faces were pressed side by side.

“About uniting?”

“Uh huh. And what the Sorting Hat sang this year? And last year?” His arms tensed at her side.

“I remember.”

“Did you ever get the feeling that they were referring to me and Potter?”

Ginny remained momentarily silent. She had thought that. So had Hermione. Probably a lot of other people had also. But really, who could imagine that Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter would be able to tolerate each other long enough to defeat You Know Who? Ginny wished with all her heart that there was no threat of evil, no Death Eaters, no war, no fights. She wished she could just curl up in Draco's lap and stay that way. Draco may have kept her nerves standing on end, but she couldn't deny how addicting his physical touch was. “Yeah,” she finally answered.

“It's going to be soon,” Draco told her. “Really soon.”

“What is?” she asked, confused.

“The end. Of one of them.”

“How do you know?” Ginny asked forcing her voice into neutrality.

“My father.” His silver eyes were glowing dark.

“Maybe you should talk to Harry.”

Draco snorted. “Right.”

Ginny was confused. Did Draco want to help Harry? Did he want You Know Who to lose? Everyone automatically assumed Draco was practically a Death Eater in training, although his outburst on Wednesday seemed to prove otherwise.

“I won't be like my father,” he said quietly, reading Ginny's mind. “But I don't know if I can bring myself to side with effing Potter.”

Ginny spoke slowly. “Maybe if you don't side with effing Potter, you'll have no other choice.”

Draco went silent, and leaned forward to kiss her lips, long and hard. “There was one other thing.”

Ginny opened her eyes, and let her fingers remain at his collar.

“Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Weasley.”

Ginny jumped and looked up. Snape's dark form was looming over them. “Did you not hear the clock?”

Ginny shook her head weakly.

“No sir,” Draco spoke up. “We didn't.”

“It is after 12. After curfew. I'll have to take points for this,” Snape told them crossly.

Ginny stood up quickly and smoothed the front of her robes. “I'm sorry, sir.”

She and Draco followed him back into the castle. In the entrance hall, McGonagall and several other professors were still talking. “Ms. Weasley,” McGonagall sputtered.

“I have already taken away points,” Snape informed her coolly. “And they actually were just talking.”

“Goodnight,” Draco whispered in her ear, leaning close and daring to kiss her cheek before turning to the stairs that lead down to the Slytherin dorms.

***

Draco ignored the looks of his fellow house mates and headed straight up the stairs to his room. He heard Crabbe and Goyle following behind him, so when he entered the room, he quickly pulled off his dress robes and slipped on his flannel night pants. “I'm tired,” he told them flatly. He climbed into his bed and pulled the emerald curtains around him.

He wasn't tired though. His head was crammed with thoughts and emotions running unruly across his brain. Ginny. Voldemort. Ginny. Death Eaters. His father. Ginny. Sex. Red hair. Death. Ginny. The way Ginny had looked in her pink robes with her smooth chest exposed and just the very top imaginary hint of cleavage uncovered. The firm way her body had pressed into his, fitting nicely, when she sat in his lap. Ginny. Death Eaters. Ginny. The way her lips just begged to be kissed and how her chocolate colored eyes could flutter upwards when he drew his finger down her neck from her ear to her shoulder. Sex with Ginny.

For more than a year he had been plagued with the nagging feeling that the Sorting Hat had been referring to him and Harry, and then when Dumbledore began giving the speeches, Draco knew without a doubt they meant him. But what was he supposed to do? That's where he was confused. When his father had broken out of Azkaban the previous summer he had went on and on about Draco's duty to the family and the Dark Lord. Draco hadn't said it out loud, but he knew that his duty was only to himself, not to some mental Dark Lord. There was no way he was going to be a slave to someone else the way his father was. His goal in life was not to become a replica of Peter Pettigrew. He couldn't figure out for the life of him why his father was so eager to head up Muggle torture for the Dark Lord, when the loon was half Muggle himself.

And then there was Ginny. Ginny Weasley. The other Slytherin's talked about her a lot, at least the males did. She was stunning with her flaming red hair and attitude to match. But she was a Weasley, so naturally he refused to be interested. Then, just the year before, on the train ride home from Hogwarts, she had taken all the hexes off him that he had received on the train. And it was true, he had deserved each and every one, but Ginny had walked by the luggage compartment, done a double take, and then removed his hexes. Before he could ask her why, she had walked off.

Her face had haunted him all summer, as well as several other features of her body. He refused to let himself believe that he actually liked her; he wrote it off as thinking with something other than his brain, but she still didn't leave his head. Even as recently as that morning he was still trying to convince himself that he was only interested in what she could offer him physically. Deep beneath his façade, the real Draco Malfoy was laughing at him, telling him he was going to be one sad person if he let Ginny get away.

With a groan, Draco rolled out of his bed and pulled on a thin undershirt. He crept down the stairs and found the common room empty and growing chilly. He edged quietly out of the dungeon, up several flights of stairs, and down a hall until he was standing in front of a large portrait of a fat lady, snoring heavily. He took a deep breath and hoped Pansy had been right when she said the Gryffindor password was Yuletide Greetings.

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Thanks a bunch to all y'all lovely people who reviewed. I'm working on this story as fast as I can, & I'll be off for the next two days, so look for more!

CHAPTER 7 In Gryffindor

Ginny climbed slowly through the portrait hole. Sure enough, she spotted Ron, Harry, and Hermione sitting in front of the fire. Determinedly, she marched across the room and sat down in front of them. They all grew silent and looked at her. “Look,” she said, taking a deep breath, “I know you two are mad at me-”

“Tuh!” Ron interrupted.

“But I need to talk to you. All of you.”

She told them her conversation with Draco. “It's what Dumbledore and the Sorting Hat were talking about, Harry.”

Before he or Ron could speak Hermione opened her mouth. “She's right Harry.”

“Right,” Ron snorted. “Bloody Malfoy wants to help Harry kill You Know Who? That git probably wants to help kill Harry!”

“No,” Ginny shook her head. “I don't think he wants to. I think he knows that he has to.”

“I think you may be right,” Ron said, leaning back in his chair and glancing at Harry. “Malfoy does have her under the controlling curse.”

“Like he would even know it,” Hermione rolled her eyes.

“His father probably taught him,” Ron scathed.

“Really, Ron,” she shook her head.

Ginny glanced back at Harry. “Will you at least talk to him about it? He said that the end was coming soon.”

Harry sighed. “Every time Voldemort has gotten near me he probably thought the end was coming, for me at least.”

She nodded. “That's true. But Harry, you know what Dumbledore's been saying about-”

“I'll think about it,” he interrupted. “I'm tired.” He stood up and shuffled towards the stairs. “Goodnight.”

“Good job, Ginny,” Ron hissed.

“Oh stop,” Hermione shook her head as Ginny climbed into Harry's warm chair. “He knows the truth.”

Ron threw Hermione an angry look and climbed the stairs after Harry.

“Sorry,” Ginny muttered. “I didn't mean to make them mad.”

“Oh, you didn't. Well, at least not Harry. He's mentioned it a time or two.”

“Really?”

“Uh huh. I think the very idea of him having to trust Malfoy that much scares him.”

Ginny nodded.

“So how was it?”

“What?”

“Your night. I notice you're in late.”

Ginny cracked a smile. “It was very nice, actually. We didn't hear the clock though, and Snape had to send us to bed.”

Hermione cringed and Ginny chucked.

“It wasn't that bad. All we did was sit and talk, mostly about that stuff. That's what we were doing when Snape found us.”

“I guess I'll go to bed too,” Hermione said finally.

The common room was nearly empty. “Wait. I have a question?”

“Yeah?” Hermione turned to face Ginny.

“Did you kiss Ron?”

“Ginny!” Hermione began to blush.

“Well?”

“If you must know, yes.”

Ginny smiled. “It's about time.”

Ginny remained downstairs, staring into the fire, her mind pouring over thoughts of Draco. She liked him and that scared her. Being vulnerable, especially to someone like Draco Malfoy scared her a lot. Damn Ron, she thought crossly. Always acting like a prat! She dozed several time in the large squishy chair that was so comfortably warm before finally forcing herself out of the chair. That's when the portrait opened.

Ginny looked up in surprise, unable to figure who would be coming in so late.

Draco Malfoy stood on the other side of the hole, wearing red flannel pants and a thin t-shirt. “Hi,” he said.

Ginny looked back at her chair and then pinched her arm. “Ow!”

“What are you doing?” he asked, climbing through the hole and looking around.

“What are you doing?” she demanded, rubbing her arm.

“I couldn't sleep,” he shrugged. “So I came to see you.”

“How did you know the password?”

He chuckled. “I don't know if I did or not. That lady is so drunk, she'd probably let anyone in.”

“You can't stay in here. Someone will see you.”

“So I came all the way over here for nothing?” he pouted.

Ginny shook her head. “I can't believe you're in here. It's probably 2 in the morning.”

“Pretty close.” He stepped closer to her and circled his arms around her waist. “I need a proper goodnight kiss.”

When they parted, Ginny looked at him and took a deep breath. “We can't stay down here.”

“Okay,” he shrugged, surprising himself for giving up so easily. He suddenly felt like he couldn't just use Ginny the way he had tried to convince himself.

“No, come here.” She led him to a winding set of stairs. “Hang on. There's a trick to this.” She tapped the wall with her wand, carefully selecting four bricks.

“What are you doing?”

“If you try to come up these it will turn into a slide. Ron found that out for us.”

“Your brother tried to come into the girl's dorm?” he asked, interested.

“It was during the day,” she rolled her eyes.

She led Draco up the staircase to her dorm room, which was second from the top. The room was quiet, with only the sound of steady breathing filling the air. “Get in there,” she commanded in a whisper, pointing to her bed.

Draco looked at her with interest in his eyes and did as he was told. Quickly she pulled the curtains around him and then changed carefully into her nightshirt. She climbed into the bed and pulled out her wand. “So that no one gets curious.” She performed a simple sticking charm on her curtains and then slowly lay down beside Draco.

“How many other people have you done this for?” he asked, his silky voice laced with the barest suggestion of reproach, the tiniest hint of anger.

“None. You're the,” she stopped and sat up. “You're the first. You should probably go.”

“Hey,” he pulled her towards him as she reached for the curtain. “It was just a question.”

Ginny stared at him, unwilling to let him get off that easy. “What's going on?”

“Nothing is going on. Right now, I just want to kiss you. Right here.”

Her breath stopped in her throat as he crawled across the bed towards her. His hair was falling carelessly down towards his eyes, his lower lip called for her, sticking out in a rather pouty manner, and so Ginny reached out her hands, cradled his face, and decided to taste his lip.

Does this make me a whore? Am I like Pansy? What if we get caught? What will Ron say? I am so stupid. And then Draco's lips moved from her mouth to her ear and then to her neck, and his hands left her shoulders and slid down her arms. This feels really, really good.

His kisses trailed down her arms, and he began to tug the dress robes off her shoulders, and before she knew it, they ended up in a crumpled heap at the foot of her bed. His lips traced the outline of her white satin bra, and as his fingers slid to move underneath the bra, Ginny felt herself tense.

“Don't worry,” his breath came across her chest, “I won't do anything you don't want me to. Tell me when to stop.”

She let him unhook the bra and ease it away from her skin, a loud groan escaping her lips as his mouth engulfed her nipple, his free hand cupping her left breast.

Ginny let her hands slide down his shirt, and under the hem, coming to rest on his flat stomach and used her fingers to trace the outline of his hipbones.

“You have to go,” Ginny murmured sleepily, hours later. “You can't be in here when everyone gets up.”

“I will,” Draco mumbled, shifting so that his face resting in the crook of Ginny's neck. “Ginny?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you a virgin?”

Ginny's eyes opened. Was that what this was all about? But if Draco simply wanted to get under her robes, there were probably less time consuming ways to do so. Several hours before, she has stopped him when his fingers began to skim the waistband of her knickers, and he hadn't tried again. She stared at the dark red curtain that fell around them. What if someone opened this right now and found the two of them nearly asleep and mostly naked? “Yeah, I am.”

“Okay.” He returned to kissing her back over and over.

What about you? she wanted to say. Are you a virgin? But she remained silent, not quiet sure she wanted to know the answer to the question. She scooted up to her headboard and picked up her watch. “It's almost 6. The professors will be up soon.”

“No they won't,” he argued. “We were all up late last night. Everyone is going to sleep in.”

She giggled. “You really have to go.”

“But I don't want to.”

“I don't want you to either, but you have to.”

He rose up until he was on his knees and pulled her to him. “One more kiss.” He held her tightly, and although Ginny assumed she would be uncomfortable, with her bare chest sandwiched against his, she wasn't. Draco reached blindly beside him and began to pull on his nightshirt. “I don't think my shirt had buttons.”

Ginny leaned closer. “Nope. That's mine.”

“Right,” he shrugged not bothering to take it off.

She felt a secret thrill seeing him in her too big flannel shirt. She pulled on his t-shirt and tugged a pair of jogging pants under them. The shirt smelled like Draco, not just like his cologne, but like his skin and hair and warm breath. She walked with Draco down the steps and blew him a kiss at the portrait hole, then scurried back to her bed, petrified at the thought of being caught.

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To everyone who is wondering why I have Ron & Hermione going to the Ball together, DON'T WORRY!!!!! I know the rules!

CHAPTER 8

“Ginny!”

Ginny smiled slightly, admiring Draco's bare flesh.

“It's after 3!”

She rolled over, and found to her dismay that it wasn't Draco beneath her, but her bed. Ugh. Only a dream.

“Ginny, are you okay?”

“Huh?” Ginny reached up to rub her eyes, looked down and saw that she was wearing a gray t-shirt; a gray t-shirt that smelled very much like her date. Good. So, at least some of her night hadn't been a dream.

“Ginny!”

Ginny rolled to the side and saw Hermione staring at her. “Are you okay? I thought you were sick. It's 3:30.”

“Really?” She sat up and yawned, and Hermione suddenly gasped.

“You are so busted!”

Ginny's eyes quickly darted around the bed, looking for evidence, but she saw none. “What?”

Hermione jumped onto the bed and pulled the curtains shut. “Your neck.”

Ginny scooted towards the foot of her bed, dug around in her trunk and came up with a small mirror. On her neck were half a dozen large purple and blue hickeys. “Oh. That's bad.”

“You didn't have those last night.”

“Yes I did.”

“Ginny Weasley, you did not!”

“Shhh,” she hissed. “Someone is going to hear you!”

“Sorry.” Hermione looked around, pulled out her wand, and quickly said a silencing spell. “There.”

“That's it?” Ginny asked.

“What?”

“Now no one can hear us?”

“Right.”

That's good to know. “Can you help me cover these?” she pleaded. “Ron will go ballistic.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow and smiled. “First, I want to hear the details.”

“That's evil,” she pouted.

“Fine. You explain to your brother and your housemates and your teachers how you left the dance just fine and woke up looking like a Blast Ended Skwert had got the best of you.”

Ginny groaned and flopped back down. “I was just about to go to bed when he showed up.”

“Who?”

“Draco.”

“Where?”
“In the common room.”

“But how-”

“Okay,” Ginny interrupted. “Let me tell you and then you can ask questions.”

“Right. Sorry.”

“No one was in there, and I was literally heading for the stairs when the portrait opened, and there he was, just standing there. I asked him what he was doing and he said he wanted a proper goodnight kiss. So I asked him how he knew the password, and he said he wasn't sure if he did, but the Fat Lady was drunk, so it was easy to get in.” Ginny decided to leave her story at that.

“You got all those hickeys from a proper kiss goodnight in the common room?” Hermione asked suspiciously.

“Well, yeah. I mean we were alone.”

Hermione reached up and tugged the curtains on the left side of Ginny's bed. “Then why in the world would your curtains be charmed shut?”

Ginny let an audible groan escape. Only Hermione would think to check such a thing. “Okay. Fine. I did let him up here. But we didn't do anything terrible. I mean, we weren't naked!” At least not totally naked.

“Weren't you afraid of getting caught?” she hissed.

“Well, no. I mean, people aren't exactly looking for Draco Malfoy to be in my bed, you know.”

Hermione shook her head. “As a Prefect, I should not let this go unnoticed, but as your friend, I will. I think being your friend comes first.”

Ginny could barely keep herself from rolling her eyes. Hermione was becoming more like Percy every day. “Now will you help me cover these?”

She pulled out her wand again. “Only if you promise not to do this ever again!”

“Hermione! I will not promise that. You said you'd help me if I told you, and I did!”

“Fine,” she frowned, defeated. “I think the covering spell will work well for this.”

“How long will it last?” Ginny asked, gathering up her hair.

“It's pretty strong. About two weeks.” She muttered several words, flicked her wand once, and Ginny felt a tingling spread across her neck.

“Thanks.” She looked and the mirror, and to her relief, saw nothing.

“You know,” Hermione said quietly. “If you allow him up here again, things that are horrible could very well happen.”

“I'm beginning to think they wouldn't be all that horrible,” Ginny replied cheerfully before jumping out of bed.

***

“I've already got an owl from my father,” Draco told her in the library. “He's a bit upset that I took you to the dance.”

Ginny nodded and peaked up over her stack of books to make sure Madam Pince wasn't watching. “My parents would be too, I suppose. Why did you tell him?”

“I didn't. Probably Pansy.” His lips curled into a sneer. “She's rather angry that I didn't take her to the dance.”

Ginny nodded thoughtfully. That explained a lot of things. The holidays had been in full effect for a week now, and this was the first day she had spent time alone with Draco and he was still as confusing as could be.

“So I think it would be best if we didn't see each other anymore.” His eyes were cold again, the way they were whenever he saw Harry or Ron.

“What?” she asked, positive she had misunderstood.

“I mean, it's been fun, really. I had a good time. But obviously our lives are going in two different directions.”

Ginny stared at him silently, wondering if this was the same person who had sworn a week ago that he wasn't going to be like his father.

“So I'll see you around, Weasley.”

With that he stood up, gathered his books and left the library, and Ginny remained still, unsure what had just happened.

Two days before classes started again, one day before the few students who had left Hogwarts for the holidays would be back, Hermione opened her copy of the Daily Prophet at the breakfast table and let out a scream.

“What?” Ginny looked over while Ron and Harry leaned across the table.

“Oh no, no,” she gasped. “Listen.” By then, the Great Hall had fallen silent and all the students were hanging onto her words. “There was an attack yesterday evening in Diagon Alley, believed to be headed by You Know Who's Death Eaters, and aimed at any Muggle born witch or wizard. Several witches and wizards were injured and three were killed. The attack went awry when the wife of a known Death Eater, Martha Zabini, apparently tried to stop the attack, resulting in her death, the death of her son Blaise Zabini, and Philip Poddington, current employee of the month at Frances's Fine Frocks.” Hermione's voice trailed off, and in the silence, Dumbledore cleared his throat.

“Now that you all know,” he began, surveying them over his glasses, “I will remind you again that it is more important now than it ever has been for us to unite within. We will not be strong if we cannot do so. Now, may we have a moment of peace for our fellow student.”

While the heads around her bowed, Ginny's eyes darted towards the empty seat directly opposite of Draco. He stared determinedly at his cup. She knew that Blaise and Draco had been friends of some sort. Harry had mentioned more than once that in Potions they were usually paired up.

“I can't believe this,” Ron said as they headed towards the common room. “I mean, even a Death Eater wouldn't kill his own son, would he?”

“Apparently so,” Harry sighed.

“This just goes to show you what kind of people they are,” Hermione began, and then fell silent as Draco crossed their path.

Draco stared at them defiantly, as if ready to attack if they even offered one word of consolation.

When he had passed, Ron muttered, “I just don't know how Dumbledore thinks we can unite with them. I'm glad you had sense enough not to see him anymore, Ginny. It was bad enough that you even went to the dance with him.”

Hermione shot him a dirty look.

“Oh,” Ginny noted. “I left my good quill in the Great Hall. I'll be right back.” She retraced her footsteps back to the entrance hall, glanced around quickly, and then darted down the narrow hallway she had seen Draco enter. She found him in a dim, unused dungeon, staring at a thick book.

“Get out.”

“I just wanted to see how you were,” she told him quietly.

“Get out.”

“I'm, I'm sorry.”

“Why?” he asked coldly. “You didn't do anything.”

“I know. But I'm sorry that your friend is gone.”

Draco shrugged indifferently. “He should have known better.”

“Draco . . .”

“What do you want, Weasley?” he demanded, standing up so quickly the table fell over. “Do you want me to cry on your shoulder and beg you to comfort me? Well it's not going to happen.”

She shook her red head. “No. I just wanted to check on you.
“Well I'm fine,” he roared. “Bloody terrific.”

Ginny just watched him silently as he raged.

“Get out! Go back to your little friends and tell them how Draco Malfoy is having a breakdown! Tell them, Draco doesn't care that his friend died. He's probably on the verge of joining his father! Get out!” He stepped towards her. “Out!”

Ginny stepped backwards. “I don't believe that.”

“Now!” He grabbed her by the wrists and shoved her, but she didn't go out the door. Instead, she hit the door jam and stumbled.

Ginny stood to her feet and took a deep breath. “Fine. I'm going. You did a good job though. I was ready to believe that you weren't the person I had always thought you were.”

“Well I guess I'm not, am I?” His hand was raised as if he was going to hit her.

“No. You're worse. I never thought that even you could reduce yourself to this.”

Draco stared at her, his eyes wide with fury. He lowered his hand slightly and grabbed her. “Get out, before I do something I regret.”

Ginny wrenched herself out of his grasp and turned for the door. On the other side of the doorway she paused and said over her shoulder, “We'll help you if you ever need it. You know we will.”

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CHAPTER 9 Revelations

Draco watched her retreat and he slammed the door shut behind her. Stupid, bloody, goody two shoes . . . But he knew she was right. Those bloody Gryffindor's would help him, if he ever sunk low enough to ask.

His chest heaved, the deep breaths taking over his body. Calm down. Get control of yourself. Malfoy's do not lose control. What would his father say, if he could see him? He'd laugh at him. He'd tell him if Zabini was stupid enough to get in the way, and Zabini's mother was pathetic enough to try and interfere with the Dark Lord's plan, than they got exactly what they deserved. Calm down. Control. You must always have control.

The days passed with such a horrible monotony, Draco thought he might have to throw himself off a tower just to create some excitement. He saw Ginny hallways and in the Great Hall and he wanted to talk to her, but couldn't risk it. He was no longer sure if it was Pansy who had told his father about the Ball or not. The Slytherin House seemed to be split between the children of loyal Death Eaters and the children of Death Eater supporters. Draco couldn't be sure who fell into what category and therefore, he couldn't let anyone know that he was still interested in Ginny. Any attention he paid her would only result in trouble.

The castle itself seemed to reflect the mood of the students and teacher; everyone was wary, cautious, on edge. The only people who seemed less than concern were Potter and his little friends. The very thought of it made Draco want to scream. Goyle's mother had taken him from the school days after the news of Zabini's death broke, and Crabbe was too afraid to say much to Draco anymore, so Draco was left all alone, and that was fine with him. Even the other Slytherin's shot him looks of sympathy mixed with fear and sometimes even disgust. Pansy Parkinson had taken the opportunity to make him feel better, but he wanted nothing to do with her. When she finally cornered him, and he gave in and kissed her, all he could think about was red hair.

“Get off,” he said finally, shoving Pansy away.

“What?” she demanded, the veins in her neck beginning to bulge.

“Sorry,” he told her dryly. “But snogging in the corner isn't exactly what I had in mind for the evening.”

She yelled and cursed and finally cried, but Draco wouldn't relent.

“Get away from me. I don't want anything to do with you,” he drawled, forcing his voice into boredom.

“Is it because I don't have ginger hair? Cause I'm not a Muggle lover?” she shouted. “Your father's gonna love this!”

“There is obviously nothing between me and any Weasley,” Draco informed her through gritted teeth. “It's just you I'm not interested in.”

Draco stomped back to the Slytherin dorms, and up to his mostly empty room. There were only two other six year's in there now, Nathaniel Nott and Morag MacDougal, but they were only Draco's study partners, no one to talk to, even though he knew for a fact Nott's father was a Death Eater also. Nott seemed fairly stupid though; he practically worshiped the Dark Lord as much as any of the Death Eaters.

Draco threw off his clothes and flopped down on his bed, glaring angrily at his book bag. He reached down to pick it up, but stopped, hearing a scratching at the window. A black owl. A black eagle owl, just like his father's.

Draco stomped out of bed, and with a string of curses, opened the window.

***

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Ginny had been chiding herself all week for the pathetic way she had gone after Draco. She had felt bad for him, but obviously that wasn't something you did for a Malfoy. She felt his eyes on her when they passed in the halls, but she refused to look at him. What had she been thinking anyways? That's what Ron wanted to know at least. She didn't know Draco. For unknown reasons she had decided to trust him, and that had obviously backfired.

When classes started again, she let the days drift past her by throwing herself into her studies, and listening to Ron, Harry, and Hermione discuss You Know Who and the Death Eaters.

“There's been attacks almost everyday,” Hermione sighed, folding her worn copy of the Daily Prophet. “There were three yesterday, and then some suspicious anti Muggle activity.”

Harry bit his lip. “I wish I could just find him, and we could end it right here and now.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Ron hissed. “You could die!”

“One of us will,” he said softly.

“What?” Hermione demanded.

“Dumbledore said that one of us has to get rid of the other one.”

Ginny looked up from her Potions scroll. “What do you mean?”

Harry took a deep breath and blew it out. “Remember the prophecy?”

“In the Ministry?” Ron asked.

“Yeah. I heard it. When it broke I heard it, and it said that either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives.”

Ginny's mouth dropped. “No.”

Hermione's head was shaking violently back and forth. “That can't be, I mean, Dumbledore would have told you, no Harry, there's gotta be a mistake.”

“She's right,” Ron said, looking relieve. “That can't be true.”

“It's true. The rest of the prophecy said the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord would be born at the end of August to parents who had already defied Voldemort three times, and that he would be the Dark Lord's equal.” Harry sighed and seemed to age 10 years as he sank into his chair. “But I can't even fight him with my own wand.”

Hermione's eyes were threatening to spill tears, and Ginny felt her own eye's stinging.

“Neville was born right before me.”

“What?” Ron's head shot up.

“His parents defied Voldemort three times before Belatrix sent them to St. Mungo's.”

The air in the room thinned and Ginny struggled to breathe. “What does that mean?”

“Dumbledore says it means nothing. I'm the one Voldemort considers and equal,” Harry answered quietly.

“It's just not fair,” Hermione roared, causing the common room to fall silent. “Why does this have to fall on you? How are you supposed to kill him when your wand doesn't work on him?”

“I suppose it could work on him,” Ginny said thoughtfully. “Maybe just not when dueling each other.”

“I just need to learn more powerful curses,” Harry said firmly. “I need to learn Avada Kedavra.”

Ron's eyes widened and Hermione gave a little gasp. “But it's unforgivable,” she reminded him.

“I hardly think anyone would hold it against Harry if he used it against You Know Who,” Ginny snorted. “They'd thank him.”

“So now what?” Hermione asked, frowning at her paper, and blinking furiously.

They sat silently, watching the fire crackle around them.

“You know,” Ginny finally spoke up, “in Muggle Studies, Professor Duncan said that-”

“When did you take Muggle Studies?” Ron interrupted.

“In my 3^rd and 4^th year. He said that the Muggles who won their wars won because they knew their enemy.”

“That's helpful,” Ron snorted rudely. “What's it mean?”

“Stop being a prat and listen. I guess that we should try to find out as much as we can about You Know Who. It wouldn't hurt anything to do a little research on him, would it?”

Hermione shook her head and looked up. “That's a good idea, actually.”

Harry nodded and forced a smile. “I guess we can start tomorrow.”

“After Quidditch practice though,” Ron said. “We have a game next week.”

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CHAPTER 10 Breakdown

Ginny trudged to the top of the stairs and let her bag drop to the floor with a satisfying thunk. She was certain that her brain was going to explode; she just hoped it would hold out long enough to make it through her O.W.L.s. She ignored the happy chatter from her roommates and stripped off her clothes. She reached into her trunk for her nightshirt and came up with the thin t-shirt Draco had left in her room. Ginny stared at the shirt and blinked. Draco. Draco's shirt. She had stuffed it to the bottom of the trunk, and here it was, popping up again. They hadn't exchanged any words it all since the day in the dungeon, exactly four weeks and 2 days ago. Ginny had tried not to think about him, which was easier than she had imagined; she just studied and studied and if he began to cross her mind, she studied some more.

It was hard to see him in the corridors though. He was always alone with a scowl attached to his face, quick to hand out detention to anyone in his way. Hermione said he didn't even hardly speak in classes anymore, not even in Hagrid's class.

“Are you okay?” Zoë's voice rattle Ginny out of her thoughts.

“Yeah. I'm fine.”

“You were just standing there.” Zoë looked so worried Ginny forced a smile.

“Really.” No, no, no, no. “Really.” Ginny dove into her bed without pulling any clothes on. Why am I crying?

“Ginny!” Zoë and Bianca exchanged quick glances and Zoë jumped on the bed. “What?”
“Here.” Bianca shoved Draco's t-shirt at her. “Here's your night clothes.”

Ginny began to cry harder. “I'm sorry. I'm just tired. Stress, I think.”

Bianca nodded. “You just need some sleep.”

“I know,” Ginny sobbed. “Would you mind handing me a different shirt though? This one is . . . uncomfortable.”

“Sure.” Zoë handed her a long sleeved hand me down flannel shirt of Bill's. “Is this okay?”

“Yeah,” Ginny nodded, wiping her eyes. “It's perfect.”

“Is it Draco?”

The tears began again. “I don't want to talk about him.”

“Are you sure, Gin-gin?” Bianca whispered.

“You'll feel better,” Zoë added.

“I just want to go to bed,” Ginny shook her head. “Goodnight.” She pulled the curtains around her and gasped for air. I miss Draco. Ginny shook her head. She couldn't miss Draco. There was no way. She barely knew him. All they had done was go to a dance together and nothing else. Well, except for the serious snogging session in her bed, which obviously hadn't meant a thing to him. He was horrible, selfish, a snobby, self centered git and she had no intentions of letting him get to her. Except he already had. Some days he looked so alone she wanted to throw her arms around him, brush his hair out of his silver eyes, and kiss him. Kiss him. Michael Corner was a bit on the sloppy side. Dean Thomas was okay. But Draco, Draco could melt her. She couldn't understand why his lips pressing against hers sent thrills through her body and made her feel so incredible. The way he kissed her with his entire body pressed into hers, sucking on her lower lip with his hands splayed through her hair sent shockwaves through her body. I miss Draco.

***

Ginny slowly became aware of a noise that was keeping her from sleeping, nothing terribly distracting, but something that was just not quite right. She kept her eyes shut and listened to the darkness. Uneven breathing. Someone wasn't asleep. Who? It was coming heavily and it was . . . She listened carefully. Oh dear Merlin. It was coming from her bed. She lay perfectly still, unable to decide what to do. She was torn between screaming and diving off the bed, and just as she had decided to dive off the bed, the person next to her moved. Ginny let out a scream, but was cut off by a hand clamping down on her face. She tried to sit up, but it drove her back into her pillow, and suddenly she remembered that neither she nor Hermione had bothered to take the silencing charm off her bed. No one could hear her.

She squeezed her eyes shut, and when she opened them, Draco's face was only inches from hers.

Ginny didn't know whether to cry or laugh or hit him. Slowly he removed his hand from her mouth. She sat up and stared at him. “What are you doing here?”

“Taking you up on your offer!” he snapped, glaring at her.

“My offer?” she repeated weakly. Why was he here? Why did he have to see her like this, looking so pathetic with red puffy eyes from crying herself to sleep and with his t-shirt at the end of her bed like a shrine?

Draco drew his knees up to his chest and suddenly looked so dismal and sad, she was afraid. He buried his head in his knees and rocked back and forth, back and forth.

Ginny stared at him. What was she supposed to do? Draco Malfoy was having a nervous breakdown on her bed, and the last time she'd been alone with him, he had physically forced her from the room. “Draco? What happened?”

He began mumbling to his knees, and Ginny had to scoot closer to hear.

“I just got an owl from my father and he thinks this would be an ideal time for me to start following around that stupid Muggle born who calls himself the Dark Lord.” Except he didn't say stupid. Instead, he used words Ginny barely dared to think.

Ginny didn't know what to tell him. She sat perfectly still, waiting.

“I'm not. I am not going to do that,” he hissed, looking up. “I am not going to slave away to someone else like my pathetic father!”

“How can you be a Death Eater?” Ginny asked quietly. “You're still in school.”

Draco let out a single, bitter laugh. “He wrote that the Dark Lord understood that I was still in school, so I couldn't join in all the festivities, but I would be immensely helpful as a spy inside the school.”

He put his head back in his knees and began rocking himself again.

Ginny carefully scooted over until she was next to him and put her arms around him. “It's okay. It's okay.” Please don't cry. I don't know what to do with boys who cry.

“It's not okay!” he spat.

She didn't know what to tell him, what to think, or what to say to the only person who had even managed to so thoroughly trash her heart, and in such a short period of time.

“I'm not going to do what he wants me to. For once, I'm going to do what I want to do,” he said finally. He liked the way Ginny fit neatly against him, her hands in his, her sides pressed against his own, her lips on his. She fit him. He let go of his knees and used his hands to cup her face. “I've missed you.”

She melted into his touch without a second though, craving him, needing him, letting him tug her shirt off and kick to the floor and helping her do the same to him. As before, she kept her knickers on and his boxers stayed in place. He covered her face with kisses before moving to her ears, her neck and then onto her bared chest. This time, when his hand slid down her sides and under the elastic band of her knickers, she didn't protest. His fingers made their way between her legs and on instinct she adjusted so Draco could access her. She let out a gasp as his first finger entered her, and then the other, stroking her until warm waves of pleasure filled her abdomen and she was thankful that the silencing charm was still on her bed.

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Okeeee, I want to apologize cause apparently I committed a mortal sin. I said that Harry's b-day was in August, when we all know it's really in July. Sorry, sorry, sorry. I have a lot going on right now, so please forgive. I made 2 other mistakes that I know of; I said that Harry heard the prophecy (Dumbledore told him), and that Ginny changed into a nightshirt, & then I had Draco taking off her dress robes. Oopsie. Sorry. And to the “anonymous” person who said that something must be wrong with me, forgive me. I'm human. Of course, if it was Draco's b-day I would have known…..

CHAPTER 11 Busted

When Ginny woke in the morning, she could see light creeping through her curtains, and she could hear her roommates talking. She yawned trying to recall why she had waked with a smile on her face.

“Isn't this the shirt you gave Ginny to sleep in?” Zoë's voice came through the curtains.

Oh no! No, no, no, no! Ginny sat straight up. Draco was still next to her, his eyes closed, but a small smile playing on his face.

“Is she gone?” Helena asked. “I didn't see her leave.”

“No I'm here,” Ginny yelled as Draco began to laugh.

“I'll check,” she heard Zoë's voice.

Stupid silencing spell! Ginny pulled the sheets over her chest and stuck her head out of the curtains. “I'm here.”

Zoë stopped, only a foot away, nightshirt in hand. “Oh. How are you feeling?”

“Good. Better, I mean. I was just hot last night, so I'll take those. I actually don't feel that well. Maybe I should stay-” She stopped suddenly.

“What?” Zoë asked, looking at her curiously.

“Nothing,” Ginny lied, using her free hand to swat at Draco who was kissing her bare back. “I'm fine. Well, I mean, I feel kind of sick, but not like last night. I'm just going to lay here. Will you let Professor Binns know?”

Ginny's roommates stared at her.

“Sure,” Zoë said finally, exchanging a quick look with Bianca. “Do you want us to go get Madam Pomfrey?”

“No!” Ginny shook her head. “I think really, I'm just tired. It took me a long time to get to sleep last night.”

They nodded and looked slightly relieved. “Right.”

Ginny waited until they had left the room before turning around to face Draco. “What are you doing?”
“Kissing you,” he muttered. Even with bed head, he looked delicious. “Nice hickeys.”

“Oh great,” she moaned. “Do you know the covering spell?”

He shook his head. “So what's your plan? To sneak me out of here during the first period?”

“I don't have a plan,” she told him. “You got in here, you can get out.”

“I didn't know Gryffindor's were evil,” he pouted. “You said you'd help me.”

“Not with this,” she rolled her eyes.

“You weren't specific.”

“I am now.”

“Come here.” He pulled her down and kissed her on the lips, her eyes, her nose, her ears.

Ginny shifted until their bodies were firmly pressed together, her legs wrapped securely around his, and she was acutely aware that her blue cotton knickers and his red boxers were the only things separating them. His fingers were creeping from her back down her sides and towards her waist.

“Ginny Weasley!”

Ginny shot up and stuck her head back through the curtain. “No! Hermione, no!”

Hermione yanked back the curtains.

“Good morning, Granger,” Draco said lazily.

“Ginny I cannot believe you would do this! You, you,” Hermione sputtered with rage.

“Shhh,” Ginny begged, again wrapping herself in the sheet. “Please be quiet!”

It took nearly five minutes of Ginny trying frantically to calm Hermione down and Draco laughing silently before Hermione sat down on the bed and yanked the curtains shut around her. “What are you doing here?”

“That's not really your business, now is it?” Draco asked evenly.

“Draco! Stop!” Ginny hissed. “We need your help, Hermione.”

Hermione stared blankly at Ginny and so did Draco.

“Can you do the covering spell again?”

“What?”

“Hermione! I know it's not proper and that you're a prefect, but-”

“So is he!”

“Huh?”

“He is a prefect also!”

“Oh. Right. Well, he's not telling, so I think it would only be fair if you didn't either.”

“You are unbelievable.” Hermione shook her head.

“Come off it Granger,” Draco drawled. “Are you going to help her or not?”

“No. No I am not.”

“Hermione, there is more to this than you know,” Ginny trailed off. Hermione wasn't going to believe her unless she told her the whole story. She glanced at Draco, still sprawled lazily on her pillows. “We have to tell her. I can't go around looking like this.”

He shrugged, not caring that his boxers were hanging dangerously low on his hips, forcing Hermione to keep her gaze directly on his face. “Fine.”

Ginny glanced down at the sheet she was still clutching against her chest. “Let me get dressed and I'll tell you.” She reached for the foot of her bed and pulled on Draco's t-shirt. “Okay. I told Draco that we would help him if he needed it, and-”

“Some help!” Hermione snorted.

“Calm down,” Draco interrupted.

“Cover yourself up,” Hermione told him crossly, shoving a pillow at his lap. “I don't need to see what Ginny gets to!”

“We didn't do . . . that,” Ginny insisted.

Hermione raised a skeptic eyebrow but remained silent.

“His father sent him an owl last night saying it was time for him to join the Death Eaters,” she continued, knotting her red hair behind her. “But he's not going to.”

Hermione's cross expression melted to confusion.

“I'm not,” Draco snapped, sitting up. “I'm not going to spend my life serving someone else!”

Ginny filled Hermione in on everything else she knew and when she was done, the older girl sat silently, chewing on her lip.

“I have no reason to believe you,” she told Draco finally. “But I'm going to take my chances. Dumbledore keeps telling us we need to unite, and I'm not going to be the one to blame if it doesn't happen.”

Draco opened his mouth to reply, but Hermione continued. “I think the best thing to tell your father is that you're flattered, but with the pressures of the upcoming N.E.W.T.s it may be best if you are able to concentrate on your studies. Of course, that means that the two of you can't become a couple. If that's what you were intending, I mean.”

She was right, Ginny realized, the disappointment hitting her. If Draco told his dad thanks, but no thanks, he couldn't find out that he was even remotely interested in Ginny Weasley.

Draco nodded, his lips narrow and his jaw tight.

“We can talk about this later,” Hermione said standing up. “Ron and Harry are waiting for me.”

“Wait!” Ginny called. “My neck.”

Hermione pulled out her wand and flicked it towards Ginny. “I'm not doing this again. Besides, I already told you that it wouldn't work as well the second time!”

“What?” Ginny scrambled to the bottom of her bed for a mirror as Hermione flounced out of the room.

Draco began to laugh again. “She's right. But I kind of like them that way.”

Ginny groaned as she looked in the mirror and saw that her neck was still visibly spotted. “Some covering charm!”

“No, they were a lot worse.” Draco patted the empty space beside him. “Come back up here.”

Ginny dropped back down beside Draco and waited for him to say something.

After a long silence, he spoke. “This doesn't mean I'm not going to see you anymore.”

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Yes, yes, it's a short chapter, but it's a chapter that wasn't in the original. To be honest, I didn't realize I needed it until I read my reviews, so thanks y'all.

Hickeys and Owls

Ginny managed to sneak Draco out of the Gryffindor rooms during the first period and made it to her second period with no problems. She had found some of Hannah's Muggle makeup and tried to cover the spots on her neck, but if anyone just looked at her neck for a few seconds, they'd know something wasn't right. Truthfully, she didn't mind all that much. After all, bearing the hickeys that Draco Malfoy had given her practically designated him as her own. She kept her hair down and swept over her shoulders, and things were going well until lunch time.

“You're in a better mood than you've been in weeks,” Zoë commented as they seated themselves in the Great Hall.

Ginny shrugged, her eyes immediately drawn to the spot where Draco sat. He glanced up and flashed her a quick smile. “I feel better now.”

“I'd feel better too after a night like that,” Helena said slyly.

“Like what?” Ginny asked, unconcerned. She knew the silencing charm was still on her bed.

“Well, let's see. You go to bed crying, and wake up in a great mood,” Helena continued.

“What's wrong with that?” Ginny asked, filling her plate with Shepherd's pie.

“You did a good job trying to cover those hickeys, but we can still see them!” Helena giggled.

Ginny's eyes widened. “They're not hickeys. It's . . . a rash.”

Zoë began to laugh and Bianca joined in. “That's a pretty mysterious looking rash,” Bianca gasped. “Maybe you should have Madam Pomfrey check it out!”

“Thank you,” Ginny hissed. “Please keep it down! I don't want Ron over here starting another row!”

“So tell us who it is,” Zoë requested once she had stopped laughing.

“I am not!” Ginny announced.

“Come on, did you make up with Malfoy?” Bianca pressed.

“Hardly,” Ginny snorted. “I haven't talked to him since he shoved me out of the dungeons!”

“Better fix your hair,” Helena whispered. “Here comes your brother.”

Quickly Ginny brushed her hair over her shoulders.

“Hey, Gin Gin,” Ron said stepping up to her.

She turned to him and raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

He sat down on the bench next to her. “I just, I wanted, you know, I'm sorry I've been acting like such a wanker. I just want you to be careful. And I want you to be happy.”

Ginny eyed her brother as his ears flushed red and he stared down at his lap. “Alright. I don't like us having rows, anyways.”

Ron nodded, looking relieved, and then stopped. “What's on your neck?”

“It's a rash,” Zoë interrupted before Ginny could speak.

“A rash?” he repeated, his face twisted with skepticism.

“It really is. We've been taking the mickey out on her though,” Helena added.

“Yup,” Bianca finished. “Looks like hickeys, don't you think?”

Ginny knew Ron wasn't that stupid, but it wasn't fun to find your baby sister covered with faded hickeys either. “And how did you get that rash?” he demanded.

Ginny shrugged. “In Herbology. I was talking with Zoë and not paying attention, and well, I slipped in something and got this.”

“I don't believe you,” he said flatly, crossing his arms.

“Honestly Ron,” Zoë rolled her eyes. “She didn't have them yesterday, and if they were hickeys, she'd look more like Misti Millstead over there.”

All eyes swiveled to the Hufflepuff table where Misti sat, her hair twisted up in a bun and a fresh crop of brown and red bruises on her neck.

“Besides, we're her best mates,” Bianca finished. “Don't you think we'd know if she was seeing someone?”

Ron looked at them and finally nodded. “Right then.”

Ginny knew he still didn't quite believe her, but it was easier to accept then starting another row. Out of one corner of her eye, she could see Hermione rolling her eyes at Ron's words, and out of the other eye, she could see Draco Malfoy watching the conversation with interest, and shaking with silent laughter.

***

Draco's owl came back from his father sooner than he anticipated. He had been in the Slytherin common room with Crabbe, Nathaniel, and Morag. They were supposed to be finishing the horrid amount of potions homework Snape had assigned them, but Draco had been staring at the same spot on his parchment for over five minutes, thinking of a way to see Ginny tonight. It was too dangerous to try and sneak into the Gryffindor house each night. After all, the fifth years and seventh years were usually up until the wee hours, getting in a last bit of studying, and the Fat Lady wasn't so keen to letting him in lately, even when he had the house elves bring her liquor.

“Hey, Malfoy!”

Morag's words broke him out of his thoughts. “What?” he snapped, glancing up.

“Isn't that your owl?”

Draco's eyes shot towards the small window at the top of the dungeon wall. “Bloody hell,” he muttered, shoving his parchment aside. He had sent the owl to his father yesterday morning, after hearing the Mudblood's suggestion. He hated to admit it, but it was a good one. It would keep his father thinking he was still interested in a life of servitude, and give him time to find out what to do.

He snatched the letter off his owl and tossed her a treat before letting her return to the owlery.

I suppose your suggestion is a wise one, although I dare say there will be some disappointment. Your N.E.W.T.s are important, since you will be required to hold a respectable face to the public. However, any information you are able to gather, you will be expected to report at once.

That was it. No, hello son, how was your day? No, how is school going? Are you still top of the Slytherin class? Still excelling at Quidditch? No, that was for the letters his mum sent him. Rage boiled inside of him, but he was careful to keep a mask like expression as he tossed the letter into the fireplace. There was no doubt any emotions he betrayed would be reported back to parents by those who watched him.

He sat back in his chair and pulled up his parchment. “Let's finish this,” he commanded. “I don't want to be down here all night.”

Sod it, he thought. I am going to see Ginny. She was far too irresistible, and much preferable to doing homework assigned by Snape or being in the presence of the Future Death Eaters of England club.

********************

Big surprise in the next chapter, by the way. Probably gonna earn me a lot of hate mail!!! >:)

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Alright my lovelies. The drama starts. No more fluffiness. Keep reviewing though please. I adore reviews….

CHAPTER 13 Left Behind

Ginny's O.W.L.s came and went and she managed to survive. Ron hadn't said anything else about her mysterious rash, and she had made sure Draco didn't leave anymore hickeys; at least, not on her neck. She and Draco hadn't stopped seeing each other, but with the looming summer vacation, Ginny found herself more worried than excited. At Hogwarts, she was able to see Draco every single day. Sometimes they met in the empty dungeons, sometimes up in one of the unused classes on the 7^th floor, and he crept to her room at least once a week. But during the summer, she couldn't think of a single way to see him. It wasn't like her family was going to invite him to the Burrow or to Grimmauld Place or where ever they were staying, and she wasn't going to be a welcome guest at Malfoy Manor. But as worried as she was about not seeing Draco, he was a thousand times more concerned about seeing his father.

Three days before school let out, Ginny and Draco were hiding directly outside of the Hogwarts gates. Lying in the warm sun, Ginny picked handfuls of grass and piled them into neat hills on Draco's back.

“What are you doing?” he groaned.

“Nothing,” she lied.

“Are you getting me dirty?”

“No.” She flicked her wrist and knocked a tiny pile of dust towards him.

“Oh yeah?” Draco grabbed a handful of earth and threw it at Ginny.

“Ew!” she exclaimed as it hit her robes.

“Terrific,” Draco exclaimed crossly. “Look what you did.”

“What I did?” Ginny asked, eyeing the dirt on his hands. “You picked it up.”

“No, I-”

Ginny heard the voice at the same time. Harry's voice, drifting over the wall.

“He's in Hogsmead.”

“But how do you know?” her brother demanded.

“I know he's there. He's waiting for me. I can finish this now!” Harry's voice was urgent.

“But what are we going to do, Harry?” Hermione spoke up. “We can't just walk out!”

“We'll take the passage,” Harry said finally. “The one I used in our third year.”

“Where is that?” Ron asked.

“The hunchback witch statue on the third floor.”

“Do you remember the password?”

“Yeah. Dissendium.”

Ginny and Draco exchanged glances as the voices faded. “Do you think they're going now?” he asked.

“Probably,” Ginny admitted, feeling guilty. Harry, Hermione, and Ron and been dedicatedly researching You Know Who, and she hadn't helped at all. Instead, she spent all her time with Draco, ignoring Ron's outbursts and Harry's dirty looks.

He closed his eyes and remained silent, and when he opened them, Ginny was almost afraid at the look of resignation in them. “I'm going with them.”

Ginny nodded, troubled, but not surprised. “So am I.”
Draco bit his lower lip. “I've got to get my cloak so that no one will know my face. The Death Eaters would kill me in two seconds flat if they see me.”

They scurried back inside the grounds one at a time, and waited until Harry had disappeared inside the castle before following.

“I'll meet you there,” Draco whispered as they parted. “Don't go without me.”

Ginny nodded. “Okay.”

She made a beeline for the statue and danced impatiently, waiting for Draco.

“Ms. Weasley.”

She whirled around and saw Professor McGonagall walking towards her.

“Yes ma'am?”

“I was wondering if could have a word.”

Ginny looked around helplessly, but Draco was no where in sight. “I, um . . .”

“It will just take a moment.”

“Sure.” She bit her lip as she followed her professor down the hall, opposite the direction Draco would be coming in. As they began climbing the stairs to her office, Neville's voice cut through the quiet.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Longbottom,” McGonagall greeted him.

Ginny waited until he was nearly out of sight and then said, “Oh. I forgot. May I go speak to Neville for just a moment, professor? I'll be quick.”

“Very well,” she agreed.

Ginny raced down the stairs. “Neville!”

“Yeah?” he turned to face her.

“Listen, listen, it's very important,” she whispered. “Harry thinks You Know Who is in Hogsmead and he's gone to face him.”

“What?” he gasped.

“Shh, shh! I'm supposed to meet Draco at-”

“Malfoy?”

“Yes, please listen. I'm supposed to meet him at that statue on the 3^rd floor of the humpbacked witch. It's a passage way to Hogsmead, but McGonagall's got me. Will you tell him to wait for me and I'll hurry?”

Neville stared at her, confused.

“Neville, I know you don't like Draco, but just tell him I sent you and it will be okay,” she begged.

“Okay,” he relented finally.

Ginny went back to her head of house and followed her to her office.

“The results of the O.W.L.s are not in yet,” Professor McGonagall told her, “but I have heard that you excelled in many of your subjects.”

“My O.W.L.s? But I just took them.”

“Yes, but the rumors on the results come back to us very quickly.”

“Right.”

“But what I wanted to talk to you about, is the other rumors I have been hearing.”

“What other rumors?” Ginny asked, glancing at the hourglass behind her teacher.

“Regarding you and Mr. Malfoy.”

Ginny had no time to react, to wonder how the rumors were started or what they meant. “Yes, well-”

“I assume you are aware of his father's position in this war.”

“Of course I am. His father tried to kill me, but I don't think Draco is his father.”

“And neither does Professor Dumbledore,” McGonagall forced a smile at her. “However, Professor Snape and I have been-”

“Professor Snape?”

“I am sure you are aware of his duty to the Order.”

Ginny knew good and well that it was Snape's job to pretty much spy on the Death Eaters, or at least something like that. “Why would you talk about me with Snape?”

“Because it concerns us. As far as You Know Who and his Death Eaters are concerned, Mr. Malfoy is scheduled to join them this summer!”

“He's not going to,” Ginny told her quickly, hoping this would end soon.

“He's not?”

“No,” she sighed. “They wanted him to join right after the Holidays and be a spy, but he didn't. He did want Hermione told him to, and-”

“Ms. Granger?” Her professor looked at her with clear skepticism in her eyes.

Ginny nodded. “Yes. Hermione told him to tell his father he was flattered, but he needed to concentrate on his N.E.W.T.s!”

McGonagall sat back in her chair, digesting Ginny's words.

Ginny was paying no attention. She knew her Professor meant well, but the longer she talked, Ginny realized without a doubt the Draco had gone on without her.

“Are you alright, Ms. Weasley?”

Ginny glanced at her watch. She had been in here for nearly 25 minutes, and without warning, a painful pressure was filling her chest. Suddenly the room was hotter than she could bare and she was having difficulty breathing. “No! I have to go!” She jumped up and ran down the stairs, back towards the passage way. “Dissendium!” she shouted at the statue, banging her wand against it. The witch's back opened and as Ginny scrambled upward, McGonagall's voice rang out.

“What are you doing?”

“I have to go,” Ginny insisted frantically, the panic gripping her. “They need me!”

“Who needs you?” She took hold of Ginny's legs and began to pull her back.

“No! Harry's there! He's in Hogsmead. You Know Who is there! Harry went to face him! Something happened. I can feel it!”

“Professor, what is going on?” This time it was Snape.

“She says Harry went to Hogwarts to face You Know Who,” McGonagall told Snape before turning back to Ginny. “Who else went?”

“All of them!” Ginny hysterically tried to slide into the statue. Nothing was coming into focus anymore. The pain in her chest had spread through her arms and her back. “Harry and Hermione and Ron and Draco and probably Neville. I need to go!”

“Take her to Dumbledore's office,” Snape said sharply. “I'll round up the Order.”

“No!” Ginny screamed, panic overcoming her. Something was wrong. Something had gone wrong. “I have to go.”

She didn't have to wait to go to Dumbledore's office. He stepped out of the room across the hall. “Ms. Weasley.”

“He's there, Professor,” she shouted. “He's in Hogsmead and Harry went.”

“And you said Mr. Malfoy went?” he inquired.

“Yes!” she told him, beginning to cry as she struggled to breathe. “I think Neville went with him. They went to help. Something happened. I can feel it. Something bad.”

“This tunnel leads to Honeydukes, I believe?”

She nodded, crying uncontrollably, the world fading in and out.

“Take her to the hospital wing.” And he was gone.

Ginny cried and screamed and fought, and even though Madam Pomfrey poured a calming drought down her throat, the panic overwhelmed her she threw it back up, and then blacked out.

***

Any guesses about what went wrong?

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Chapter 14 wouldn't have gotten here so fast, if not for Drailla, who offered me flowers & chocolates (hehehehe)! Thanks to everyone for the review. And of course I'm not going to kill off Draco. At least, not in this story!

CHAPTER 14 Losing It

“You shouldn't be here.”

“Dumbledore said I could stay.”

“It will just make things worse for her family.”

Ginny struggled to open her eyes.

“Ginny!” Draco's bruised face came into view in front of her.

“Mr. Malfoy, you need to get back in your own bed right now!” Madam Pomfrey's voice announced crossly.

Ginny struggled to sit up. “What happened?”

“See what you've done?” Madam Pomfrey said, frowning.

“No! Tell me.”

Draco sat down on the side of her bed and closed his eyes. He had scratches on his cheek, cuts along his arms, and his robes were in shambles. “Ginny, it's not good.”

“This is not the time, Mr. Malfoy, now-”

“Stop!” Ginny snapped. “Let him tell me.”

“When we got there, everything was already a disaster. Dumbledore got there right after us. It's a good thing, Harry, he can't take him, I just . . .” Draco took a deep breath, but the only color on his face was the two pink spots of color in his cheeks. “Your brother went first. He insisted on going first out that trapdoor into Honeydukes, and it was a trap. They were waiting. We could hear someone scream that curse all the way down the tunnel. Even Neville tried to . . . I'm sorry, Ginny.”

Ginny could say nothing. No air was reaching her lungs.

Draco reached out and circled his arms around her back. “I'm sorry. I tried to get there as fast as I could.” His voice cracked, but Ginny remained still.

Ron. Ron. Ron. Her brother. He wasn't gone. He couldn't be. She didn't believe it. “No.”

“What?” Draco looked up and Ginny saw that his eyes were wet.

“No! NO! NO NO NO NO!”

“So you have told her?” Professor Dumbledore was standing on the other side of her bed. “He wanted to check the area for Harry, Ms. Granger told me. He saved Harry.”

Ginny didn't care. Harry should have gone, not her brother, not her Ron. She had barely spoken to Ron in weeks, and now he was gone. Her stomach began to churn violently.

“Ginny,” he said softly, “this is a difficult time I know, but no place is safe now. You and your family are going to stay at Harry's house. Your parents are already there. Remus and Tonks are coming to get you.”

Ginny stared blankly, letting tears fall rapidly.

“I know your family may not understand my decision yet, but Mr. Malfoy will be going with you. He is in as much danger as any of you.”

“Where am I going?” Draco asked.

“Did they see you?” Ginny managed to ask.

Draco nodded. “My father saw me.”

Ginny felt like a hippogriff had sat down on her chest. The room began to grow dark and Dumbledore's voice faded.

***

When Ginny awoke she was falling. She hit the floor with a painful thud, and quickly scrambled up, disoriented. Tonks was staring down at her, her eyes as red as her hair. “Where am I?”

“Knight Bus,” Tonks trembled. “Going to the Order's house.”

“Where's Draco?”

“There.”

Ginny looked and saw him leaned against a window, staring moodily out. This isn't real. No, it's not real at all.

“I'm so sorry,” Tonks reached out to hug her. “So, so sorry.”

When they reached number 12, Grimmauld Place, Ginny saw Draco glance at a scrap of paper and repeat the address. Not knowing what else to do, Ginny reached out and picked up his hand. They entered the house tentatively and found it dreadfully quiet. Ginny was relieved to see that it had been cleaned up though, and there were no mounted house elf heads or screaming portraits. No! You can't think about those things! Focus! Your brother is gone. But Ginny couldn't think about that. Instead she wondered why the house was so silent, where everyone was.

Hermione and Harry were in the living room. She was sitting on the couch, sobbing into her hands and Harry was staring blankly into space. Draco's grip on her hand tightened, and behind her, Lupin cleared his throat.

Harry's eyes slowly slid into focus, but Hermione never looked up.

“Charlie will be here soon,” Lupin said slowly.

Harry nodded, looking as disconnected from his body as Ginny felt. “Thanks.”

It took Ginny a moment to realize he was talking to Draco.

“Thanks for helping us,” Harry told him.

Draco nodded stiffly. “Thanks for letting me stay at your house.”

The room fell silent again, except for Hermione's sobs, and Ginny dropped Draco's hand and went to put her arms around the girl, holding her and willing herself to join in the sobs, but none came.

When Ginny finally pulled herself away from Hermione, both Harry and Draco were gone. “Come on,” Ginny tugged Hermione's robe. “Let go to our room. You should sleep.”

Ginny settled Hermione in the bed of the room they had shared two summers before and left to find Draco.

She crept up two flights of stairs to the room Fred and George had once stayed in and found Draco sitting in the window seat, staring at the night sky. He didn't turn to face her as she came in, so she shut the door behind her and edged up to him, sliding her arms around his waist.

“Lupin said to tell you that your parents are in their room on the top floor, but they've been given a dreamless sleeping potion.” His words were careful and even.

Ginny pressed her head against his back and nodded. “Tell me what happened.”

“What?”

“Just with . . . your father.”

“Oh. Right. It was a big mess.” He hesitated, as if hoping she would change her mind. “Longbottom and I went running . . . Potter was battling with You Know Who and that left Granger, she was trying to fight all those Death Eaters. We didn't even have time to think. We got there and had to start fighting, but Dumbledore showed up pretty quickly. He got rid of most the Death Eaters, and was battling You Know Who and trying to keep Potter out of it.” There was a long silence. “When the Dark Lord decided he wasn't going to win, he told his people to leave, but . . . my hood slipped off, and . . . my father looked up. I knew it was him. He saw me. He didn't say anything, didn't try to curse me.” Draco paused. “He just looked at me.”

Ginny chewed the inside of her lip and waited.

“But when they were leaving he told me that I wasn't his son anymore.”

Ginny froze. So Draco had lost a family member yesterday also. She didn't know what to do anymore. She was lost inside her head, lost in this huge house. Draco shifted in her arms and leaned down to kiss her forehead.

The abandoned, vulnerable expression on Draco's face matched the tangled feelings in her chest, so she stood on her tiptoes and kissed his mouth, trying to make some sense out of her emotions.

“Ginny,” Draco whispered after several moments, “I-”

“Let's not talk,” she begged. Please don't stop, she added silently. Please give me something, give me anything to fill up this numbness in me.

He nodded, staring at her red, streaked face and wished he could make all her pain go away. If this was what she wanted, he would be glad to help out. He pulled her gently towards the bed, kissing her over and over, closing his mind until he was focused on Ginny and Ginny only. Her fire colored hair, her freckles and how much he wanted to kiss each and everyone of them, the way her lips tasted and the way she arched her back beneath him.

She let him slip her clothes off and made no move to stop him when he began to tug on her underclothes; instead she reached back and undid his trousers, grabbing his waistband and pulling down his them and boxers in one quick move. She stretched open her legs beneath him and he fit perfectly against her.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “Please, I want this, I want you.” I am a horrible, horrible person. My brother is gone. My brother was killed. He's not coming back and all I can do is lose my virginity to the boyfriend my brother hated.

Slowly, carefully, painfully Draco pushed into her until they were joined together, fitting together so well he didn't know where he stopped and she began. He lost himself in her heat, lost himself completely in Ginny.

Ginny tried to hold her breath and relax at the same time, pain searing from her thighs and roaring across her body. This is what you deserve. This is exactly what you get for disrespecting your brother's memory, she told herself.

“Are you okay?” he asked as she gasped in a sharp breath.

“Yes,” she whispered, “just . . . be still a minute.”

He waiting, kissing her forehead. “We don't have to do this. I don't want to do anything that-”

“Shh,” she hissed.

He closed his mouth and watched her, kissing her lips and ears and neck and until she was relaxed and moved beneath him like she had been made for this, made just for him, whispering his name again and again, until he could no longer hold back and let go of himself inside of her, ensuring that she would always he his.

****

I'm taking a truly depressing history of the Vietnam War class right now, and learning about the different ways people cope with grief is what formed Ginny's reaction to the death. It's not that she's a heartless cow, but that some people deal with things by not dealing with them. I'm not saying it's right or healthy or normal, but it happens.

Please don't send too much hate mail.

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Yippee! A new chapter finally. Hope y'all enjoy it. Thanks bunch to everyone who's been reviewing!

CHAPTER 15 Muggle Toys

The first morning they were there, Ginny and Draco went down to the kitchen in their bed clothes and no one even noticed. Tonks, Lupin, Harry, Fred, Snape, and Moody were sitting at the table, eating, or at least picking at their food in silence, and no one even gave them a second glance. Ginny supposed she should be glad, because she had expected a bit more fireworks for having a Malfoy as a boyfriend, but she knew that each of them was coping with the loss of Ron in their own way, and when they had come to terms with that, the explosion would undoubtedly come.

The summer would have dragged by like an Azkaban sentence if Draco had not been there. Ginny's parents barely spoke, both of them immersing themselves in planning for the Order to defeat the Dark Lord, not speaking Ron's name except late at night when they thought everyone else was sleeping. Harry, Hermione, Draco, and Ginny made their own plans, practicing spells and hexes and curses, until Ginny was certain she could kill someone with Avada Kedavra if she tried. Fred and George threw themselves into their work, while Bill, Charlie, and Percy only came around to help with the Order, unable to deal with the obvious lacking presence of Ron. No one seemed to notice, or even care, that Ginny and Draco slept in the same room every night. Her mother had hugged Draco tightly after Dumbledore told her parents how he helped fight the Dark Lord in Hogsmead. Her father had thanked him, but Ginny didn't expect much more from him. He barely spoke to anyone.

Ginny was convinced she was a horrible person. While every other member of her family spent their days and nights crying, she spent her days hiding with Draco and her nights sleeping with them. She tried to make herself cry, but she couldn't, so instead, she punished herself by not eating, selfishly unwilling to give Draco up.

“So, this is Harry's house, right?” Draco asked her during their second week.

Ginny nodded and looked up. “Sirius left it to him.”

“So he doesn't have to stay with his Muggle family?”

“I'm not sure. I think he'll have to, but only for a week or so.”

“Why? If this is his house, why can't he stay here?”

“It's something about his mother's blood protecting him, and since he lives with his mum's sister, that is a power that keeps him safe. I don't really know.”

Draco crossed the room and stared out the great window in the living room. “What do you think is going to happen to us when we go back to Hogwarts?”

“What do you mean?” she asked, watching him.

“I don't think I'm going to be welcome back in Slytherin.”

That thought hadn't occurred to Ginny. “Why not?”

“A lot of their parents are big supporters of the Dark Lord. I'm sure they'll have heard about what I did.”

Ginny nodded and picked up the day old copy of the Daily Prophet. Attacks, attacks, and more attacks. The Order was making progress; they were capturing Death Eaters and their supporters everyday, but it was hard to contain them, since there were no Dementors to ensure their stay in Azkaban.

“I don't want to fight anymore,” she said finally. “I just want this to be over. I don't want to lose anyone else.”

“That is what we all want.”

Ginny turned and saw Tonks standing in the doorway.

“Here.” Tonks crossed the room and handed Ginny a large paper bag. “I thought you might need some entertainment.”

“Thanks.” Ginny looked in the bag and found a deck of wizard playing cards, chess pieces, several books and comic books and a small bottle in the very bottom. “What's this?” She pulled out the bottle and held it up to the light.

“Put that away,” Tonks hissed. “Someone could walk in here.”

Draco reached for it and glanced at the bottle.

“I figured it was the least I could do to keep another disaster from happening in your family. You take two swallows on the same day of every month. So if you start today, you take your next drink on the 15^th of next month.” A sly smile was forming in the corners of her lips, and Ginny felt her face heating up.

“Is this anti-pregnancy potion?” she asked quietly.

Tonks nodded and then laughed. “Why are you so embarrassed? It's not hard to figure out when you're staying in the same room.”
“No one else has said anything,” Draco pointed out.

“Well, they have other things to be concerned with,” she shrugged.

“You're not here at night,” Ginny said suspiciously.

“No, but Lupin is.”

Ginny felt like a firework had gone off in her skull, even her ears and the back of her neck were burning painfully.

***

Harry left without warning in the middle of the summer to go stay at his Muggle family's house for a week, and Hermione was so distraught, Dumbledore sent her home to her parents.

Neither Ginny nor Draco were allowed out of the house, so they spent their days searching the house for remnants of the Black family's past, and occasionally finding pieces of the family history, and they spent their nights clinging to each other, trying to fill the emptiness inside.

“I think you would have liked Sirius,” Ginny told Draco one afternoon. “I did. I loved him.”

Draco nodded. “My mum thinks the world of him.”

“She does?”

“Yeah. Of course, not in public, but in private. Mum hates Bellatrix, but she didn't want to be disowned like Andromeda.”

Ginny sat still, taking in this new information. “So why did your parents get married?”

“My father wasn't always like this, mum says. She says he used to be . . . different. But when his older brother was killed, the family fortunes fell to him. Mum says money corrupts.”

“I wouldn't know,” Ginny gave a light hearted shrug.

The beginnings of a smile curled around the edges of Draco's lips. “Fred and George would.”

Ginny laughed. “They are doing so good, even with the war going on and all. It kills mum to admit to how successful they are when this whole time she was always after them to do good in school.”

When Harry came back he brought with him a present for Ginny. “To keep you entertained.”

“You shouldn't have gotten anything,” she said, shaking her head. “We aren't allowed out of the house, so I can't get even you anything for your birthday.”

“You can order something,” Draco reminded her lazily.

Harry's lips attempted to curl into the first hint of a smile Ginny had seen all summer. There were only three weeks left before they would head back to Hogwarts, and again, things were different. If a stranger looked at her family, they might not guess that they were missing a family member, just maybe that they weren't very talkative.

Ginny peeled the wrapping off and then stared at the large box. “This is . . . is this a Muggle television?”

Draco sat up and frowned. “A what?”

“Close,” Harry admitted. “It's a DVD player.”

“What does it do?” Draco asked.

“I thought you didn't like anything to do with Muggles,” Ginny teased.

He shrugged and focused on Harry.

“It plays movies,” he explained.

“Oh. We watched one in Muggle studies,” Ginny recalled.

“Watch.” Harry pulled it out of the box, opened a plastic case and took out a thin, round, silver disk. Carefully he set the disk in the machine, closed the lid, and pressed several buttons. Draco nearly jumped in shock as sound emitted from the machine.

“And it's for me?” Ginny asked.

Harry nodded. “I figured it would keep us entertained since we're not allowed to leave, you know.”

Draco poked the screen with his finger. “Maybe Muggles know more than my father gave them credit for.”

Harry, however, wasn't as interested in the Muggle toy as Ginny and Draco were. He spent most of his time with Lupin, except in the evening, when the Order met after dinner to discuss their plans. At first, Ginny assumed Fred and George would let them know what was going on since they had officially joined the Order, but they took themselves seriously for the first time in their lives and remained quiet. Ginny also had the sneaking feeling that being around her reminded them too much of Ron, and that they couldn't stand the fact that Malfoy was there, as her boyfriend.

Draco and Ginny spent their remaining days shut up in their room, the window wide open since they were not allowed to go outside, and the Muggle movie machine playing almost all the time. Tonks brought them new DVDs every week. Instead of helping Ginny though, they seemed to have a numbing effect on her.

“You have to eat,” Draco told her crossly one evening. “When was the last time you did?”

“I don't know,” she muttered, staring at the tiny screen.

“It was yesterday, wasn't it?”

She shook her head.
“Damn it!” he shouted, snapping the cover shut. “Look at me.”

Slowly, she let her eyes travel across the space to Draco's red face.

“When was it?”

“I don't know. When Dumbledore was here.”

“That was three days ago.”

“Okay.” Her eyelids were falling downward. If she couldn't watch her Muggle movies, well then, she wanted to sleep.

“Get up!” he snapped. “You need to eat!”

“I just want to sleep, Draco, okay?” she pleaded.

“You are going to waste away in here! Come on!”

“My brother,” she whispered, pain hitting her in the chest. “My brother is gone.”

Draco sucked in a large breath and leaned down, cupping her face in his hands. “Ginny, he's been gone all summer, baby. You already know this.”

Tears piled up in her eyes. “No.” She had known that Ron was gone, but it had just hit her so hard it physically hurt, Ron wasn't coming back. Ron who had been mad at her. Ron who she had barely spoken to. He was gone. “No.”

“Come on. You have to eat,” Draco insisted, pulling her from the bed.

She shook her head, sobbing. “I can't.”

Draco let go of her hands in disgust and stomped out of the room. Minutes later, he was back, Lupin and her mother in tow.

“Ginny, honey,” her mother's voice weary reached her ears. “What is it?”

“He's gone,” she sobbed.

“She hasn't eaten in three days,” Draco told them, his words coming out helpless and anxious. “She acts like she just realized . . . what happened.”

“Oh, honey,” Mrs. Weasley choked back her own tears and put her arms around Ginny's small body. “He's not gone forever, you know. Death, well, death is not the end.”

Draco's eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

“You're not going to make things better by starving yourself.”

Lupin put his hand on Draco's arm and motioned for him to follow. “Let's give them some time,” he whispered, once they were in the hall.

Unsure of what else to do, Draco followed Lupin down to the kitchen and dropped into a chair at the long table.

“What's going on?” Potter asked.

Draco jumped slightly. “Sorry, I didn't see you. Ginny's . . . upset.”

Lupin sat between them and passed out bottles of butterbeer. “The reality of the situation is setting in,” he said softly.

“Oh,” Harry nodded and focused on the invisible dirt specks in the tabletop. “Oh.”

Lupin cleared his throat and looked around. “So what will you be doing when you finish your N.E.W.T.s, Draco?”

Draco looked up again, startled. “Um, I'm not really sure. My father . . . well, my father wanted me to, uh, follow in his footsteps, but I'm pretty sure he's officially disowned me, so I guess I'll just see what I . . .”

“What you?” Lupin prompted.

“I guess I'll just see what I do well in.” He stared uncomfortably at his hands. What was going on? When in his life, had anyone ever asked him what he wanted to do with himself, except for Professor Snape, when he had been required. He had no idea, at least, no idea he had ever shared out loud. “I'd like to play Quidditch.” There, he'd said it. He braced himself for Potter's laugh.

But Harry nodded. “Me too.”

“I thought you wanted to be an Auror,” Lupin asked mildly.

“Yeah, I do, but once Voldemort is gone, that's what I'd like to do.”

Draco stared at Harry. He spoke so calmly, as if defeating the Dark Lord were simply the next item on his list.

“You can stay here, you know.”

“What?”

“You can stay here,” Harry repeated flatly. “I mean, this house is pretty big. There are plenty of rooms. Ron was going to be my roommate but, well I'll be needing one now.”

“What about the Order?” Draco asked, unable to believe what he was hearing. Why in the bloody hell would Potter offer his house to him?

“They can still come. Like I said, plenty of rooms. If you have other plans, though-”

“I don't,” Draco stated bluntly.

“Well then,” Lupin interjected. “Settled.”

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Although I am supposed to be doing homework right now, in an effort to inspire myself to finish this story I've decided to post another chapter. Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews. PS. Just so you know, I've decided to post another story here. It's called Getting it Together. Just had to plug myself!

CHAPTER 16 Back to Hogwarts

Ginny came down to the kitchen nearly an hour later, her face swollen and blotchy, and Draco wanted to grab her right there and make all her pain go away. Her mother went to the cupboard and quickly began to fix a dinner for Ginny.

“Here,” she announced triumphantly, setting a bowl of stew in front of Ginny. “Eat this, and I'll get you tucked into bed.”

Two things occurred to Draco at once. The first was that this was the only meal he had seen Mrs. Weasley prepare all summer, and the second was that if Mrs. Weasley tried to tuck Ginny into bed in her own room, she would notice in two seconds flat that Ginny did not sleep in there. The second thought seemed to occur to Lupin at the exact same time. Draco received a sharp kick under the table as Lupin announced, “Well, I guess I'll go get ready for the night.”

“Me too,” Draco mumbled, following him out of the room.

“Quick,” Lupin hissed. “I'll go make sure the room looks lived in and you bring some of her stuff down. Just get enough to make it look like she uses it, and hurry!”

Draco took the stairs three at a time, grabbed several of Ginny's pants, a skirt he found on the floor, three blouses, and shoes. “Here,” he gasped, dropping the items in the middle of the floor.

“Good,” Lupin said, draping the clothes throughout the room. “There. Does that look alright?”

“Yeah,” Draco looked around. “It does.”

“Okay, let's go.”

They dashed down the stairs to the living room, and waited.

“Now there is one thing I've been wanting to ask you,” Lupin said solemnly, not looking Draco in the eye.

Draco's insides squirmed. He knew what was coming.

“Are you and Ginny being safe?”

“Yes,” Draco said defiantly, staring him in the eyes. “We are.”

“Okay.”

Lupin left it at that, and they sat in silence, Lupin pouring over maps and blueprints, and Draco thumbing through ancient books, until a worn Mrs. Weasley came in the room.

“Well,” she said, wringing her hands. “I got her to bed. I tried to give her a sleeping potion, but she refused.” She sighed heavily, and Draco wondered if she always had looked older than she was or if it was just lately. “Do you think I should have insisted?”

“No,” Lupin stated placidly, glancing at Draco. “She'll be fine. When does Arthur get home?”

She sighed again and sat down next to Draco. “I don't know. He stays at the Ministry a lot, you know. Easier I suppose . . .”

Lupin nodded. “There is much work to be done there. The Department of Mysteries is very busy I hear.”

“Yes, yes.” She stared blankly at the wall. Suddenly she turned to Draco. “Thank you for taking care of Ginny. I know our families have never gotten along, but Dumbledore is right, of course. We must unite. We can only over come . . . this, if we are strong together.”

Draco nodded, unsure what he was supposed to say. Please don't cry. Please don't cry.

“I know my family may not all seem very friendly right now, but they'll come around. You'll see.”

She was right. Fred and George ignored him completely, and Draco got the feeling this may have been a good thing, and Ginny's oldest brothers were just cordial enough to get by. He wasn't even sure if her father remembered that he was there.

“You should get some sleep Molly,” Lupin suggested, “if you are still going with Tonks to Diagon Alley tomorrow.”

Draco mumbled goodnight and watched as she left the room, looking slightly confused as to what was going on. If anyone had told him last summer, that in a year he'd be hiding out in Harry Potter's house with the Weasley's, Professor Lupin, and a handful of disowned relatives, he would have declared them mental. And yet here he was, taking cover from his father. It was truly pathetic. But even if he wanted out he knew his father wasn't going to take him back, not without some painful oath to the Dark Lord, he was sure.

“I guess I'll go to bed also,” he said finally. He trudged up the stairs and stopped outside Ginny's room, listening. No light shone under the door and the room was silent. Maybe she did need some sleep, he decided. Sleeping with him couldn't have been restful; some nights he woke himself up with nightmares.

He pushed the door open to his room, and there she was, sound asleep in his bed. He suppressed a smile and quickly stripped down to his night clothes. Good. He didn't like the idea of sleeping alone.

When Ginny woke in the night, she felt Draco's warm, comfortable body pressed into hers. She struggled to breathe. The pain in her chest was so great it was physical. Go back to sleep, she willed herself, but it was no use. The loss was so thick, her grief so agonizing that her mind could not comprehend it. Instead, she rolled over to Draco and buried her face in his neck, her fingers sliding down his chest until they reached the waist band of his night clothes and tugged them down. Her nightshirt still on, she wiggled off her knickers and threw one leg over Draco, kissing him.

“Ginny?” he asked sleepily.

“Make me forget,” she begged. “Please, make this go away.”

“What, what's, are you okay?”

“Please, make me forget.”

“Okay,” he whispered, his fingers reaching for her face. “Come here. I'll help you.”

She lifted herself up and guided him inside of her, and lifted her body up and down, slowly, leisurely, concentrating on the pleasure and the pleasure only. Draco fumbled to slip his hands underneath her nightshirt and onto her perfect breasts, but she pushed his arms back down.

“Just love me,” she whispered. “Just love me.”

***

The train ride back to Hogwarts was the longest Ginny had ever experienced. Hermione had greeted them with a smile, but Ginny could see the sadness underneath. They received stares from their fellow students, but she wasn't sure if they were stares of sympathy for Ron or stares of disbelief for Draco. After all, they were all thinner, paler, and looked older than they had two months ago, but Draco's mother wasn't there to see him off this year with her usual fuss and large packages of sweets. True, there was a large crowd when they left: both her parents, Fred and George, Bill, Moody, Lupin, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mundungus Fletcher, and several others whose names she still wasn't quite sure of had all seen them off. And there had been more than a little fretting about them, including Draco getting two hugs from her mum, one from Tonks, and even handshakes from the twins. Maybe that's why the Slytherin's are staring, she thought bitterly.

When they arrived at the school's Great Hall, they were shocked to find that there were no tables.

“This,” Dumbledore announced when they had settled down, “is the first step to promote unity among our houses. I cannot stress enough the importance of our uniting. You are all aware of the loss we suffered at the end of the school year, and I must warn you it will not be the last. Lord Voldemort was responsible for the death of Ronald Weasley, and many, many others. We must unite to defeat this foe.” With that, he waved his hands and tables appeared. Not the four long tables they were used to, but 12 shorter tables. “Please, fill free to mingle.”

Ginny and Draco sat with Harry, Hermione, Dean, Seamus, Luna, Neville, Zoë, Colin, Anthony Goldstein, and Terry Boot.

“If looks could kill,” Neville said crossly as they ate, “we'd all be dead.”

Ginny glanced in the direction of his eyes. At one of the tables, several Slytherin's, all the children of known or suspected Death Eaters had gathered.

“That's just something we'll have to get used to,” Harry shrugged, his mouth full.

“How are we supposed to unite with them?” Colin asked, sneering back at the table.

“We just have to,” Luna answered him serenely.

Draco squeezed Ginny's hand under the table while she shuffled the food on her plate, pretending to eat. She noticed Hermione doing the exact same thing; she was just rearranging the miniscule amount of food on her plate, hoping no one noticed.

After dinner, Ginny and Draco slipped out to the empty entrance hall. “I think I'll go to my room,” he told her. “I'm not really in the mood to be in there when the rest of my house comes in.”

Ginny nodded, wishing he didn't have to go. “Okay.”

Draco leaned forward to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Get some sleep. Tomorrow morning I'm going to make you eat.”

Ginny opened her mouth, but stopped when Dumbledore came into view.

“Ah, Mr. Malfoy, I was hoping to find you here,” he said, smiling.

“Yes sir?” Draco looked up quickly.

“I was wondering if you might be more comfortable with a different room to stay in this year. Many are indifferent of your most recent decisions, but I know there are some you may not wish to deal with at this moment.”

Draco's eyebrows arched high. “What do you mean?”

“I want to offer you some options this year. As you already know, we are trying to promote unity among our houses, and I can offer you a bed in another house, or your own room for the time being.”

Ginny's stomach twisted painfully. She knew Dumbledore was offering him Ron's empty bed. Hot tears filled her eyes as she waited for Draco to answer.

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I know this chapter is quite a bit shorter than usual, but I have good news. This morning, while I was supposed to be paying attention in Astronomy class (yawns) I figured out the rest of this story. So, obviously it's quite a bit longer than all my other works, but I promise, it won't be a 45 chapter story that drags into eternity. I'll just make the chappies longer! Thanks for all the reviews guys! And for everyone's who started reading Getting it Together, I will update that when I get home tonight!

CHAPTER 17 Readjusting

“I can't take . . . Weasley's bed, sir,” Draco told Professor Dumbledore.

A strange mixture of relief and disappointment washed over Ginny.

“Very well,” Dumbledore nodded. “That is to be expected. I have spoken with Professor Snape and he will arrange a private room for you, until other arrangements can be made.” He paused and looked over the top of his spectacles at Ginny, then back at Draco. “That is not to say, however, that the rules of this school are not to be obeyed.”

Ginny felt heat spreading across her cheeks and mumbled her reply under her breath, but Draco looked him in the eye and said, “Yes, sir.”

The first week passed quickly for Ginny. She had to adjust to her new schedule of classes, all intended to make her ready of her N.E.W.T.s, had found herself on more than one occasion wondering where her brother was, and had been unable to escape the sympathetic gaze of any teacher long enough to sneak down to Draco's new room.

They had been in school for three whole weeks before Ginny managed to sneak away from everyone and creep down to the dungeons, where Draco's room was located. When she entered the room they didn't speak. Draco's mouth bore down on her own and she gave in. He had her all but naked before they even reached his bed, and she was franticly trying to undo his trousers. He drove her shoulders into his mattress and pulled his trousers towards his knees. They stayed bunched at his ankles while he drove himself fiercely inside of her.

She gasped at the sudden intrusion, and bent her knees to allow him more access. Draco pounded into her so deeply she was positive he was reaching into her stomach. “More,” she whispered. “Harder.”

When she came it was violent and almost painful, but in a deliciously agonizing way, and Draco was only minutes behind with his own release, growling in her ear as he came.

The days began to blend with the weeks, then the months, and soon Ginny was engulfed in her studies, Quidditch, and Draco. They usually managed to see each other once a week, and with the load of homework, practice, and study groups, Ginny didn't think she could handle anymore. When she was alone with Draco, they didn't talk anymore. Talking was for greetings in the hall, meals at the Great Hall tables, and study groups; alone time was for sex, usually hard and needy, desperate sex. Plus, Harry's scar burned him more painfully than ever. Madam Pomfrey had Professor Snape brew him several different potions just so he could walk up right. On top of all that, her brother's memory haunted her at nights. She would be studying in the common room well after curfew and think she heard Ron say something to Harry or Hermione and when she laughed or tried to join in, she realized he wasn't there. Part of her wished he had chosen the route of becoming a ghost; at least she'd still have him. But, strangely, it was Harry who reminded her time and time again that death was not the end.

“Death for mortals is just a changing from one life to another,” he assured her as they stared into the Gryffindor fire, unable to sleep.

“How do you know?”

“Dumbledore told me.”

“He did?”

Harry nodded. “And Luna. She's reminded me too.”

“Luna?” Ginny repeated.

“Her mum died, you know.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Harry leaned across the couch and gave her a one armed hug. “How is Malfoy treating you?”

“Fine,” she said automatically.

“You don't seem happy.”

“I am. Well, I'm not, but it's not because of him.”

“Then why?”

“I just miss Ron,” she said, feeling her voice crack.

“Me too.” Harry's voice changed also.

“I guess mum told you we're going to have his memorial ceremony over the Holidays.”

Harry nodded. “She owled me and Hermione.”

“Percy's supposed to come.”

“Good. That would be good. Where is it going to be?”

“Here, I think. Dumbledore doesn't think that anywhere else is safe,” Ginny replied, staring into the fire.

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I'm trying to post this as fast as I write it & it gets edited cause even though I love this story there's so many more out there for me to work on! xoxoxxoxooxxoxo to all my reviewers!

CHAPTER 18 Funeral for a Friend

Ginny could barely hold herself up during the memorial service for her brother. If the realization that he was gone hadn't hit her before, it had now. She sat on a long pew in the Great Hall, sandwiched between Draco and Hermione, unable to focus on a single thing that was being said. Dumbledore, her father, Charlie, and Harry all sat at the front of the room, the expressions on their faces mirroring the feelings in her heart. The memorial wasn't just for Ron. Blaise was mentioned, and Sirius as well as Cedric Diggory. “And there are others,” Dumbledore was saying. “Others who we may not yet know of and others who will leave us in our mortality before this war ends.”

Ginny was unnerved by the large portrait of Ron staring at them from the front of the room. It was a portrait of Ron when he had been made prefect, not all that long ago. Ginny had seen it plenty of times before, waving at her from the mantel at the Burrow, but now her brother watched quietly as his memorial went on.

Her mum shed no tears, and Ginny was surprised, until she realized that her mother had cried plenty during the summer. It was Ginny who hadn't allowed herself time to grieve, still expecting Ron to come around corners and say hello to her or at least make some snide remark about Draco. So while her family had entered the healing process, she hadn't even gotten past the denial. While everyone else had accepted what had happened, she hadn't even properly mourned her brother.

Just three days ago, Hermione had looked at her and asked, “Am I doing the wrong thing? What would Ron think about this?”

Ginny had no answer. She had walked into the common room just in time to see Harry and Hermione guiltily jump apart.

“Are you mad at me?” Hermione asked, her voice pleading.

“No. I'm not mad. I know you loved Ron,” Ginny told her finally.

“I still love him. But I finally realized that he's not coming back.”

It wasn't seeing Harry and Hermione hold hands when they thought no one was looking, or the empty seat in the Great Hall, or even the fact that the terrific trio was no a duo, but it was her final words that hurt the most. Ron wasn't coming back.

“I can't stay here,” Ginny whispered to Draco after the memorial, after hugging people she barely knew, after the dinner feast. “I'm just going to go back to my room.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, his expression troubled.

“I just want to be . . . I can't be in here.”

“Let's go to my room. You can be alone in there.”

Ginny shook her head. Draco's room meant that they would inevitably fall into the bed, not speaking, but just trying to forget by having the roughest sex possible. The sex they had in his room always left her sore and bruised, but she preferred it that way. When she and Draco were fiercely pounding each other into the mattress or desk or floor, she didn't remember the war or the deaths or her exams or anything else.

If Draco understood her refusal, he didn't let on. “Come on,” he muttered. “I know somewhere we can go.”

In the noise and commotion of the Great Hall, they managed to slip out unnoticed. Ginny followed Draco out of the castle, off the grounds, and onto the path that led into Hogsmead.

“We'll be fine,” Draco reassured her, squeezing her gloved hand inside his own. “I doubt anyone will notice we're gone, and if they do, they'll probably think you're in my room, getting shagged senseless.”

She pretended to be offended and swung her free hand to hit him lightly on the arm, but a small smile reached her lips. “Where are we going then?”

“Just a place I know,” he told her, his sexy smile covering his lips. “So that you won't have to worry about all this.”

Ginny stopped mid-stride and stared at him. “Do you think that's what's wrong with me?”

“What do you mean?” he asked, tugging her along.

“That I haven't thought about Ron enough? Dumbledore said that grieving leads to healing. But I don't know if I've grieved.”

Draco stared at her and then up at the gray sky. “How could you not grieve? He's your brother.”

“I know.”

“We don't have to go. We can go back. I just want you to feel better.”

Ginny looked around at the bare trees and the town of Hogsmead looming just ahead. She held out her gloved hand and watched as a single snowflake drifted into her palm. “I want to go with you.”

Draco took her to Archimedes Inn, which was at the very edge of town, opposite the Shrieking Shack. She glanced around nervously before following him inside.

“I need a room for one night,” Draco told the wizard at the front counter.

“And I suppose you're old enough to rent a room for one night?” the wizard asked.

“Of course,” Draco said smoothly, pulling a handful of Galleons from his pocket.

The wizard eyed the money, then Draco and nodded. “Room 214 then.”

Ginny followed Draco into room 214. It was a large room with a king size bed in the middle, two large chairs, a desk, and in the bathroom, a large heart shaped bathtub. Ginny began to giggle. “Is this the honeymoon suite?”

Draco cracked a half smile. “Looks like it.”

Ginny sat on the edge of the bed and bounced up and down. “Well, it's nice. Do you think anyone will notice that we're gone?”

“I doubt it. Especially since it's the Holidays.”

They had their dinner sent to the room and spent nearly two hours in the heart shaped tub, just talking. Or rather, Ginny talked and Draco listened. It was the first time she'd managed to have a serious conversation about Ron since he'd died, and even though her fresh crop of tears had left her drained, she felt a little better. Like maybe that hole in her heart wasn't going to be an open wound anymore but a scar. Like maybe, just maybe, things could be allowed to heal and it wouldn't be an insult to Ron's memory. Draco had the hotel's boutique send them up nightclothes and when Ginny drifted off to sleep, for the first time in months, it came easily.

***

Draco wasn't sure what woke him from sleep, but the feeling that something wasn't right was absolutely suffocating him. Slowly, carefully, he edged his fingers underneath his pillow and gripped his wand. Hearing no sound from within the room, he opened his eyes and glanced around. Nothing seemed to be disturbed, except for the atmosphere in the room. Then he sensed it. Something was lurking. And it was right outside their door, ready to kill. His father.

Without thinking, he grabbed Ginny around the waist and apparated.

“What's going on?” she gasped as they tumbled to the snow covered ground.

“Come on,” he hissed, already running for the gate as he tugged her to her feet.

“What is it?” she asked again as they bolted across the school grounds, running barefoot through the snow, and trying to keep her gown down.

“My father. He was there! He was-”

“There you are.” The front door's of the castle swung open and Dumbledore towered in front of them. Even though he was in night robes, his presence seemed to fill the doorway and Ginny immediately felt guilty.

“I'm sorry,” she began.

“There is no time for that,” he cut her off. “Quickly, to my office.”

They followed behind him, his long hair and robes billowing behind him. Dumbledore snapped his password at the gargoyle and it quickly sprung aside. Ginny had never felt more thoughtless as the stairs took them up to the headmaster's office. The door opened and she saw Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape waiting there.

“How could you do this?” McGonagall began. “How could you be so very thoughtless, and on tonight, of all nights?”

“That is enough,” Dumbledore said. He pulled a great glass globe from his cabinet and placed it before them, tapping it with his wand. “It is just as I feared. They are at the gates.”

Snape glared at Draco. “You of all people should know that your father is able to track your movements!”

Draco looked guiltily at his bare feet.

“When you left for the summer, did it never occur to you that there was a reason your father was unable to find you? Did you not stop to think that Professor Dumbledore had sent you to one of the very few safe places?”

“Severus,” Dumbledore said lightly. “What's done is done.”

Ginny glanced around the room at the angry faces of past headmasters and mistresses glaring at them from their portraits, feeling uncomfortably indecent in her cotton nightgown with its scooped neck and mid thigh hem. “What's going on?”

“You must be aware Mr. Malfoy, that your father is now seeking to kill you, and it would seem that he's been alerted to Ms. Weasley's role in this as well. And that places her in great danger as well.” Dumbledore stared both of them in the eye. “Neither of you are to leave these grounds again without my permission if you value your life.”

As he spoke his fireplace roared to life and Fudge's face appeared in the flames. Ginny wrinkled her nose and stepped away, for she still hadn't forgiven the arrogant, pig headed ex-Minister for his stupidity during her 4^th year.

“Albus! They're everywhere! There are Death Eaters at your gate!” he gasped.

“I am already aware of this. We have the situation under control,” Dumbledore said calmly.

“Please, I don't know what to do. Can I Floo over?” he begged.

“Very well,” Dumbledore sighed, “but you cannot stay.”

Fudge came tumbling into the room moments later. “What will we do?”

“I don't think there is any we to speak of,” McGonagall said sharply.

Ginny glanced at Draco, who was watching the situation with a frown on his face.

Fudge scrambled out of his overcoat. “Hold this, will you?”

Without even glancing at her, he tossed his coat at Ginny who caught it. But before she could put it down, she felt an all too familiar tugging on her bellybutton and was caught up in a whirlwind of color and space and time as she left the safety of Hogwarts.

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HA! Three updates in one night! I have this theory that if I get this story done I can finish my homework that was due three weeks ago. Of course, probably not, cause I've already got another big plot running around in my head. BUT I have a promise to make. I will post the epilogue for Starting Over & finish Getting it Together (which you will be pleased to know is fully written, but a very depressing story; I love it) and will keep updating Secrets in my livejournal @ http://www.livejournal.com/users/jessakitty before I start posting this new story!

xoxoxoxoxox thanks for the inspirations

CHAPTER 19 Truth Comes Out

Draco watched with horror as the scene played out before him. Each second felt as if it had slowed to a minute. Ginny looked surprised, but caught Fudge's coat as it sailed through the air, and as her hands closed on it, Dumbledore launched himself across the room. Snape and McGonagall had both performed different hexes on Fudge, and then Ginny disappeared, Dumbledore landing where Ginny had just been.

“Where is she?” Dumbledore roared as he rounded on Fudge.

Draco took a good look at the former Minister and noticed the blank look in his eyes. “He's being controlled,” he managed to spit out. He felt like he had just been hit in the face with a stunning spell. His feet wouldn't move, his brain couldn't comprehend.

“I'll get the Veritaserum,” Snape said darkly before rushing from the room.

Dumbledore waved his hand and Fudge stiffly stood to his feet and then sat in a chair, magical bindings appearing to hold his wrists and ankles.

Draco lept forward and enclosed his hands around Fudge's neck, watching with twisted satisfaction as his eyes bulged. “Where is she? Where did she go?”

“Mr. Malfoy,” Dumbledore's still calm voice warned him, “although I do understand how you feel, killing him will not get us any closer to finding Ms. Weasley.”

Snape appeared back in the room at that moment, a small vial in his hand. He tipped Fudge's head back and forced the potion down his throat.

“Where did you send Ginny?” Draco demanded.

“To the Dark Lord,” Fudge said calmly.

“What location?” Dumbledore queried.

“The hideout.”

“Where is the hideout located?”

“I do not know.”

“Who put the curse on you?”

“Lucius. He was always such a good friend.”

Draco snorted before shouting, “Where the hell is she?”

“The hideout. The Lucius said his plan did not work and that I was to give this to the Weasley girl so she could be brought to the tower.”

Draco suddenly felt sick. “The tower.”

“Do you know about the tower?” Snape suddenly rounded on him.

Draco nodded. “My family's summer home. It's not being used. It has a tower.”

“Where is it?”

“In France,” he nearly whispered. “In south France.”

Snape nodded. “Yes, I know it well.”

“You've been there,” Draco told him. “It's well guarded.”

Dumbledore looked up at the many portraits. “He is not to leave here. When the Veritaserum and binds wear off, re-bind him. Of course, the door and fireplace will seal themselves against him. I also need some of you to alert Ron, Harry, and Hermione. They have always proved useful. Minerva, I need you to alert the Order. Draco I want you to go with her.”

“No! I have to find Ginny!”
“You will go with your professor. No one else knows how to find this tower and Snape will be coming with me.”

Draco nodded weakly, knowing if Dumbledore couldn't save Ginny, no one else could either.

McGonagall grabbed hold of Draco's wrist before he could say anymore and dragged him to the fireplace. She grabbed an extra large handful of Floo powder and shouted “Grimmauld Place!”

They landed noisily in the living room of Harry's house.

“Remus!” McGonagall shouted. “Remus, are you here?”

It took Draco several seconds to realize who she was calling. He stood still, unsure of what to do while she marched across the room, tapped her wand against a large oak chest and muttered something. He felt like a fool, standing in a house in London while Ginny was at the mercy of his father and the Dark Lord and quite possibly the other Death Eaters in the south of France. If she was still alive. Of course she is he told himself. But there he stood, unable to do a thing. He watched as his professor retrieved a glass globe similar to the one in Dumbledore's office and snapped “Order” at it.

“What's going on?” a sleepy Lupin asked, entering the room and glancing from Draco to McGonagall.

“Tell him,” she snapped as she peered into the globe. “Molly, get here right away. Alert your family. Everyone needs to be here now!” She continued talking to the globe, using names of people Draco recognized from the summer.

“They got Ginny,” he told Lupin flatly. “Fudge told her to hold his coat but it was a portkey. He was under the controlling curse.”

“Explain this from the beginning,” Lupin demanded, no longer sleepy.

Draco told him everything he could, as quickly as he could. He kept having to restart the story as more and more members of the Order filled up the room.

“My baby,” Mrs. Weasley kept sobbing. “Oh Merlin, my baby! I can't do this! We can't go through this again!”

“Don't do this to yourself Molly,” Lupin stepped up. “He doesn't want to kill her. You know what Dumbledore said.”

What the hell? Draco wondered. What who wanted? Father?

“How could you take her out of the grounds?” Hermione yelled. “Don't you know they have numerous spells on them to keep us safe!”

“She wasn't taken from Hogsmead!” he yelled back. “She was taken from Dumbledore's office!”

“She'd still be here and we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that!” she argued.

“Enough.” Mr. Weasley stepped between them. “We have to unite if we want to bring her back.”

Draco's ears began to burn. Not only had he been indirectly responsible for Ginny's kidnapping, but he had practically just admitted to the entire Order that they were sleeping together. Of course, any fool could have figured it out, and they hadn't shagged at all while they were at the Inn, but just the same, now everyone knew. Besides that, he felt like an outsider here because he was. Bloody fucking hell. He was Draco Malfoy. He was not supposed to feel like this.

“Draco, do you know how to set up a portkey?” Moody asked him.

Draco shifted uncomfortably under the gaze of his magical eye. “No. We are supposed to learn that next month.”

“Then I'll need the most accurate description of where this castle is located.”

The Malfoy's summer home in France really was a medieval castle, known for its private beach and extraordinary view, but it was continually cold and dark now matter how many heating charms were put on it even in the dead of summer. “It's well protected. It's gonna take us a while to undo all those hexes and spells.” He set to work telling Moody everything he knew about it, drawing maps and describing the views while the other members of the Order prepared for battle.

After nearly forty-five minutes, Moody decided he was ready. They used an umbrella, a cooking spoon, and an old plaque. When Moody gave the word, they all took hold of the object nearest them and Draco felt the tug on his belly button, then the world began to spin.

***

Ginny landed with a sickening thud, and before she could scramble to her feet, her wrists and ankles were bound.

“So, you stupid little girl, my son thought he could save you, did he?”

Ginny wasn't even given a chance to answer as a cloth wrapped itself around her mouth. She had never been so scared in her life. Lucius Malfoy stood before, towering over her, his lips pulled up into a cruel smile and his eyes cold and flat as they swept across her flimsy night dress.

“Know this,” he hissed. “When the Dark Lord tires of you, I will be here to find out exactly why my son gave everything up for you, and then I will kill you.”

She struggled into a sitting position, scooting back to make sure her gown stayed as low as it would go.

He left Ginny alone, and she managed to blink enough tears from her eyes to glance around the room. The room was fairly small, and circular with no furniture at all, with great stone walls rising up above her and a tiny slit of a window near the ceiling. Where am I? How did Fudge get involved in all this? Sure, he was a stupid git, but he wasn't evil. Was he?

She lost track of time after a while, fitfully dozing in and out of sleep. The room was completely dark when she woke to the sound of the heavy wooden door creaking open. “Ginny?”

That smooth, silky voice. The one that had only recently stopped invading her dreams and turning them into nightmares. The one that had tried to kill her before.

“Lumos,” the silky voice whispered. The room lit up and she saw Tom Riddle standing before her, smiling down at her petrified form.

He reached out and gently undid her gag, then her wrist and ankle bindings. “I've missed you so much.”

“Why are you doing this?” she croaked, her throat parched and her lips cracked and dry.

“I've needed you, Ginny. I've thought about you everyday for 5 years. But you left me.” His hand snaked forward and brushed through her hair. “Here.” He handed her a glass out of thin air, and Ginny was too thirsty to be worried.

She swallowed one gulp and then another. “But you tried to kill me.” Oh how she hated him. He knew exactly what he did to her, haunting her dreams, invading her sleep. She felt like a foolish little girl again, willing to submit to him, willing to give in to the immense power he held over her.

“You know I would have never killed you. You know that.”

And she did, somewhere deep inside of her, she knew that Tom could never kill her, not unless she wanted to leave him for good. When Draco came into her life, the dreams of Tom had been replaced by dreams of Draco, but Tom wasn't gone. He was like a shadow, lurking around the corner, just waiting for his moment. There were times when he left her alone for weeks of months, but she hadn't thought of Tom even once since Draco had come into her life. “Then let me go.”

“I can't do that. You know why.”

“No,” she whispered, “I don't.”

“You took him from me. The young Malfoy's service was to be mine. And without you to stop him, he will fall to me.”

“He won't.”

“Then he will die.” For a moment Tom's eyes blazed red and Ginny cowered, but he relaxed again. “Why have you been hiding from me?”

Ginny had no answer. There was no answer she could give him that wouldn't enrage him, so she sat silently, tugging her nightgown down, trying to find some balance between too much cleavage and too much thigh.

“As I thought,” he said, his face calm, but his voice betraying his anger, “you have no answer. But no matter. You are here now.” His hand reached out and touched her thigh. “And you have only gotten more beautiful.”

“Please, no,” she gasped, petrified.

“You are mine Ginny,” he explained calmly, as if he was patiently telling a small child why the sky was blue. “You've always known it.”

“I can't be yours,” she told him, terrified. “You don't exist.”

“But here I am. I'm not a memory any more.” He circled around her, seating himself on the floor behind her.

Ginny's heart banged so violently against her ribs she could see the nightgown rapidly moving over her chest. “Don't do this.”

“I'm going to make you mine forever.” She could feel his breath, hot on her neck.

“You can't.”

His hands, which had been caressing her back, suddenly stopped. He roughly grabbed her face and spun her around. She hadn't been imagining it; his eyes really did glow red. “So not only did you steal my servant,” he spat, “but you bedded him too.”

Ginny began to cry. “I'm sorry.”

“No. You are not sorry.” His fingers tightened around her jaw. He glared at her, then thrust her roughly away. He stood back to his feet and pulled his wand from his pocket.

Still crying, Ginny bowed her head, and prepared to die.

But instead of killing her, her grabbed her by the hair and pulled her upwards, seizing her waist and muttering a long incantation. With his wand, he drew a narrow scratch down her arm that immediately oozed blood and then did the same to himself. He pressed his forearm into her, mingling their blood, and finished the spell. When he was done, he dropped Ginny back to the floor and smiled. “Now you will never be rid of me. For as long as I am alive, there will be no escaping.”

When he left, Ginny cried harder and harder, examining the dried blood on her arm - her blood mingled with Tom's. Except Tom wasn't real. Tom was Lord Voldemort, but he bled real. Her had touched her like he was real. She was scared and confused and alone, and finally cried herself into a fearful, fitful sleep. She woke up time and time again, curled into the far corner of the empty room, certain that Tom had come back in the room. The touch of his fingers on her skin startled her from her sleep, as did his voice in her ear, and his breath on her neck. But each time, she woke alone

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#1 Despite the mistake in the last chapter, Ron is still dead. Sorry.

#2 Thanks to all the super reviewers, I love y'all

#3 This chapter is VERY dark and complicated and twisted, but it's just the direction this story is taking.

#4 I got some VERY harsh feedback in chapter 3 of my story Getting it Together. Read it & tell me what you think!

CHAPTER 20 Waiting

Draco was tired of waiting. For four long, cold days, he had waited. Waited to hear from Dumbledore, waited to hear reports from the Order, waited for someone to give him information. Once again, he was cooped up in someone else's house - he had to give Dumbledore credit though, he certainly did know wizard's everywhere - about three miles from his family's summer home. I should have just stayed at Hogwarts, he thought bitterly, for all the good I've done here! Potter hadn't spoken much to him, but he never really did. The Mudblood had taken back to glaring every time she saw him, none of the Order trusted him except maybe, just maybe, Snape, but many in the Order did not trust him, and as for Ginny's family, well, it was clear they thought the blame lied with him. Plus, the thought of a Malfoy taking their precious daughter to an Inn for the night was unthinkable, no matter that they had slept in the same bed all summer with them in the house.

“She's there,” Snape told him on the afternoon of the fourth day.

“I already knew that!” Draco snapped back, feeling rather ill towards everyone.

“Well, now it's confirmed,” he said calmly. “And we know she's still alive.”

Draco nodded, thinking of the ten thousand ways he would torture his father before killing him when this was all said and done. “When we were at Harry's house, Lupin said something about knowing that he wouldn't kill Ginny.”

Snape looked at him in silence, so Draco pressed on.

“Who was he talking about?”

“I think you already know that.”

“My father?”

“No.”

“The Dark Lord?”

Snape nodded stiffly, as if this was a conversation he wanted no part of.

“But why?” Draco had to know. “He said Dumbledore told them why.”

Snape silent and then finally said, “During her first year at Hogwarts the Dark Lord possessed her, and she let him. Because she willingly let him possess her, some shadow of himself has stayed with her.”

“What do you mean?” Draco asked, not liking the direction this conversation was taking.

“She did not know it was the Dark Lord. She was only eleven then, and only knew of her friend . . . Tom Riddle. When Potter destroyed his journal, he did not destroy Tom Riddle. Tom faded, but only until the Dark Lord had risen back into power. It is Dumbledore's theory that in some sick and twisted way, the Tom part of the Dark Lord loves her.”

Draco's insides rolled at the thought of the Dark Lord loving his girlfriend. “He's not capable of that.”

“Maybe. Or maybe not.”

“What does he think? That she'll fall for him?”

“As Tom, he is quite different. He would never go before Ginny as himself. Or perhaps it's you he wants.”

Draco had heard enough. He stomped from the room and headed down the hall until he found Potter in the bedroom they were currently sharing with the twins.

“Ginny told me once that there is a prophecy about you that says you have to kill the Dark Lord,” Draco barked without so much as a greeting.

“Or he has to kill me,” Harry replied without looking up.

“Right. Count me in.”

Harry rolled over and looked at him. “What?”

“I want Ginny back. I don't want to have to fucking worry about some bloody Mudblood Dark Lord trying to get with Ginny or war or death or anything. Let's end this because this is bullshit!”

Harry looked at him calmly. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I'm sure! I want Ginny back! I hate this, sitting here on my ass like a prat doing nothing! I'm sick of Ginny's family looking at me like I'm evil. I can't fucking stand this! Why isn't anyone trying to do anything? Who knows what he's bloody doing to her!”

“Right then.” Harry stood up, with a tiny smile. “So what should we do?”

“To start,” Fred said, entering the room, “let's keep our voices down so that You Know Who doesn't hear us.”

“Cause Ginny's whole family did,” George added. “We don't think you're evil by the way.”

“It is a bit odd to see you with our baby sister though,” Fred mused. “Of course, there's always the satisfaction of knowing we can kill you if you hurt her.”

Draco glanced back and forth between the twins, unsure whether so pull out his wand and start a duel or get the hell out of the room.

“Anyways mate,” Fred continued. “You know about the wards. You teach us, and we'll go get her.”

***

Ginny tried to keep track of the days by forcing herself to stay awake when she could see sunlight trickling in narrow window. So far it wasn't working out very well. When the fear would pass, the boredom set in. She hadn't seen Tom since the first night, or anyone else for that matter, but she knew he had come in at some time. The room now held a small sleeping cot, two blankets, and usually when she woke up she found food. At first, she had been petrified, but after at least three days that she had counted of not seeing another person, the terror began to wear into the monotony of doing absolutely nothing.

She entertained herself by reciting the spells and charms and hexes she had been studying for her N.E.W.T.s. She wondered if the Holidays were over and Hogwarts had started again. She wondered if Draco was looking for her, or if her mum was out of her mind with worry. And when all that lost its fascination, she slept.

Draco's hands were gliding over her body, feeling every curve in her skin. His lips skated from her ears to her neck to her breasts, brushing against her thighs and finding their way between her legs.

Ginny moaned from underneath him, wanting him, wanting his touch. She bent her legs to give him more access and gasped as he pushed into her, each thrust eliciting moans from her. She came quickly, arching her back and crying out as the prickling heat overtook her.

“I love you Ginerva,” Draco whispered.

Draco doesn't call me Ginerva, she thought, her own thoughts nearly lost beneath the beginnings of a second orgasm. She tried to life her sleepy eyes to look at him, but she couldn't - the second orgasm exploded through her body stretching all the way to the tips of her fingers and into her toes.

“I'm going to make you mine forever,” he growled into her ear.

Ginny tried to fight the risings of a third orgasm. Something's not right, she thought. But the pleasure was greater than she had ever experienced and was seizing control again.

“Don't fight it. He was never this good to you, was he?”

Ginny forgot the pleasure and began to scream as she saw that the wizard inside of her had dark hair and red eyes.

Ginny's eyes shot open and she scrambled from her bed, the scream still clinging to her lips. Wildly, she glanced around the room and found no one. She was still clothed. A dream, she told herself firmly. But the feeling hadn't stopped. The sensation that someone was still thrusting themselves inside of her didn't go away. “Stop,” she whispered to the empty room. But the feeling increased. The driving became harder, faster, and her skin prickled as invisible fingers stroked her body.

This can't be happening, she told herself rationally, trying to ignore the contrary evidence her body was giving her. I'm alone. I'm fully clothed.

But as the pounding inside of her grew more intense and more undeniable, she began to claw at her body and cry. “Stop! Please stop!” She fell to the floor, sobbing, unable to control what was happening, and drew her knees to her chest. “Please stop!”

It felt like an eternity before she felt the shuddering gasp inside of her that signaled the end, and Ginny began to throw up.

After that she refused to let herself sleep. She sat huddled against the wall, ignoring the bed, afraid of what would happen when she slept. Two more days passed, and occasionally she would find that she had dozed off, but she always woke with a start, afraid of what might be lurking. She sat against the wall, her mind repeating what had happened over and over again, trying to figure out if she was raped, if it was just a nightmare, or if she was going crazy. Because she didn't know what Tom's spell had done to her and she didn't know how to block it. On the third day since her dream, Tom came back.

“Waiting for me?” he asked, entering the room.

Ginny looked at him but said nothing.

“You look awful,” he told her, conjuring up food.

She was sure she did. The last thing she had eaten was three days ago, and she had thrown that up. She had barely slept, and fear kept her huddled against the wall, shaking and sweating, even during the cool nights.

“What's the matter?” he asked, his voice like silk. “I thought you'd be happy to see me.”

Ginny drew her knees closer to her chest and didn't answer. She felt Tom's hand brush against her cheek and she flinched away. But Tom was still standing across the room. Ginny's eyebrows drew together and he began to smile. “What did you do to me?” she hissed.

“I told you,” he smiled, “we're going to always be together.”

“You can't do this to me!” Ginny screamed at him, suddenly more furious that scared. “You can't just rape me!”

“I would hardly call it rape, Ginerva. Not when you enjoyed it so much,” he told her, his wicked grin expanding. “Besides, I was no where near you.”

But even as those words left his mouth, Ginny could feel his hands, sliding along the skin of her bare stomach, his fingers slipping beneath the waistband of her knickers. “Stop it!” she screamed, charging him. She swung her hand back and slapped him as hard as she could.

Tom looked mildly surprised and rubbed his cheek. Then he reached down and grabbed Ginny by the neck and shoved her against the wall. “You are mine. You will always be mine.”

Ginny struggled to remove his fingers which were blocking her wind pipe.

“Do you understand me? Do you?” He shook her harder.

Ginny tried to nod her head, but the room was going blurry. Spots danced before her eyes, and then everything went black.

Tom didn't come back at all after that. Every once in a while she would look up and find food, but she saw no one. She could feel his presence occasionally. An invisible kiss or the brush of a hand stroking her cheek or her name, lingering in the air, but there was no Tom. It felt like years had passed, as she was too afraid to sleep and too bored to stay awake. The fear won out. The thought of waking to someone inside of her was worse than boredom.

Just before Ginny thought she might give up her sanity, just before she was ready to relinquish control of her mind, just when she began to contemplate taking her own life, the door finally did open, Ginny looked up to find Draco and Harry staring at her.

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Thank you all you SUPER FANTASTIC WONDERFUL reviewers. I love reviews….

CHAPTER 21

Finally, after what felt like centuries, Dumbledore informed them that he had it on good word that Ginny, if she was in the castle, was there alone most of the time. “However, as Draco has told us,” there are a great number of wards protecting the castle. We need to learn all that we can.”

Harry cleared his throat. “Draco has been teaching them to me and Fred and George. We've been practicing. I think we're ready.”

“Certainly not,” Molly sniffed, her eyes red and puffy. “I can't let you boys go in there alone.”

A heavy silence hung over the room. Finally Dumbledore cleared his throat and said, “Draco knows the wards and it has been Harry who has encountered the Dark Lord and lived more than 5 times.”

Draco glanced around the room. “If my father hasn't turned the wards against me, getting in will be no problem.”

Again, there was silence and he could feel Molly's unspoken question hanging in the air. “Why should we trust you?”

Finally Moody spoke up. “Teach us the wards, and then if they have been turned against you we can help.”

Draco nodded stiffly, his anger rising up inside him. Why were they taking so long? Why weren't they in a hurry to get Ginny? “Fine.” They ate the rest of the dinner in silence and when he was through, he went back to his room and pulled on his cloak.

“What are you doing?”

Draco whirled around and saw Harry in the doorway.

“I'm going to get Ginny. I'm not waiting until tomorrow or the next day or the next. This is ridiculous, and the rest of them can sod off!”

“Right then, mate,” George said, edging in the room. “Let's go.”

Draco looked at them suspiciously.

“She's our sister,” Fred snapped hotly. “We don't want to wait either. Why do you think we've been practicing?”

The four of them crept down the stairs and towards the side entrance, hoping the rest of the Order was still eating dinner. Once outside, they apparated to the stone wall that surrounded his family's castle. Draco sucked in a deep breath of the ocean air and stepped up to the gate. “Draco Malfoy and three guests,” he said.

If nothing happened in five seconds, they were all to get out of they way, for it meant his father had turned the wards against him. But, as he lifted his hand, the gate slid open. Quickly they darted across the courtyard, and made their way into the dark castle. They saw no one as they followed Draco to a narrowing winding staircase. As was the plan, Fred and George hid in a curve nearly half way up so they could attempt to stop anyone who might come up. When Harry and Draco reached the top, Draco pressed his ear to the door and heard nothing. “Alohamora,” he whispered, and he door creaked open.

There she was, sitting on the floor opposite the door, staring at him. “Tom?” she whispered.

“No, it's me.” He rushed across the room and hugged her. “Are you alright?”

She started to nod and then shook her head. “Are you real?”

Draco glanced at Harry. “Let's go.” He scooped Ginny into his arms and darted down the stairs behind Harry.

“Let's get out of here,” Harry told the twins.

They apparated back inside the home of Dumbledore's acquaintance and Fred, George, and Harry fought Draco off for a chance to hug Ginny.

“That was too bloody easy,” Fred said darkly, with a glance towards the kitchen. “Why didn't we do that sooner?”

“Because we didn't know,” Dumbledore said from behind them.

Draco was still holding onto Ginny when she went limp in his arms.

***

When Ginny opened her eyes, her surrounding were familiar. The hospital wing at Hogwarts.

“Oh baby,” her mum gasped, crushing her with a hug.

Ginny flinched under her touch.

“Are you alright? Did I hurt you?”

Ginny shook her head and tried to look pleased to see her mum. But she wasn't. She hadn't even been particularly pleased to see Draco and Harry for fear of what Tom was going to do when he found out that she was gone.

“Everyone wants to see you,” her mum was saying, “but Madam Pomfrey said we have to wait until Professor Dumbledore sees you.”

Dumbledore. Of course. He would know what to do. “Can you send him in?” Ginny asked.

Her mum looked slightly put out, but nodded. “Of course.”

She came back minutes later with him in tow. Ginny glanced between them and Dumbledore immediately caught her message.

“Molly, if you could allow me to speak to Ginny in private?”

“But, I, but she-”

“Please.”

Her mum frowned and stomped out of the small room. Ginny and Dumbledore eyed each other for a moment.

“He put some sort of curse on me,” Ginny said finally. “A binding curse or something.” She told him about the spell and the way he had been able to touch her without even being in the room, and showed him the scar on her forearm. “Can you undo it?”

He looked at her arm carefully before speaking. “I do not know any counter curses for this, but I will look. However, this seems to be the binding spell that binds two wizard's minds together. Of course, the spell is supposed to be done together so each can be bound. If this is the one Tom did, he has given himself access to your feelings. He can make you feel things, but he cannot harm you.”

“I don't want to feel things,” she whispered, tears dripping from her face. “He used it to rape me.”

Dumbledore looked at her gravely, his eyes full of compassion. “He did not really rape you. He only manipulated your feelings so it would seem that way.”

“That's just as bad,” Ginny sobbed.

“I will see what I can find to counteract this,” he promised.

Madam Pomfrey gave her a calming drought and after a while, she allowed her family back in.

That night, Draco came to see her. “I'm so, so sorry,” he kept repeating.

“Stop,” she insisted. “It's not your fault.” Draco looked as worn and broken as she felt. “I missed you.”

“I missed you,” he nodded.

“Thank you for saving me.”

He nodded again. “Ginny?”

“Hm?”

“I love you.”

She closed her eyes and smiled; it was the first time he'd ever said that to her. “I love you too.”

“I guess I better go,” he said finally, “before Madam Pomfrey finds me.”

“No, stay here with me.” She had missed him, but also, she was afraid to sleep, afraid Tom would find her. “Come up here.”

Draco glanced around the small room and they lay down next to her. “Tell me what happened.”

But she couldn't. She didn't have the words to tell him what Tom had done.

When Ginny woke, she couldn't breathe. Fingers were crushing her throat.

You stupid little bitch, Tom's voice filled her head. You left me and you went back to him!

Ginny clawed at her neck, desperately trying to suck in oxygen. Next to her, Draco was sitting up, shouting and pulling at her hands, but she barely noticed. “Please stop,” she begged Tom. “Don't do this!”

Why did you leave? he raged. Why are you choosing him?

“I'm sorry!” she gasped.

Tell me you love me.

“I love you.”

THEN WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME?

“They came to get me,” she told him. “I'm sorry.”

The pressure on her neck began to ease. You'll always be mine.

“I know.”

I'm going to kill him. You may be gone, but he'll be dead. His father won't mind.

“Please don't. Don't hurt him.” The salt from her tears stung the fresh wounds she had clawed into her neck.

You love him.

Ginny had no answer, and yet, she felt his hands release her neck.

Leave him. Tell him you won't be with him, and I'll let him live. If you won't, he'll be dead in a matter of days, and it won't be merciful. I'll torture him until he dies. Or maybe I'll let him live. They way the Longbottom's are. Then you could spend your days taking care of him.

“Don't do this.”

You are MINE!

Ginny's head spun to the side with the blow she received.

If I cannot have you, you cannot have him! His hands darted up under the sleeping robes Madam Pomfrey had given her, and his laugh echoed in her head.

“No, please, I'm sorry. I'll do it! I will,” she promised, trying desperately to push his hands away.

Do it now.

“Ginny! Answer me!” Draco was holding her wrists and only inches away from her face.

“Fight it, Ginny,” Dumbledore's voice told her. “You know it is not real.”

Ginny's eyes slid from Draco to Dumbledore to Madam Pomfrey. “I need to talk to Draco. Alone.”

“Absolutely not!” Madam Pomfrey sputtered.

“What did he tell you?” Dumbledore asked quietly. “What did he do?”

“I'm fine. I just need to talk to Draco.”

“What?” Draco asked, his face pale and his hair messed up. “What happened?”

Do it! She could feel the pressure of Tom's hand on her thigh.

“We can't do this anymore,” Ginny said, avoiding Draco's gaze. “We can't.”

“Can't do what?” he demanded.

“Me and you . . . we can't be together.”

“Ginny,” Dumbledore cut in sharply, “Tom cannot really hurt you. You may have hurt yourself, but he cannot.”

Ginny ignored him. “It's over.”

“What are you talking about?” Draco asked, trying to meet her eye. “He can't make you do this.”

“Tom isn't-”

“Don't call him Tom like he's your bloody mate!”

“He's not making me do anything. I care about you, I didn't want you to go to his side, but I don't love you.” She nearly lost control as that lie slipped from her mouth, nearly broke down, but Tom was still there, waiting.

“I don't believe you,” Draco shook his head. “I don't.”

“It doesn't matter,” she said coldly. “It's still over.”

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Thank you bunches and bunches to everyone who continually reviews. You really are driving this story. Just a few more chappies & it'll all be wrapped up nice & pretty. I hope, anyways!

CHAPTER 22

Draco's eyes narrowed into the steel orbs she remembered from previous years and he stood to his feet. “Fine. If that's the way you feel, I'll go.”

When he was gone, Dumbledore rounded on Ginny. “Tom cannot hurt you! Why would you do such a thing?”

Ginny hesitated. If she told Dumbledore the truth and he told Draco, Draco would convince himself that he couldn't be hurt, and try to come back. No. Painful as it was, it was better this way. If Draco stayed away, he couldn't get hurt. “Because I don't love him,” she repeated.

Madam Pomfrey shoved a bottle at Ginny. “Take this. It's a calming drought.”

Ginny shook her head. “I never want to sleep again.”

Dumbledore frowned. “I will remind you again that as long as you are in these walls, Tom cannot hurt you nor can he hurt Mr. Malfoy. When you are well, we will teach you how to guard against his intrusions. Now, a dreamless sleeping potion will block him for the duration of your sleep, so I suggest taking advantage of it.”

Ginny stared back at her headmaster. “Tom got to me once while I was in here,” she reminded him quietly. “And he managed to get me out of here just recently - out of your office.”

Ginny swallowed the sleeping potion that Madam Pomfrey came scurrying back with rather reluctantly, and when she was left alone, she began to cry. The pain she felt for Draco overtook the physical pain in her neck from where she had scratched herself until she bled. “I do love you,” she whispered to the empty room. “I love you so much.” Tonight had been the first time Draco had told her he loved her.

As the potion took effect, Tom began to laugh.

The rest of the school year dragged by without any noteworthy events. Ginny studied by herself, refusing help from Colin, who was pretty much the only person still speaking to her. Several of her teachers even treated her with a chilly air because of her not so polite words to Dumbledore, insisting that if the Head Master said Tom couldn't hurt her, then he couldn't and she needed to stop being such a silly child. They can all sod off, Ginny thought bitterly. They had absolutely no idea what it was like to have Tom inside of you, in more ways than one.

Harry went back to holding his scar and looking rather pale most of the time. Hermione still talked to Ginny. She tried to help her with her studies, until Ginny finally sighed and asked her exactly what it was she wanted.

“I want you to be happy,” Hermione told her.

“I can't be,” Ginny said finally. “I don't want Tom to come back. If I'm happy he'll come and see why, and I prefer it when he's not around.”

“He can't,” she reminded her. “Dumbledore said-”

“I know what he said! But he's never been fucked by Tom in his sleep, has he? He's never had Tom swear that if I didn't get away from . . . from Draco, he'd kill him, or worse!”

“What did he do?” Hermione gasped, her eyes widening.

Ginny narrowed her eyes and forced herself to speak calmly, evenly. “I was asleep. I thought I was dreaming about Draco, but he kept calling me Ginerva, and saying `He never treated you this good, did he?'. In my dream, I realized it was Tom, but when I woke, it wasn't a dream. I could still feel him.”

The blood had drained from Hermione's face and tears were in the corners of her eyes. “That's what he used that spell for?”

Ginny nodded, fighting the tears that were bubbling up in her own eyes. She had not told a soul, save Dumbledore, exactly what it was that Tom did to her. “He said if I didn't stay away from Draco that he'd leave him like the Longbottoms.”

“Why didn't you tell Draco that?” she asked, the tears falling freely. “He is so hurt!”

“If I told him, he wouldn't have believed me. He would have convinced himself that we could still be together. Even if Tom couldn't get him right now, he can still get me, and he'd get Draco one day.”

“I'm so, so sorry. I didn't know. They said nothing too bad had happened to you. I'm so sorry.”

“It doesn't matter now. As long as I stay away from Draco, Tom stays away from me.”

“So he hasn't been back?”

“Not since I told Draco I didn't love him.”

“And Dumbledore couldn't find anything to break the spell?”

“No,” Ginny shook her head. “If Tom dies, it will break the spell.”

“But Tom is dead. I mean, he's not Tom, he's V, Voldemort.”

“Not to me. To me, he's Tom.”

After that, Hermione left her alone too, and whether it was because she was busy studying or the news of what Tom had done was too much for the older girl to deal with, it was perfectly fine with Ginny. When she was with people, they wanted to console her, to hear about what Tom did, to find out why she dumped Draco. She preferred being alone. If she was alone, she could throw herself into her studies and not think. Of course, she couldn't eat either, but that was just an unfortunate side effect of avoiding the actual presence of Draco. It wasn't altogether hard to do. He locked himself away in his private room and studied for his N.E.W.T.s and took points from everyone who crossed his path, she quit the Quidditch team and ate next to nothing.

The one thing she hadn't counted on though, was the end of the school year, and Hermione's news that Draco would be going back to Harry's house with them.

“Where else would he go?” she asked, when Ginny heard the news.

“Anywhere else!” Ginny snapped. “Not there!”

“He doesn't have any place to go, you know,” Hermione said a bit crossly. “Besides, Harry did ask him to move in!”

On the train ride home, Ginny sat with a group of 2^nd year Ravenclaws who didn't quite know what to make of her presence, and after some time, left her alone in the carriage.

Better be a good girl this summer, little Ginerva.

“Sod off. Get out of my head.”

Tom laughed. If you were one of my servants, you would be dead by now.

“But I'm not fucking stupid enough to join your bloody mates, am I?”

Watch the mouth, Ginerva. His voice was sharp.

“Can't you just leave me alone? I know what to do. I know about Draco. I know this. I'll be a good girl for as long as you're still alive.”

Think you'll be getting rid of me that easily?

“No.”

You're mine. Always and forever, mine.

“Please leave.” She could feel Tom's rage, shaking her body, but she didn't care. He could kill her right here and now, and it wouldn't matter. Yesterday, the last day of school, the graduation of Harry and Hermione and Draco, she had seen him. She skipped the graduation ceremony and sat by the lake, the very edge of the lake where it met the Forbidden Forest, and she had cried. She hadn't meant to cry. Only once since she had broken things off with Draco had she cried, and Tom had laughed and laughed. Since then, she refused to cry, refused to feel anything at all, in order to keep Tom away from her. But she had cried. She cried knowing that she would be returning to school alone in the Fall, if she managed to return at all, and cried knowing that the one person she would give anything and everything to have, she had pushed him away. Then she had seen Draco. He wasn't supposed to be there, in the spot they had kept warm when they were a couple; he was supposed to be at the ceremony, graduating.

“Gin?” he had nearly whispered. “Gin Gin? Are you alright?”

She hadn't said a word, she just stood to her feet and walked past him, refusing to look back and see just how much she was hurting the one person she loved more than anything else in the world.

So there she sat, alone - for the first time ever - on the Hogwarts Express with Tom back inside her head.

Don't think I won't be here. I'll be watching, waiting. So before you break down and go to him, think of the Longbottoms. Think of your brother.

And then Tom was gone. She was alone again.

When the train arrived, Ginny was hugged by her parents, and the members of the Order who had come with them, as was Harry and Hermione, before she was shuffled off to her parents. Ginny couldn't help but notice that no one hugged Draco and made him feel welcome. Lupin shook his hand and her father said hello. That was it.

Ginny had all but forgotten that Harry had invited Draco to move in with him the year before, and she watched silently as he slowly began to make himself comfortable in the room they had shared the previous summer. She wasn't sure why he had picked that room, as there were plenty of other rooms in the house, but it made her sad.

Her mum and dad came and went because they had business to do at home, and she was not allowed back at the Burrow since it wasn't as safe as Grimmauld Place. Ginny found herself again watching the Muggle tv Harry had given her the year before in order to avoid real life. Three times a day she had to face real life, and those were at meal times. She sat between various members of the Order and she could feel Draco's presence weighing down on her. He was the only one who saw that she didn't eat, the only who noticed that she locked herself in her room.

The days passed by with horrible, agonizing slowness. Draco settled into the house, decorating his room with posters of his favorite Quidditch teams, and a rather lewd pinup of some bint from Playwizard that Ginny was sure had been put there just to spite her. He never spoke to her though. Not a “good morning” or “hello” or “excuse me” or anything. Not that she could blame him. It was strange, too, to watch Harry and Draco become friends. Well, maybe not friends, but not enemies. She tried to quell the feelings that rose up in her as she listened to them make plans to go to a Quidditch match in disguise, or rid the world of Tom, or listen to Draco lecture Harry about the old furniture.

“It's time to get rid of it,” Draco announced with flair. “Is it even yours?”

“No,” Harry answered rather defensively. “It was Sirius's.”

“He hated his family! That's no reason to hang onto this trash!” Draco pointed out.

“So what? It's just furniture!”

“It's what we sit on. What you and Hermione shag on. It needs to be changed.”

“Hermione and I do not shag!”

“Please, mate, don't say make love. It just sounds so wrong!”

“We don't do that either!” Harry sputtered.

“Whatever.”

Eventually Harry agreed to let Draco transform it, and everyone, even Ginny, admitted it was much better.

Finally she could stand it no longer. She couldn't stand Draco's eyes watching her every move, she couldn't stand the sympathetic looks from the Order, she couldn't bare the lonely, emptiness in her chest. She wanted Draco. She loved him. If Dumbledore said Tom couldn't hurt her, then she wanted to believe it. She wanted to tell Draco everything that happened, beg for his forgiveness, and start again. She needed him. It had occurred to her that she had no plans what so ever for any type of life beyond Hogwarts. When the time had come in her 5^th year for her to make that decision, she hadn't found that anything at all, except for Draco, interested her.

She threw back the covers to the bed she was sleeping in and crept into the hall. The house was silent, and Tom be damned, she missed Draco. Her entire body hurt with a pain that was truly physical. She loved him, and she was going to beg forgiveness. She was braver than she'd been in months and months. She hadn't heard a word from Tom since the ride home on the Hogwarts Express, and she was beginning to wonder if he wasn't able to reach her inside the protected walls of Harry's house.

She tiptoed up the creaking stairs and used a hair pin to pick the lock on Draco's door, a trick she had learned from Fred and George. His room was silent, but she could see the moonlight streaming in, and strangely enough, not reflecting off his white blond hair, but being absorbed by it.

She edged towards his bed and lifted the edge of his blanket, slowly settling herself in next to him. If she was lucky, she could get her first good night's sleep since last Christmas and then do the explaining in the morning.

“What in the bloody hell are you doing?”

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Thanks for the reviews, I just love them. This is going to have 2 or 3 more chappies & then I'll call it quits! Hope you like this chapter.

CHAPTER 23

Ginny froze at the bitter anger in Draco's voice. “I, I, I wanted to, I mean . . .” Oh sod it, she thought. Just say it. “I missed you.”

Draco remained stiff.

“I do. I'm sorry for the horrible stuff I said. But I had to. Tom said that-”

“Who the fuck is Tom, Ginny?” Draco spat, sitting up. “There is no Tom. There is only the Dark Lord.”

She knew she deserved this, his anger and wrath, but she had unrealistically hoped he would immediately forgive her. Tears burned her eyes, and she was thankful he couldn't see them in the darkness. “I know, it's just-”

“I don't want to hear it!” he shouted. “Just get out!”

“Please, please listen. I want to explain to you, and I wanted to tell you how sorry I am that I did that.”

“I don't want to hear it! Get out!”

“Draco, please! Don't shout, someone will hear you!” Someone like Tom.

“No one is going to fucking hear me! It's a full moon, so Lupin's out and Potter gets blasted before bed each night! So that just leaves one person, Ginny!”

“Can't you just give me one chance?” she yelled back, her voice thick with tears. “Can't I at least explain it to you?”

“Why? You'll be leaving in less than two weeks, and that'll be it! I won't have to see you again, and that's fine with me! I gave up everything for you! I loved you and you told me in front of everyone that you didn't! So get out!” Draco was now standing on his knees in his bed, screaming down at Ginny.

“I'm sorry,” Ginny half sobbed, half yelled as she climbed out of the bed. “He hurt me and I was scared!”

She could hear the air rattle as Draco sucked in a breath. “They said he didn't hurt you, that no one hurt you.”

Ginny shoved her arm at him, and in the moonlight, her scar stood out, slick and white against her freckled skin. “It was some kind of spell. Dumbledore said it bound us together.”

“So? That's it?” he asked unimpressed, his voice like ice.

“One night I thought I was dreaming about you. I thought we were . . . but I woke up and there was no one there, except, I could still feel it. It was him. Dumbledore says he can manipulate my feelings, but . . . it was so horrible.” Her voice dropped to a whisper and she crossed her arms over her chest, holding herself. “It was like . . . being raped.”

The section of Draco's face that she could see in the moonlight froze and his eyes narrowed. “He raped you?”

“Dumbledore says he didn't,” she repeated, shivering despite the warm summer air. “But it felt like he did.”

Draco was silent, watching her carefully. “If you're bound, why are you in here? Aren't you afraid?”

“Yes, but I don't think he can come in Harry's house. It's protected. I haven't . . . heard anything from him all summer.”

He didn't answer.

“That night we were in the hospital wing at Hogwarts, I thought he was going to kill me. I couldn't breathe. He had his hands around my neck and he told me that if I didn't get away from you he'd either kill you or torture you until you were like Neville's parents.” The tears were still pouring off her face. Deep inside, she could feel that Draco didn't want to believe her. “I had to. I am so sorry. I love you. I do love you.”

He watched her meticulously, and again, she was struck by the way the moonlight was absorbed into his hair, giving him what she could only call an anti halo. When he spoke, his voice was lower and his tone was softer, but his words still cut her. “Get out.”

***

On Saturday night, Ginny sat alone in her room, staring at her trunk. She didn't want to stay in Harry's house, but she didn't want to go back to Hogwarts either. There was nothing there for her. True, she had done well enough on her O.W.L.s to get into just about any field or profession that she wanted, but she didn't want any of them. If anything, anything at all, perhaps she would enjoy playing Quidditch. She was an excellent Chaser; she knew that, but her heart wouldn't be in it. No, her heart had been smashed.

She had spent the past week avoiding Draco, which turned out to be easier than she expected. Of course, she wasn't allowed to leave the house, and technically, Harry and Draco weren't either, but no one stopped them. They went out nearly every night with disguises, coming back late and loud and sloshed, and so she did the same. There were several bottles of Firewhiskey in a secret cupboard in the kitchen and it only took a few shots to knock her out.

A sharp knock at the door rattled her out of her thoughts. “Yeah?”

Her mum stepped into the room and looked around. “Are you all packed?”

Ginny nodded.

“I brought all your school supplies. Sorry it took so long. George was supposed to pick them up, but they've been exceptionally busy.”

“Thanks,” she mumbled, as her mum placed the books in her trunk.

“We'll leave about 10:30, I suppose, since you can apparate now.”

“Right then.”

“Dear,” her mum began, sitting down next to her and patting her on the leg, “I know this is hard for you, but perhaps it is for the best.”

Ginny remained silent. Her mum had never felt more like a stranger.

“There's going to be lots of other lovely boys at Hogwarts, you know, and you'll find a lovely career, and then a lovely-”

“You have no idea, do you?” Ginny asked rudely. “Nothing, not one thing, is sodding lovely!”

Her mum stopped and looked at her for the first time since entering the room.

“Everyone keeps saying that Tom didn't hurt me, but he did. He raped me!” She stood to her feet and began to pace the room. “He wasn't there in person, but it happened!”

Her mum shook her head. “Dumbledore said-”

“I know what he said!” she shouted. “But he wasn't there, was he?”

“Ginny, I know that horrible things happened to you. I believe you. I just want you to be better. He can't hurt you anymore.”

“Yes he can. The minute I leave this house, he'll be there, waiting.”

“Haven't you been doing those mind exercises Snape showed you?”

Ginny shook her head. “No.”

“But why not?”

“Because he can't reach me here. As long as I stay away from Draco, he doesn't care.”

Her mum just nodded. “Then you won't have to worry about it, will you? I mean, you'll be going back alone.”

Ginny could barely believe what she was hearing. “I think I should go to bed.”

Her mum left, and Ginny crawled into bed, unable to sneak to the kitchen for liquor since her parents were there, and unable to sleep knowing that Tom would be waiting for her tomorrow.

At 10:15 the next morning, Ginny shrunk her trunk until it fit in her pocket and apparated by herself to the train station. When she crossed the barrier into the Platform, she was relieved to note other students there already. She found an empty carriage and watched out the window as students began to pour in. She was on the verge of relaxing when he spoke.

I told you to stay away from him.

“I did,” she answered dully.

Lie! You went to him! You wanted him! AND YOU ARE MINE!

“He wouldn't have me.”

She could feel it as Tom took a deep breath and tried to regain control. You will pay. He will pay.

“Why? He won't have me.”

Because I never go back on my word.

“Fine. It doesn't matter. He doesn't love me. I'm all yours, just like you said.”

But I want to make sure you remember that forever.

Before she could answer him, pain like she had never, ever known shot through her body.

You will learn.

“Stop, please,” she managed to gasp before the world went black.

***

Draco was leaned against the wall outside Ginny's bedroom. She was leaving in 15 minutes, and he had to tell her something, anything. He wanted to apologize for acting like such a prat when she told him about being raped or whatever, but he couldn't figure out the words. Whether it had really happened - please dear Merlin, no - or if it really was all in her head, she deserved sympathy of some sort, at least for that.

He had been shocked to hear the door creak open that night, and even more surprised to feel her slide under his covers. For a moment, he was glad, and then he was furious. What was she thinking, treating him that way for so long and then trying to get into his bed? For two months after she had told him she didn't love him, he would have given anything for her to creep into his bed and admit she had lied, but when she didn't, he became furious. He had given up his family, their money, and his identity for her. His father had disowned him. He had learned to tolerate Potter and his Mudblood girlfriend for her. He had broken into his father's house to rescue her. For the very first time in his life, he had told someone that he loved them. And she told him she didn't love him.

So when she came into his room, he was glad for the chance to hurt her the same way she had hurt him.

But it didn't feel as good as he had expected. And going out every night to get sloshed with Potter didn't do anything to help either. So he had to tell her. He had to apologize, and damn it, he was going to. Malfoy pride or not, he wasn't going to let her leave for a year without knowing how he felt. He still loved her. Still missed her.

Draco raised his fist to knock, and heard a loud crack. He stopped, and realizing what it was, threw her door open, finding her room empty.

“Ginny's gone!” he nearly screamed as he bounded down the stairs. “She left!”

“What?” her mum nearly collided into him.

“She apparated. Her stuff is gone!” He caught Potter's eye, who nodded sharply and with a crack, Draco and Harry disappeared from the kitchen.

Draco bowled over a nervous group of first years as he struggled to get on the train. “Ginny! Ginny!”

Harry was doing the same, throwing open doors to the carriages, and calling her.

“She's in here,” a panicky voice called.

Draco charged ahead and saw a short boy with a camera.

“In here,” he said.

Ginny was sprawled on the floor, her breath labored and shallow, her limbs twitching.

“We've got to get her to St. Mungo's,” Harry gasped, coming up behind him. “Can you get her?”

Draco shook his head. “We've got to go back to your house. She said he couldn't get her there.”

“Who?” Harry demanded, shoving gaping students out of the way.

“Him. Voldemort.”

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I just love reviews, so thanks again, to everyone who leaves them for me. This story is almost through, and although I'm not quite sure how it ends, I'm sure it will be delicious!

CHAPTER 24

Draco sat by Ginny's side for three solid days. He refused to eat, refused to sleep, and to be honest, Harry was beginning to wonder if he had even allowed himself a trip to the loo.

“You know, starving yourself isn't going to make her get better any faster,” he told Draco on the third day.

“I know!” Draco hissed. He didn't turn to look at Harry, but he didn't have to. Harry could hear the uncharacteristic fear and panic that laced his voice. “But I have to do something!”

“She's going to get better,” Hermione said softly, unable to believe she could feel such sympathy for the person who had called her the rudest names in the book.

Draco went back to ignoring them, and concentrated all his thoughts on Ginny. I'm sorry for what I did. I'm sorry I didn't listen. I didn't want to believe that . . . he had done that to you.

Three days ago he had brought Ginny back to Potter's house and they had summoned Bevins Bamstersham, a member of the Order, and a healer who worked with Charlie in Romania. After examining her and hearing the details of what she had been through, he told them that she seemed to be in what Muggles referred to as a coma. Hers had been a stress or pain induced one, and that she would have to be monitored carefully to make sure she didn't need to be put on breathing charms or receive a stabilizing spell. And that was it. That was all they could do until she decided on her own to wake up. Her mum stayed in there with Draco most of the time and irritated him to no end by sobbing loudly and telling Ginny that she had been trying to help her, not hurt her.

“She is too afraid to battle him,” Dumbledore told them gravely, and Draco wanted to spit on him.

Of course she was afraid! After all, hadn't it been Dumbledore who told them no real harm had come to her when she had disappeared over the Holidays? Draco was unable to bite his tongue and spat the question at him.

Dumbledore looked at him gravely over the top of his glasses, and answered, “No physical harm. I was wrong to assume that any mental or emotional harm would be insignificant to her.”

That was when Draco looked at him, really looked at him, for the first time. He was just like the rest of them really. He was older, and perhaps a bit wiser, but not as wise as they wanted to believe. He was mortal. He could make mistakes as well. True, he was powerful, probably more powerful than the Dark Lord, but he wasn't perfect.

Dumbledore nodded with a small, sad smile as if reading Draco's thoughts. “Stay with her.”

So Draco had not left her side, watching her deep breathing and keeping her long red hair brushed out of her face.

“We can't keep her here forever,” Harry told him on the fifth day.

“What?” Draco snapped.

“I mean, when she wakes up. We can't make her hide inside my house forever.”

“Yes we can. She'll stay here with me and it'll be fine!”

Harry sighed. “Are you always this thick, Malfoy?”

“I'm not going to let her get hurt again!” he nearly shouted back.

“We can go to him. I think I know where he is.”

Draco peeled his eyes from Ginny's pale form and looked at Harry. “What?”

“If we kill him, the spell will be broken. She won't be bound to him.”

“So, just like that, you want to go kill the Dark Lord?”

“Well, yeah, I guess, I mean the prophecy says . . .”

“What in the bloody hell makes you think that you'll be able to defeat him this time? Haven't you faced him before?”

“I wasn't ready then,” Harry said defensively. “I mean, I never planned to go kill him before.”

“I thought you couldn't use your wand against him.”

“I can. It just doesn't work properly.”

Draco narrowed his eyes. “That's just great.”

“It has to come to this one of these days. I told you, I want to play Quidditch! I mean, being an Auror is fine and all, but after Voldemort's gone, what am I going to do? Round up Death Eaters? No thanks! Besides, I'm not going to sit here waiting for him to decide when it's convenient while Ginny stays in a coma and my roommate starves to death!”

It was probably the longest speech he'd ever heard Potter make. “Fine,” he answered coolly. “Let's go.”

***

The first time Ginny woke up, she thought she could hear sobbing. At first, she assumed the tears were her own, as the pain was so great when the world had gone black. But then she realized she couldn't feel any pain. In fact, she couldn't feel anything at all. She could hear voices, but they were soft and distant, and she was tired, so she fell back asleep.

The second time, she managed to open her eyelids and found herself alone in her bedroom at Harry's house. She was confused, unable to recall getting here. She remembered going to the train station, and then the pain Tom had caused, but that was it. Maybe it had been a dream. Maybe she would be leaving for Hogwarts in just a few days. Her body felt like lead as she tired to lift herself from the bed. She nearly lost the battle, and after what felt like an eternity, she managed to pull herself from the bed. Shaking, she picked up her wand and cast a Rejuvenating Charm onto herself. She didn't feel whole, but she did feel loads better and she padded her way down the stairs and into the kitchen.

“Mum?” Her mum was standing in front of the fire, watching a large pot stir itself, with tears falling down her cheeks. “What's wrong?”

Her mum screamed so loud Ginny jumped. The noise sent Hermione and Tonks scrambling into the room.

“Oh Ginny!” Her mum threw her arms around her. “I am so, so sorry. I did believe you, I did! I just didn't know what to say or what to do!”

“What's, what's going on?” she managed to ask.

The three woman sat her at the table, placed a rather large plate filled with Shepard's pie in front of her, and promptly filled her in on the things had happened in the past week.

Ginny looked around the table, trying to take in their words, and finding herself unable to concentrate. “So I'm not going to school?”

“Not unless you become more skilled in the lessons that Professor Snape has been trying to teach you,” her mum said gently.

Hermione nodded. “If you can't fight him off, it's just too dangerous.”

“Well,” she glanced around again and feeling weak, “Draco saved me?”

They nodded and a small smile played across Tonk's lips. “That he did.”

“Where is he?”

Hermione and Tonks exchanged quick glances. “Well, we've been wondering that. They left this morning and said that they'd be gone for a while. Something about important things to take care of.”

Ginny's eyebrows drew together. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, an important piece of information was just out of reach. “They didn't say where?”

She shook her head. “No. Harry wouldn't even tell me. Said I'd know later.”

“What is it?” Tonks asked, catching her expression.

Ginny shrugged. “Something, I don't know . . .”

“Well, we can discuss it tomorrow. I suppose you'll need a nice bath and then it's back to bed for you!”

She nodded, too drained to argue. “Right.”

Ginny opted to bathe in the large tub in Draco's bathroom since Hermione informed her it was the nicest one in the house.

“He said the old one was too small, and Harry pretty much lets him do whatever he wants to the house. It does look better when he's done, don't you think?” she asked Ginny, handing her towels

She let her mum draw the water, and then shooed them away, assuring them that she could still bathe on her own.

“Alright,” her mum consented, “but I'll be back to check on you shortly.”

Ginny sunk low into the tub, hoping that Draco's rescuing her meant he had forgiven her. It wasn't like she actually wanted to be away from him. She probably wouldn't ever be able to admit it to him without super sizing his ego, but she loved him. But more than she wanted him all to herself, she would have died if Tom had done anything to him, and if that was the price to pay, so be it. Secretly, she was glad she wasn't returning to Hogwarts. Here, safe in Harry's house, Tom couldn't reach her. Draco was here, and she prayed that he forgave her.

She was nearly ready to get out of the still warm, bubbling water and climb back into bed, when the fragment of a thought that had been nagging her popped into her mind. She stood straight up in the tub, grabbed a towel and draped it haphazardly across herself before running out of the bathroom, screaming. “Mum! Mum! Hermione! Somebody!”

“What?”

“Gin are you okay?”

“What's wrong?”

“I know, they went, I mean, they went to see him! Harry said he was going to kill Tom and Draco went!” she practically shouted.

“What?”

“I remember,” she insisted desperately to the three pale faces staring at her. “Harry came and said that they could go kill Tom and Draco agreed.”

“Are you sure?” Tonks spoke slowly. “I mean, was it a dream or was it-”

“No!” she insisted. “I remember! They were talking!”

“I'll go get Dumbledore,” Hermione dashed from the room.

Hermione returned, Dumbledore appeared, Snape dashed in, and then her brothers appeared. Members of the Order appeared and disappeared, finally leaving Ginny and her mum alone with their frantic parting words.

“How are they going to find them?” Ginny whispered, staring out the window.

“Harry is an official Order member, so we can track him,” her mum assured her. “You need to return to bed.”

The hours ticked by like minutes and Ginny was ever so grateful when people began showing up at Harry's house. First, Percy's finance Penelope, then Kingsley Shacklebolt's oldest daughter Tess, who wasn't an official Order member, but her husband was, followed by Tonk's mum Andromeda and her husband Ted, a visibly shaken Fleur, and finally a suspiciously disheveled Angelina.

Ginny received fierce hugs all around and get well wishes, and her mum brought out butterbeer and cider. They long silences were only broken by sniffs and theories of where the Order was and how it would turn out.

“Why did they decide to go today?” Tess asked, glancing at Ginny.

“I don't know,” she said quietly, still staring into the empty fireplace. “I remembered hearing Harry and Draco talking about it. Harry said it had to end some time.”

Andromeda sighed. “Narcissa is so proud of him.”

She was met with silence.

“Did you say Narcissa?” Angelina asked finally.

Andromeda nodded.

“But I thought . . . they disowned him,” Ginny questioned.

Andromeda smiled softly. “Narcissa is not her husband. Of course, she can't publicly defy him, but he knows how she feels.”

“Then, why did she marry him?”

“Consider yourself very, very lucky that your parents are not harping on and on about arranging a pureblood marriage as ours were.” She reached over and patted Ted's leg who smiled at her and then at Ginny. “You are very lucky.”

As the night faded again into dawn, the gnawing worry in Ginny's chest grew and threatened to consume her. There had been no sign or word, none at all.

“It could be a good thing,” Penelope whispered. “They haven't found any thing dreadful yet.”

“Or they're all dead,” Ginny muttered, sleep deprivation making her cross.

“Ginerva!” her mother snapped.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. “Sorry.”

“It's okay,” Andromeda smiled softly at her. “We understand.”

Ginny let herself doze on the couch, fitful dreams keeping her unrested, refusing to eat or go to her bed. She had just let her eyes flutter shut again, when a series of sharp cracks caused her to sit straight up.

Dumbledore stood before them, his robes bloodied and tattered. Behind him, the Order stood, all looking equally battered. Some where holding the frightfully limp bodies of others, and others exhausted.

“It's over,” Dumbledore said firmly. “Tom is gone and it's all over.”

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Here it is, the final chapter of this story. When I started writing this - quite a while ago - I had NO idea where it finished, so thanks for all the great review, cause they are what drive me!

CHAPTER 25

Ginny never did finish her seventh year at Hogwarts, but special arrangements were made for her to take her N.E.W.T.s, and she did rather well on them, considering the circumstances.

All of her brothers made it safely back from the final battle, and started getting married and reproducing at an astounding rate. By the following summer, Ginny had two nieces, a nephew, and two more on the way. Hermione and Harry were engaged, but still no date was set. Lupin and Tonks and Moody had made it back, but Snape hadn't. Draco told her how he gave his life for Dumbledore, revealing his loyalties for the Headmaster to Tom, breaking Tom's focus long enough for the Order to get the upper hand.

The story of the final battle was told so many different times that there were about 200 versions flying around, and Draco preferred not to talk too much about it, so what Ginny knew she had pieced together herself. Draco had destroyed his father and several other Death Eaters, and Neville Longbottom had finally gotten his revenge by ending Bellatrix's life. Harry and eventually Dumbledore battled Tom until the very end, when Harry used his wand to stab Tom's snake Nagi through the head, since Nagi was bent on ending Draco's life. Unknown to them until that moment, Nagi's life force was connected with Tom's, and as Nagi's extinguished, Tom died as well.

Percy, Lupin, Fred, Draco, Mundungus, Harry, and several others ended up in the hospital for quite some time, but everyone made full recoveries, or at least as full as could be expected.

As it turned out, Harry was quite reluctant to let go of his new spot as Auror, and Hermione still pushed S.P.E.W., but Draco was taken on by the Chudley Canons, and Ginny's entire family always supported him, if not out of pacification for Ginny, than out of respect for Ron, and his favorite team.

Ginny's first trip outside Harry's house, with the exception of the Hogwarts Express, was to St. Mungo's to see Draco, when the Order returned from the final battle.

“Draco?” she whispered, pushing the door open. “Are you awake?”

“Gin?” she heard him answer.

The room was still dark, but she felt her way across the floor and to the side of his bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Better now,” he replied.

“Yeah?”

“How are you feeling?”

“I'm fine, since . . . he's gone.”

She heard him suck in a deep breath. “I'm sorry I acted like such a bloody prat.”

“It, it's okay. I understand.”

“It's not okay. Not at all.”

“It really is. I just want, I just want us to be . . . okay again.”

“Just okay?” he asked seriously.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see a faint smile lining his lips. “No. I want us to be together.”

“So do I.”

She released a breath she wasn't aware she had been holding. “I was so worried about you.”

“Nothing to worry about,” he answered, his voice arrogant, as if he couldn't believe she would doubt him. “I did it for you, so I had to come back.” He patted the edge of his hospital bed. “Come here.”

She eased down beside him. “I do love you. You know that, right?”

There was a pause before he answered, his voice gruffer than normal. “Yes.”

“I'm sorry I did that. I'm sorry I put you through so much-”

“Shh, shh.” He reached up and put a finger to her lips. “I know you are. You already told me. And I'm sorry for not believing you, sorry for throwing you out of my room.”

Ginny let out a nervous giggle. “I guess I deserved it though.”

“No, you didn't.” He struggled to sit up.

“What are you doing?”

He didn't answer, put propped himself on his elbows and placed a kiss on her lips. “Got any plans for tonight?”

“I might could cancel them if you have a better offer,” she teased.

“Stay here.”

“What will happen when your Healer finds me?”

“They won't bother me till the morning,” he whispered in her ear, pulling her down to him.

When Draco was released, his mother came to see him at the house he shared with Harry. “I don't want to know what you had to do,” she told him firmly, “but I do love you. I am proud of you for taking the right road, not the easy road.”

Draco eyed her for a moment. “Are you?”

“I am.”

Narcissa sold the Manor and moved into a lovely, and of course enormous, house on the outskirts of London and urged Draco and Ginny to visit her regularly. She returned Draco the key to his father's vault and advised him to make wise investments.

Technically, Ginny lived with Fred and Angelina, who had a large, luxurious flat close to Diagon Alley and right next door to George and Alicia in one of the fanciest parts of wizarding London, but she spent most of her free time with Draco. She worked part time in their store, while the twins created a partnership with the company Draco had inherited and cleaned up, in order to go international. Ginny went to all of Draco's games, and went spring tryouts came, she became the back up Chaser for the Chudley Canons. They celebrated by going to dinner, where Draco handed her a heavy black box, inside of which was the largest diamond she had ever seen.

“Will you?” he asked, his eyes sparkling.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” She nearly threw herself across the table at him.

“Thank goodness,” he teased. “I think Harry and Hermione might be needing a little space of their own!”

The wedding and honeymoon were in the fall, during the few weeks between one Quidditch season ending and training beginning for the next season. It was more lavish and extravagant that she needed or even wanted, but it made Draco happy, and it made their mum's happy, so she obliged.

Sometimes, more often than she preferred, Draco woke up in a cold sweat, nightmares haunting his sleep. Of course, Ginny reasoned with herself, he had killed his father, and evil or not, it was his father. Those kind of damages were not easily forgotten.

Their mum's kept after them to produce grandchildren, but she just wasn't ready. She wasn't ready to share Draco or to give up her spot on the Canon's, which had been undefeated since Draco had joined. She liked having Draco all to herself. There was no more sneaking into his room, no worrying about what gossiping students would say, no paranoia over her parents or the Order walking in on them, no more hiding. She liked the freedom, and selfish or not, she wasn't about to give it up.

No, she loved her life.

But no matter how good things got, Tom's memory never let her take advantage of how lucky she was. His memory lurked in the very darkest corners of her heart and mind, waiting until she was low before striking and reminding her that she was his. She fought him of course, and he couldn't hurt her, but he was there. It was like having a shadow of a memory tucked away; something that was just on the very tip of her tongue, but the words didn't come, so she could forget about it. His body may have died, but Ginny would never outlive his memory.

She never told Draco about it, about Tom lurking, waiting. She didn't have to. Draco's kisses could melt all her fears, and his touch lit her skin on fire as passionately as it did the night she first gave herself to him. Tom may have taken up residence in the darkest corner of her being, but Draco had the rest of her.

Ginny had been afraid that there would be some sort of rift between them resulting from the time they had spent apart and the things that had happened then, but as far as she could tell, there were none. In fact, things - at least some things - were better than they had been. Especially the sex. She could come to Draco any time of the day or night and he always wanted her. Once she'd heard a friend of her mum's saying that as she got older, the sex was better, but less often. Ginny was quite convinced she didn't have to worry about the second part.

One night she woke, thirsty, and when she returned to their bed, the way Draco was sleeping caught her attention. He was sprawled out, taking up the majority of their large bed, the blanket down around his waist. Ginny quietly set her glass down and stripped off her nightgown and knickers. She leaned across the bed and gently lifted the blankets and then crawled until she was sitting right next to Draco. Carefully she eased his boxers over his hips and down to his knees, freezing each time he stirred. He stayed sleeping and Ginny leaned forward, bringing her lips to his unsuspecting cock. She let her tongue lap around it, then over it, and watched with satisfaction as it grew before her eyes, and Draco moaned in his sleep. She continued the gentle licking and sucking until her own lust had grown so greatly that her own fingers were no longer satisfying.

She sat up and stretched one leg across Draco and let out a content moan as she eased herself down on his erection.

“Gin,” Draco mumbled as she rubbed her clitoris against his pale curls. “Don't stop.”

She had no intentions of stopping as she rode him, admiring the way he looked against their black sheets with his almost too long pale hair and smooth skin. He reached his hand up to hold her breasts, running his fingers across her nipples, and then giving them a firm squeeze. She gasped with pleasure and within seconds felt her orgasm explode into her stomach and through her limbs. She shuttered as she fell onto him, struggling for air while Draco used his finger to tease her clitoris.

Quickly, he rolled them over while staying inside of her, hooked his arms underneath his shoulders and buried his face in her neck while he pounded her into the mattress.

His breath hissed into her ears when he came, spilling himself deep inside of her and she crossed her legs over his back, savoring the feeling of their bodies joined together.

“I love you Gin,” he whispered sleepily. “I do.”

“I love you too,” she answered holding him closer.

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