Hurt Loves

Hurt Loves

Chapter 9

Aravaeya

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I am terribly, terribly sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out. I had a severe case of writer’s block. I had originally planned this fic to just be a one-shot or extremely short, something like two chapters or so. Quite obviously, it is not, which is probably mostly attributable to the fact that I tend to be long-winded and wordy(sorry) and pay way to much attention to detail and things that don’t need to be focused on, but hey, it’s me, that’s what makes you love me, right? :) Just kidding. So, yeah, this is Chapter 10, probably halfway through the entire fic, maybe less now that I have a sketchy plan(which with me is always liable to change depending on my mood). I tried to make it a bit lighter, not as serious as some of the other chapters that I wrote when I was in fouler moods, so make the most of it people. Oh, and I’m pleased to say that this is the longest chapter I’ve written so far, with over 7,500 words, 15 and ½ pages in Word! But it still seems like nothing :( And I totally blew off Geography coursework to do this as this was much more pleasant. Who cares about University? Just kidding once more.

Anyways, as always, I own none of it, and THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH to all of the reviewers! I’m over 100 reviews which I never ever anticipated! You make this SOOOOOOOOO worth it and I love you all! Keep on writing them and I’ll keep writing this. Deal? Good.

Now onto the next chapter! Yay!

(I’m actually quite excited about the weird surprise which has nothing to do with Draco/Ginny but adds a different side to the story which my sleep deprived brain came up with randomly. Have fun!)

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“Miss Granger and Mr. Potter, what a pleasure,” Dumbledore’s voice calls out from behind his desk. I hear him get up as we enter the room, and I see him give my friends a beaming smile. And then his gaze turns on Draco and me. He doesn’t seem at all surprised to see us here, or at all surprised by the fact that we’re holding hands, which I am positive his sweeping gaze took in because his mouth twitched up into a smile slightly as he passed them. “And Miss Weasley and Mr. Malfoy. Very nice to finally see you two here together. I’ve been wondering when you would come…”

I know that the look on my face morphs into one of surprise at our headmasters’ words. Expecting us? He knew that we would come? He knows about…us? Is that what he’s implying?

“Excuse me?” Draco asks, his face, as well as Harry’s and Hermione’s, mirroring the confusion of my own.

“Surely you did not think that Miss Weasley’s nightly escapades escaped my notice?” Dumbledore replies, eyes twinkling as he looks at me.

The expression in my face and my friends’ faces clearly says that we did think that he didn’t know. Harry just throws me an accusatory look that seems to say that if I was going to sneak around behind my friends backs, I should be more careful about it. Dumbledore nods slightly and tilts his head to the side gently, his eyes thoughtful as if debating whether or not to tell us something.

“There is very little that goes on in this castle that I do not know about,” Dumbledore says, his voice serious, but his eyes alight once more. He turns away from us and walks over to what looks like an extremely large blank portrait hanging on one of the walls. He mutters something incomprehensible and to my fascination, a map slowly becomes invisible. I feel drawn to it and walk over to it before I realize what I am doing. I can quickly see that every student, every animal, every house elf, every staff member, any living or breathing thing on the Hogwarts grounds, is listed on this map which shows, in great detail, every room, hallway, and secret passage or room in the castle. Justin Finch-Fletchley’s name catches my eyes, and I see that his dot seems a bit larger than the rest and then I notice that there is another name that goes with the dot – Hannah Abbot. I look to Dumbledore, and point at the enlarged dot, my question in my eyes.

“That is precisely how I found out about you and Mr. Malfoy, Miss Weasley,” Dumbledore says to me, his blue eyes bright with laughter, “And Harry and Hermione all those months ago. When you can’t tell the two dots apart, when they’re almost one dot, one person, you know that those two dots are...well, you know how things are between you, so I’m sure you can figure it out…”

With a flash of realization, I realize what the combined dot of Hannah and Justin means, and I blush a little. “Oh.”

“I was observing this the other night, looking for students out in the hallways and I saw your dot moving along the Head Boy’s and Girl’s corridor under an invisibility cloak – for the map tells when a person is under an invisibility cloak. I naturally assumed that you were going to see Hermione, as I have observed you do many times before. I saw Mr. Malfoy’s dot moving up the hallway, and then Mr. Filch’s and Mrs. Norris’s not far behind, but thought nothing of it until Draco reached you and you put the invisibility cloak around him. I have often looked for you on the map since…” he let his voice drift off into silence before shaking his head and turning to look at the four of us once more. “But that is not what you’ve come here to talk about is it?”

“No, Professor,” Hermione says, taking the lead in this conversation. “We’ve come to get your advice on something.”

“Advice?” Dumbledore asks us, moving to sit in his chair and motioning for us to sit in the four chairs that he subsequently conjures up. I take one of the middle seats, with Draco taking the one next to me on the end and Hermione taking the one on the other side. Harry takes the seat on the other side of Hermione and just stares at the portraits on the wall, looking as if he is uninterested, but I can see by the set of his jaw that he is paying attention. “Of what sort?”

After glancing at the others, I speak. “We need to know what we can about charms to hide people, specifically, the Fidelius Charm.”

“Ah,” he says, understanding blossoming upon his face. “You wish to hide Mr. Malfoy.”

Hermione and I nod in response to Dumbledore’s statement.

“It is, to be sure, a powerful charm, and may be the one that we need here, but young Draco cannot stay under a charm forever in an attempt to hide. He will eventually have to decide which side to take and subsequently face the consequences of that choice.” Dumbledore pauses for a moment and looks at each in turn, stopping a little longer to study Harry studiously trying to appear as if he is not paying attention. “Do you feel as if you are ready to make that decision yet, Draco?”

I bite my lip and glance at Draco and his fists which are clenched tightly on his lap. I impulsively reach over and touch one of his fists with one of my hands, willing him with my mind to relax. His face is a mask and I can’t read a thing. He takes a breath and lets it out again, shaking his head slightly. The room is silent for another thirty seconds or so while everyone waits for him to speak. “I will be on whatever side is opposite of the one that my father is on.”

Dumbledore surveys Draco over his steepled fingertips, eyes and face guarded. “That puts you, I suppose, on our side, does it not?”

Draco shrugs, glances at me fleetingly, and nods. “Yes, sir. I suppose it does.”

“Are you ready to commit yourself entirely to our cause? This cannot just be about revenge for you. We will help you even if you aren’t a member, but I must stress that the only way that you can ever be free of your father’s reach is to eliminate the source of it, and the most sure way to do that is to fight for it,” Dumbledore says, his voice soft, strangely reassuring despite the unsavory topic.

Draco is silent once more, his face this time betraying his uncertainties, his fears, and every eye in the room is on him, including Harry’s. He folds his hands together, and looks up at me, and I can just sense that he is thinking about what he told me the other night, about Voldemort, about his inhumanness, about the things that his father did to him. He takes a deep breath and looks Dumbledore straight in the eye. “I will commit. I cannot – will not – serve that, that thing that my father calls master. It is unthinkable, it’s, it’s wrong. I will help, although I am not sure that I can be much help to you now.” He sighs in relief, as if glad to be free of the weight of making that decision, glad to finally have chosen a side to fight for.

I sigh a sigh of happy relief, Dumbledore smiles warmly at Draco, Hermione beams and reaches over me to pat his hand reassuringly for a moment, and Harry just looks at Draco with complete and utter amazement upon his face.

“Well, then Draco, welcome to the Order of the Phoenix,” Dumbledore says, coming around to stand before Draco’s chair. I release Draco’s hand as he stands up and tentatively takes the one that Dumbledore has offered in a brief shake.

“Headmaster, Sir,” Harry says, standing up and speaking for the first time, “You cannot truly be letting him into the Order of the Phoenix, this could be a trap, think about it logically, I beg you. He is a Malfoy.”

I stare daggers at Harry, Hermione shifts uncomfortably, biting her lip, and Draco and Harry just stare at each other in silence, neither of their faces betraying any emotions whatsoever. I hold my breath as Dumbledore contemplates what Harry has just said. “Harry, my boy, you are right, he is a Malfoy, but that is not the crucial point of information. The crucial point of information is that he is Draco Malfoy, and not, as you seem to think, his father.”

“B-but-” Harry sputters, his face clearly showing his disbelief.

“Do not judge a person by what their father does, Harry,” Dumbledore says, holding up his hand to stop Harry’s protest. “I do not judge you for who your father was. I do not automatically assume that since your father and his mates were some of the biggest troublemakers Hogwarts has ever seen that you will be too.” Dumbledore pauses observing Harry’s uncomfortable squirms, and even though I know the enormity of the situation, I can’t hide a small smile, and I see that Hermione cannot either. “All right, so maybe that was not the best example given your…past history, but you see my point. Young Draco here is not his father. I have always seen something different in him, something that Lucius did not have, a heart. Some things just take time to shine through to the outside.”

I smile at Draco, and he looks surprised at Dumbledore’s words of praise. His expression matches the one on Harry’s face who seems stunned that Dumbledore is sticking up for his childhood nemesis, but I suppose that I can see where he’s coming from.

“I have always observed that young Miss Weasley here is a good assessor of peoples character and the fact that this new ‘bond’ has taken place between Virginia and Draco just cements in my mind the facts that I already knew,” Dumbledore concludes, smiling at me. “And so Harry, if you have no more objections-” He pauses and looks at Harry who bites his lip but says nothing, “-None? Good. Well, Draco Malfoy, it is my pleasure to welcome you into the Order of the Phoenix once more.”

“Thank you,” Draco says, looking uncomfortable at all of the attention. It’s not the he isn’t used to attention, because he was always one to try and stay in the spotlight, but the nature of this type of attention disconcerts him, and I grin slightly as I watch him squirm under our Headmaster’s gaze.

Dumbledore nods and smiles at him, and then moves in front of me. He takes my hands in his and smiles warmly, and I swear that I can hear him saying to me, “He is a good match for you, my dear Virginia, keep faith in him, and he will turn out well,” but his lips aren’t moving. He winks at me and I smile back in reply, nodding my head in thanks for his message.

“Miss Granger, it was a bold move for you to volunteer to help Draco considering your…past differences. I am very proud of you, you are truly one of the best Head Girls Hogwart’s has ever seen,” Dumbledore says, patting Hermione’s arm gently, “And Harry, your protection of Ginny is admirable, it rivals that of her brothers.” Dumbledore grins and Hermione attempts to hide a smile, and even Harry’s lips twitch up at that. “And now, moving onto the important details. I assume that the three of you would be on the list of people that would know of Draco’s whereabouts?”

I nod without hesitation, and after glancing quickly at Draco for affirmation, which he gives after a moment, Hermione nods too, followed promptly by Harry.

“I will now ask for a few moments alone with Mr. Malfoy to discuss the implications of this charm, and then he will be back with you,” Dumbledore says, smiling cordially at us all. “It was very nice to see you all, and now if you will wait outside I would be grateful.”

Draco shoots me a worried glance as I pass him on my way out behind Harry and Hermione and let my hand brush his briefly as I pass, whispering in his ear words of reassurance before following my friends through the door.

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Harry and Hermione are at the bottom of Dumbledore’s staircase waiting for me when I come down to the bottom, and I find that I really don’t know what to say to them.

“Harry, darling, I really have some work that I need to do in the library, and I’m sure that you and Ginny will want to talk, so why don’t I wait here and tell Draco you’ll meet him in his room later, Ginny, and you two can disappear for awhile,” Hermione said in a sugary sweet voice that clearly implied that what she had proposed was the only course of action that we would consider and that it would be followed to the latter or else. Harry did not look pleased with her suggestion, but when Hermione gently pulled his face down to hers for a deep smoldering kiss and gave him a playful pat on the bottom to send him in my direction he seemed much more amenable to the plan.

I nodded in agreement, and so he quickly laced his fingers with Hermione’s, brushing his mouth against hers and whispering ‘goodbye’, before we set off aimlessly down the hallway. I half-smiled at him, feeling awkward, and he did the same to me. We walked in silence for another thirty seconds or so before we both opened our mouths and spoke at the same time.

“Harry, I’m really sorry that-”

“Ginny, I really shouldn’t have-”

We stop in the middle of the deserted hallway and look at each other before we both start laughing at the sudden realization of the absurdity of it all.

“Ginny, I really shouldn’t have come down on you like that,” Harry says as our fits of laughter eventually subside, the mood between us considerably lighter and more comfortable, “We were both really cranky and tired and not thinking about what we were doing or saying. Can we forget about it and move on?”

“Harry, I’m sorry too, and I have to admit that you did raise some good points,” I say, looking slightly ashamed which truly does mirror my inner feelings at the moment. “I shouldn’t have been lying to you and Hermione, it was wrong, and I’m sorry.”

“And you raised some good points too,” he replies, shrugging in what appears to be a nonchalant manner. “If you had told us about it from the very beginning, we would never have let you go anywhere near his room, and I am too overprotective of you. And I’m really sorry for telling Hermione. It was a violation of your trust and privacy, and I regret it. It was inexcusable.”

“Harry, it’s okay,” I say, reaching out to touch his hand, “I think it worked out for the best, and now you and Hermione know and I don’t have to hide things from you. My concern now is how to tell Ron and Francesca.”

“Urgh, Ron,” Harry says, grimacing slightly, “I definitely sympathize with you there, Gin-bug.”

“Well, look at honestly,” I say nudging hi in the side with my elbow, happy that we’ve repaired things enough that he’s back to calling me Gin-bug. “Telling him can’t be any worse than telling you now, can it, Harry? I mean you’re pretty hard to beat.”

Harry rolls his eyes at me as he slings his arm around my shoulders as we continue our wander. “I will say no more bad things about yours and Draco’s relationship as long as you promise me one thing.”

“Yeah?” I ask, looking up at him.

“You must solemnly swear to never ever talk about how he is in bed within earshot of me,” he says, his face serious, but his eyes betraying a twinkle. I laugh and gently punch him in the ribs as we enter the Gryffindor common room.

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“Ginny!” Francesca squeals as I enter our tower room in what feels like the first time in forever. After relaxing for awhile in the common room I excused myself up to my dorm. “Where have you been? Your bed’s been empty, sweetie.”

“Hermione’s,” I say after a moments hesitation. “I hadn’t really seen her for awhile.”

“Oohh, girl talk,” Francesca says in a low voice, and I laugh, the normalcy of this friendly banter between me and my brother’s girlfriend comforting in this maelstrom of issues I have found myself in. “Any that you can spill to me? Like who you’re going to the Valentine’s Ball with?”

I fall back onto my bed in thought, and Francesca falls down next to me, head on her hand so that her face is looking down into mine. The Valentine’s ball. If you had asked me two weeks ago, I probably would have tried to get one of the cute boys in my brother’s year to take me, someone other than Seamus because he was my boyfriend last year, someone like Dean Thomas, or maybe even sweet, clumsy Neville. But now? If I went, I would go with Draco. There was no way that I would go with anyone else, but the question was, would Draco be going? Probably not, since the Fidelius Charm would have to put on him soon. What a shame. “I-I don’t know, Cesca. I don’t really know if I want to go to the Ball. I mean, I’m kind of on an anti-boys streak right not.”

“What?” Francesca says in disbelief, “Anti-boys?” The tone of her voice and the look on her face imply that she clearly thinks that to be anti-boys is utterly impossible, which I suppose for someone as flirtatious as her it is.

I think fast, trying to come up with viable reasons to support my story. “Valentine’s just really reminds me of Seamus still, and I don’t really need to be reminded of that if I want to move on, you know?”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Francesca coos, eyes full of sympathy, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to push it. I know that if Ron and I ever broke up I would feel the same…”

I look up to see why her voice has trailed off, and I see tears streaming down her face. “Francesca? What’s wrong?”

“I love Ron so much, I think I would die without him,” Francesca admits, trying to smile at me through her tears. “I can’t even imagine not having him. It would be death to me.”

It truly warms my heart to hear speak of my brother in that way. “And you know what, sweetie? I can honestly say that I know he feels the same. He loves you too.”

“Oh thanks, Ginny,” she says, hugging me tightly, and I smile as I wrap my arms around her in return. “You’re the best sister-in-law a girl could ever have!”

“Sister-in-law?” I say, pulling back to look her in the eyes. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

Francesca grins, “Just, you know, a figure a speech.”

I smile back at her, but I can’t ignore the slight feeling that’s nagging at my brain that she’s quite obviously hiding something from me. I look at her, studying her face very closely, and she bites her lip nervously as she notices my staring. She turns to get up off of my bed but I am to fast for her and my hand has reached out to catch hold of her wrist before she has really moved any distance away from me. My fingers brush across a cold metal band on one of her fingers, the commitment ring from Ron that she wears, but it gives me an idea.

“You eloped,” I say, throwing out a wild guess. She immediately stills at my words and my eyes widen and my heart skips a beat as I realize that I’m right. “Oh my God, Sweet Merlin, you eloped. You eloped.”

“Yeah,” she whispers, slowly sitting down next to me. “But don’t tell Ron that I told you, we agreed to keep it a secret.”

“Oh my God,” I whisper, still in complete shock. My burgeoning relationship with Draco will be nothing in my parents eyes compared to this. “But, Cesca, you’re so young.”

“I know, but we both knew from the day that we started dating that we would get married. Ron told me that was a fact at our first dinner, and I’ve always known it to be true, so it seemed like a logical step,” she says, smiling happily at me. “Gosh, I’m so glad someone else knows about this, it was killing me to keep it such a secret.”

“But you’ve only been going out since the end of last year,” I say, mentally working out how long it’s been since last May. May to January – including May, nine months. Not that long in the scheme of things, but then I suppose that since Draco and I slept together after a mere week I shouldn’t be one to judge her on the time issue.

“To your knowledge,” she says as she grins, her eyes sparkling excitedly. “We started seeing each other in secret right after that picnic at your house, so it’s been eighteen months. We just didn’t tell anyone till last May.”

I fall back onto the bed one more, shaking my head. I can’t believe that my brother’s married. I guess when you think about it, after he knows about me and Draco, it’s going to be him flopped back on a bed thinking ‘I can’t believe my sister is sleeping with Draco Malfoy. Loves Draco Malfoy.’ At least he and Francesca were a public couple and a good match, as in both Gryffindors. “Do Harry and Hermione know?”

“No,” Francesca says, shaking her head, “We only did it last weekend, on the Hogsmeade day.”

“When Harry finds out, he’s going to be so pissed that it’s another secret kept from him,” I mutter absentmindedly.

“Another?” Francesca asks, peering over at me. I freeze, realizing my mistake, and she immediately senses my vulnerability and attacks. “Spill it, now. I want to know this secret. I told you mine.”

I sit up and look her in the eye, wondering if I should tell her. Ron doesn’t even know yet. But she did spill about them eloping. I bite my lip uncomfortably, and squirm under the seriousness of her gaze. It clearly says that I am not leaving this room until I have told her a secret that she is satisfied is the secret. “Francesca, I will keep your secret and swear not to tell anybody at all, not even Harry, or Hermione, who is my absolute best friend that I tell everything too,” (most of the time, I think to myself) “if you will agree to keep mine and swear to tell nobody at all. Okay?”

She nods, eyes aglow with excitement.

“And by no one, I mean especially not Ron, and if I find that you have told him, then the whole school will suddenly find out about a little marriage between my brother and his girlfriend. Agreed?” I say, holding my hand out for her to shake.

“Agreed,” she says, grinning as she takes my hand and shakes it firmly. “No one, and definitely not my blabbermouth of a husband.”

“Alright,” I say and motion for her to climb all the way onto the bed. She does so and I close the curtains all the way, casting a silencing spell so that no one outside can hear, and then settle back into the pillows. “I have a ‘boyfriend’ of sorts.”

“A boyfriend?” Francesca squeals, practically throwing herself upon me in utter delight. “Who? Oh, is it Dean Thomas, because I know you fancied him and he’s been looking at you a lot recently. It is, isn’t it?”

“No, Cesca, it’s definitely not Dean,” I reply with a chuckle, shaking my head, “ He’s a seventh year, hot as hell, not in our house, and someone you would never suspect.”

Francesca sits back on her heels as she contemplates this information and I know that she is mentally going through a list of seventh year boys that aren’t in our house who could be classed as ‘hot as hell’ and then trying to figure out which one would be someone she would never suspect. She gets a thoughtful look on her face, and then a surprised one, and then a look the clearly implies that she has a man in mind. “Draco Malfoy.”

“How did you know?” I gasp, shocked that she’s got it on the first try.

Her eyes widen in complete shock and she falls down into the pillows next to me, stunned. “You’re serious, Gin? Draco Malfoy? As in most gorgeous Slytherin to ever grace this school with his presence? As is eyes to die for Draco Malfoy?”

“Yeah,” I admit, smiling at her descriptions of him as I think that they are pretty accurate.

“Oh my God, Sweet Merlin,” she breathes, looking at me with wide eyes, “I only said him because he was the most unlikely attractive seventh year boy that I could think of. But Lord! Draco Malfoy. Tell me everything. Now. Or you are not leaving here alive.”

I smile at her, “Only if you tell me everything about you and Ron after.”

“Deal, now get on with it,” she orders, grinning and settling back into the pillows next to me for the story.

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Francesca and I are still lying on my bed, an hour and a half later, both of us having told our stories to exhaustion and are now trying to recover from it all.

“I can’t believe you’ve slept with Draco Malfoy,” she whispers in something that sounds akin to awe. “You know that if the school finds out about this most of the female population will want to kill you.”

The laugh I let out turns into a snort, and the two of us fall into fits of giggles. “At least Draco Malfoy is someone that all girls want to sleep with. I can’t believe that you’ve voluntarily slept with my brother. That’s truly horrific in the most disturbing sense. You must be out of your goddamn mind.”

“You don’t think of him like everyone else does. You’re his sister. Everyone else here is just as much in love with him as they are Harry and Draco,” Francesca explains although in my mind there is no excuse for sleeping with my brother except insanity. “He has gorgeous eyes, and beautiful hair, and an incredible body, and he is absolutely amazing in bed-”

“Stop!” I shriek, covering my ears with my hands, “Ew, ew, ew, ew, ewwwwwwwww! That was so not what I wanted to hear.”

Francesca pulls my hands away from my ears, “Lighten up Gin, I was just kidding. Okay, well I wasn’t kidding but-”

I slap her playfully, knowing that she is just trying to rile me up, and we both fall back into a comfortable silence and I feel that I will come away from this discussion about ten times closer than I previously was with Francesca. My sister-in-law. “Wow.”

“What?” she whispers to me, her eyes drifting closed slowly.

“You’re my sister-in-law, Cesca,” I reply, and she just smiles before drifting completely off to sleep. I study her silently for a few minutes and notice a new chain around her neck. Being careful not to wake her, I gently pull on it so that it is not hidden underneath the neckline of her t-shirt and see that there is a ring on it. I realize that this must be her wedding band and I finger it carefully, deep in thought.

A soft moan from my friend brings me out of my reverie, and I glance at my watch and am shocked to see that it is almost seven o’clock. I suddenly realize that I feel absolutely ravenous, having missed lunch and I make the decision to pack some clothes in a satchel and grab a bite to eat before going to Draco’s room.

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“Hey Gin,” Ron greets me as I sit down opposite him, next to Harry the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.

I smile at him, trying not to appear as if I know that anything is different with him and Francesca. “Hey big brother.”

“You seem to be in a better mood today,” he teases me, kicking my leg under the table and I smirk at him, dropping some pepper into his pumpkin juice as he looks up to glance at the doors of the Great Hall. “Anyone seen Francesca?”

“Yeah, she’s asleep on my bed,” I say between mouthfuls of my cottage pie, desperately trying to eat it as fast as possible so that I can get to Draco’s room.

“Your bed?” Ron asks. He and Harry both look at me with questioning glances and I motion for them to wait until my mouth is empty of food.

”Who’s on Ginny’s bed?” Hermione asks suspiciously, plunking herself down on Harry’s other side and he leans in for a quick kiss and a low whisper of, “hey, babe, thanks.” She looks at me with a pointed glance and he smiles and nods and she visibly relaxes, glad that things are back to normal between us.

Finally able to speak, I down a sip of pumpkin juice and look at my brother. “We were having girl talk and she just conked out, completely worn out. I don’t know what you two have been doing, but she sure is tired.”

Ron has a smug look on his face, and Harry, Hermione and I just look at each other with slightly grossed out looks on ours. “I think I’m going to head off now.”

“Where you going, Gin?” Ron asks, “You literally just got here.”

“I’m full, and I, uh, have some homework that I need to catch up on,” I explain, motioning to my satchel. I wink and Harry and Hermione so that they know that I’m really off to Draco’s, and as I pass them I dip my head down and whisper, “Come if you can so we can see what’s going on.”

They nod and I throw my friends one last smile over my shoulder before disappearing through the doors of the Great Hall out into the Entrance Hall.

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“Buttercup,” I whisper, and the portrait swings open, giving me entrance into Draco’s rooms, and not a moment to soon because as soon as I step inside the threshold I hear footsteps turning into the corridor. I quickly close the portrait door, set my bag down, and reach up to redo my ponytail as I call out to him. “Draco?”

“Ginny?” his voice calls out, and almost before I know it, a pair of arms have firmly wrapped themselves around me. “Where have you been?”

I smile and turn myself around in his embrace so that I can look at him. “I was in Gryffindor tower spending some time with Ron’s girlfriend. You were worried, weren’t you?”

He shrugs and he releases me, pulling me over to the loveseat. “I thought that Harry might have been successful in persuading you to leave me.”

“No way, Draco,” I say, reaching out to turn his face towards mine. “Harry and I are okay now, and he won’t be trying to persuade me away from you again.” He smiles at me, covering my hand with his own, and he leans over and gives me a soft kiss.

“Harry and Hermione are going to come so we can talk about what Dumbledore said to you,” I tell him as I relax back into the warm comfort of the sofa. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure, whatever.” He’s silent for a moment and I feel him drape his arm around my shoulder and pull me towards him so that we are sitting next to each other, my head resting lightly on his shoulder. “Is this causing problems for Harry and Hermione?”

“What?” I ask, surprised by the question.

“I, I mean, Hermione’s kind of helping me here, and Harry doesn’t like me, because I haven’t always been as civil as I suppose I could have been, and I just wanted to make sure that what Hermione’s doing for me isn’t creating problems for her and Harry,” Draco says, his fingers rubbing light circles on my skin through the shoulder of my top. “I wouldn’t want to be the cause of problems between them, especially not now I’m on the ‘good’ side.”

I smile at his use of the word ‘good’. “No, Draco, they’re fine, and I’ve talked with Harry.”

“I talked with Hermione too,” he says, his voice sounding as if he’s unsure of whether or not to tell me what he is saying. I glance up at him and smile reassuringly. “After you and Harry left, she was waiting for me, to tell me that you guys had gone and that you would meet up with me later on tonight. I told her thank you, for, you know, doing what she’s, uh, doing for me.”

“Really?” I say, my face reflecting my approval of his actions. “I’m proud of you. I’m sure she really appreciates it.”

“It was weird, you know, saying thank you to someone I’ve never been friends with,” he said, laughing slightly, “Ah, hell, who am I kidding, it was weird to say thank you at all. Didn’t feel like the Draco I know.”

“Sounds like the Draco that I’m proud to be getting to know,” I say, lacing my fingers through the hand that isn’t around my shoulders. “What is it between you and Harry and Ron and Hermione anyway? You guys have never gotten along in all the time that I can remember. Ron used to come home and Harry would come spend time with us in the summer and they’d always be snarking about something you did to them or vice versa.”

“Ah, I don’t know, I mean, lots of little pointless things, I suppose,” Draco says after a moment. “My father, he, uh, always told me which families were the ones that were ‘appropriate’ for me to associate with, and by that he meant rich, and your family didn’t exactly fall into that category. And there’s some bad blood between your father and mine. Mine really hates that a ‘pureblood’ wizard could be so fascinated with muggles. Thinks it’s wrong and all. Suppose he rubbed off on me over the years.”

I make a small snort of laughter. “Our families have never been the best of friends, have they?” He shakes his head. “Do you remember at the beginning of your second year, when our families met in the bookshop?”

“Yeah,” he says quietly. “I said that you were Harry’s girlfriend. And our Dads had a little scuffle.”

“The good old days of the Weasley-Malfoy feud,” I say, and we both laugh. “So that explains Ron, but what about Harry and Hermione?”

“On the first day of school, back in our first year, I offered to be friends with Harry, and I think I probably insulted your brother in the process, and they’d already become friends, so he refused my offer, and things just kept getting worse and worse ever since,” Draco says, voice quiet and thoughtful, his mind lost in the memory. “And because things were bad between me and Harry and your brother I think that the sentiment just naturally transferred onto Hermione too since they were generally inseparable. And then there’s the fact that she’s muggle-born, not something I was taught to look upon fondly.”

“There’s something else, isn’t there,” I whisper, looking up into his surprised eyes. “You’re jealous of him, aren’t you?”

“Jealous? Me?” he says, the corners of his lips turning down as if he’s about to deny it, but then, after a quick glance at me, he shrugs slightly and lets out a breath. “Harry Potter. The teachers love him. The girls love him. The whole damn world loves him…but I suppose, what’s not to love? He’s funny, good-looking, has two best friends who love him unconditionally, has a cool scar, saves the world on a regular basis, won the Tri-Wizard tournament, and never fails to beat me in Quidditch. And everyone loved his parents. Yeah, I guess he has some things to be jealous of.”

I watch his face and I realize how hard it was for him to admit any of that to me. “He’s not Head Boy like this other amazing guy that I happen to know.”

Draco smiles and I feel better knowing that he’s not as down. “I’ve heard that that Head Boy wants to ask this really beautiful girl he knows to be his girlfriend.”

“That’s what you heard?” I ask, a smile gracing my face and a warmth spreading through my body.

“That’s what I heard,” he says, looking at me with a playful twinkle in his eyes, “Do you think she’d say yes?”

“I think that the answer might be a yes,” I say and he dips his head closer to mine to press his lips softly against my own. “I know the answer would be a yes.”

“Good to know, girlfriend,” he says, his voice joking but his face serious. I kiss him again, savoring his special taste, the feel of his fingers running themselves through my hair. He pulls back for a moment to look into my eyes. “This almost makes me want to hug my father for beating me.”

“What?” I ask and my hands stop pulling him towards me. “You can’t be serious.”

“If he hadn’t, I would never have had this with you,” he says, cupping my cheek with his hand. “And that, to me, completely outweighs the bad.”

I smile widely at him, my eyes a little wet at his words. “I’m glad I have you too.”

“And we’re glad as well, but Hermione and I would really appreciate it if we didn’t have to see a replay of this morning,” Harry’s voice cuts through our oblivion. We turn to look at him standing near us with Hermione behind him, a smirk gracing his face but his eyes definitely warmer than they were this morning. Draco starts to remove his arm from around my shoulders but I trap it there, holding it in place. Harry sits down in the seat that Hermione was sitting in earlier this morning and smiles at me and half-smiles at Draco who nods in return. Hermione looks as if she’s going to move over to the other armchair opposite Harry when he catches her wrist and pulls her firmly down into his lap. I smile at my friends antics and hear Draco chuckle almost inaudibly in my ear.

“Glad to see you looking a bit more rested, Draco,” Hermione says, a warm and friendly smile playing around her lips. My heart swells a bit at her actions. I really appreciate the incredible effort that my best friend is making to be nice to Draco. I look up at him and see him smiling at her in return.

“Thanks, I feel better after I had that nap you suggested,” he says, and Harry and I exchange looks.

“So,” Harry says, lacing his fingers through Hermione’s, “What did Dumbledore say to you after we left?”

“Well, he explained exactly how he’ll cast the charm, which isn’t really important right now, and he said that there are some things that we have to decide,” Draco explains, pulling a folded up piece of parchment from his jeans pocket and tossing it Hermione who deftly catches it and unfolds it, letting Harry read over shoulder. “We have to list the people who’ll know that I’m under the charm. Those people will be the people who will know where I am and will be able to see me. Dumbledore says that the list can’t be too long.”

“So, do you have any ideas of who you want on the list?” Hermione says, reaching into her bag and retrieving a quill and some ink. She slips off of Harry’s lap, much to his dismay and sits on the floor next to the coffee table so that she can rest on it.

“Well, Ginny, obviously, Dumbledore, you and Harry, maybe McGonagall, but I wasn’t sure about Snape. I mean, he is the head of my house, and Dumbledore told me the truth about his status as a Death Eater, but I’m not sure if it’s a risk we should take,” Draco says, shrugging, his face deep in thought.

“So, Ginny, Dumbledore, me, Harry,” Hermione mutters as her quill scratches across the parchment. She looks up at us, “Why McGonagall? Is there any particular reason?”

“You guys are taking that Animagition class, right?” Draco asks, and we nod in reply. “Well, Dumbledore says that I should probably study Animagition too, since it could be a useful weapon and a good way to disguise myself, you know?”

“So, McGonagall too,” Hermione nods, adding the name to the list. She sits back, her back resting in between Harry’s legs against the bottom of the armchair. “I would be inclined to say no to Snape, not because I don’t like him, but because if your father ever suspected that Snape knew where you were, he would find some way to get it out of him. Bad risk.”

“Yeah,” Draco replies, furrowing his eyebrows for a moment. “What do you guys think?” He looks at me and then Harry, who looks surprised to have his opinion asked for, but actually quite touched at the same time.

“I would have to go with no too,” Harry says, “If Voldemort or your father sensed in any way that Snape knew they would go all the way to find out where you were, and that could put Snape in danger, which means that have no spy on the inside of Voldemort’s circle.”

“Go with no,” I agree.

“So Snape’s a no,” Draco says with a note of finality in his voice. “The next thing that Dumbledore said that we would have to decide was who my secret keeper was going to be.”

“Dumbledore?” Hermione asks.

Draco shakes his head. “Too obvious. Dumbledore says that it would have to be someone that no one would ever suspect that I would use. I, uh, I’ve thought about it a lot this afternoon, and I would like to ask you to be my secret keeper, Harry.”

~~)~*~(~~

Please review, this is my first Draco/Ginny(or any) fanfic, and like all other authors, reviews are what keep me going!