The Ferret and the Weasel

The ferret and the weasel. Of all the things he'd heard in his life, Ron never thought he'd hear that. It made him sick to his stomach every time; to think his little sister was dating...he didn't even know if he could handle the thought...Draco Malfoy. Draco Malfoy, of all people.

He had been against it from the beginning, of course, with Harry and Hermione staunchly backing him up when he confronted his rebellious little sister. (Well, sort of...) But, yell and scream and lecture as he would, it was in vain. She claimed Malfoy had changed; Ron had seen nothing of this sort. She claimed he cared for her, and would never do anything to hurt her; he had to concede that she hadn't been strung up and used for Slytherin curse practice yet. "But," as he had warned her darkly. "He might."

"He might what?" She replied curiously, making him realize he hadn't actually said anything out loud.

"Never you mind," he said sullenly, feeling vaguely that he had failed her as an older bother...er...brother. In no way was he a bother. He laughed at the thought. Well, not so much laughed as tried to laugh, seeing how it came out as more of a weak chuckle. And furthermore, one that made Ginny stare at him in consternation.

"What is it now, Ron?"

"Er...nothing." He rubbed his neck thoughtfully and decided to leave it at that for the moment. Oh, but when he got his hands on that smarmy little ferret...

Pain. Lots of pain.

<*><*><*>

Leaving Ron obviously contemplating Malfoy's forthcoming demise, Ginny ponced off to find the object of his wrath and, recently, her affection. She wasn't much worried; Ron did admittedly have a bit of a temper, but he always recovered fairly quickly. He would just have to get used to the thought of her new beau...

...Who happened to be out by the lake, looking gorgeous, as usual. She hated being shallow, but he was simply adorable, and at the moment she was feeling just about as deep as a mud puddle.

A lock of his silver-blonde hair fell gracefully over his left eye, though somehow it didn't seem out of place. It made her own flaming-red Weasley hair seem garish and untidy, though she'd spent hours on it that morning. He was dressed impeccably, his black cloak with the silver lining rippling in the cool breeze coming off the lake, the trademark silver and green of the Slytherin uniform peeking out from underneath. The very sight of him made her heart leap as though she'd just eaten half a dozen Chocolate Frogs. She came to stand beside him, neither speaking for a few seconds. Then...

"Have you told Weasley Senior yet?"

"Don't call him that, Draco," she scolded playfully. "And yes, I have."

"My apologies," he said wryly. "We just have such history, your brother and I. Did he have a fit?"

"He was in a right strop; we both knew he would be. But he doesn't matter." She twined her arm through his, looking up into his steely gray eyes. "It's you I care about."

"Forsaking your own brother for me? How sweet."

But he seemed pleased all the same.

<*><*><*>

In the meantime, Ron was thinking - hard. He paced about the common room, face red and eyes narrowed, gesturing wildly and muttering to himself. Every now and again he'd stop, a wild sort of light in his eyes, then would shake his head in frenzied disappointment and continue pacing.

It was exhausting simply to watch him...or at least he gathered that much, judging by the way Hermione's eyelids kept sliding shut and the fact that Harry seemed to be asleep sitting up. Pausing a moment in his pacing to glare venomously at the two of them, he tapped his foot impatiently on the plush crimson carpet, arms crossed petulantly over his chest. The effect it had on them was somewhat less than impressive. Hermione's fluttered closed once more, and Harry's head, which had been propped on his hands, fell to the table with a loud thunk. Ron scowled.

"Your enthusiasm is positively dazzling."

Harry began to snore.

Ron's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "Impressive."

"Ron," Hermione said wearily, forcing her eyes back open. "You kept us up half of last night talking about this exact thing! Exams are next week! Don't you think we should be worried about that?"

"You've been drilling us for months; I'm not worried." He assured her, looking indignant. "Besides, this is my little sister!"

Harry made a noise that could've been agreement, but it couldn't be confirmed, as he was still mostly unconscious. Ron scowled again. A muscle in his cheek twitched.

"It's not that bad, Ron." Hermione chided. "It's better than watching them stare longingly at each other when they pass in the corridor, isn't it?"

"I think I'm going to be sick."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, come off it."

He snorted in disgust, pointing an accusing finger. "Are you defending Malfoy, now?"

"Of course not! I - "

"I preferred it when she had a crush on Harry!" he shouted.

Harry woke with a startled snort, and his head shot off the table, glasses hanging crookedly on his nose. "s'matter?"

"Nothing," Ron snapped, grabbing his cloak off the nearby chair it was draped over and stalking off towards the portrait hole. "I'm going out."

<*><*><*>

Ginny had never felt more nervous in her entire life, she was sure. It was a good sort of nervous - butterflies fluttering about in her stomach - but it was still nervous. Her heart thudded in an erratic tattoo, making her feel as though she had an entire marching band prancing around inside her chest, and she barely noticed as Draco led her calmly to the edge of the forest, sitting at the base of a large elm tree. This was the closest she'd ever been to him before; his arm resting casually across her shoulders, fingers toying gently with a lock of her hair. The smell of him filled her nostrils - sweet and clean, yet spicy and exotic all at the same time.

Leaning affectionately against his shoulder, she sighed contentedly, gazing into those beautiful gray eyes once more. A smile touched his lips.

"What're you thinking?"

She shrugged. "Nothing. Except...well, it's strange, isn't it?"

"What's strange?"

"You know...us."

One of his eyebrows arched up curiously. "What's so strange about us?"

"Well...just think about it; you're a Malfoy, and I'm a Weasley."

"So?"

She wrinkled her nose at him. "Well..."

"Do you think it's strange?" His voice was quiet, gentle, as he leaned in...

His lips were soft, just as she'd expected they would be, and she felt drawn in by them, leaning closer still. His other arm curled around her waist, his fingers lightly caressing her back. Her pulse raced faster and faster, heart thumping as though she'd just run a race. He pulled back slightly.

"I'll take that as a 'no'."

She smiled, drawing him back to her. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she grinned into his lips, her body tingling all over. She was in Heaven.

"Oh, bloody hell! Now I am going to be sick!"

Heaven shattered into a thousand pieces of crystalline glass.

Draco pulled away from her slowly, fixing Ron with a cold stare. His voice was like ice. "A little privacy here, Weasley?"

"Get. Your. Hands. Off. My. Sister." Ron growled.

Ginny frowned, blushing in embarrassment at the intrusion. "Go away, Ron." What a terrible time for him to show up!

His face darkened from a grimace of disgust to a snarl, but he ignored her. "She's coming with me, Malfoy."

Draco's upper lip curled into a sneer, and, standing smoothly, he met Ron glare for glare. Ginny had never really noticed before how very tall he was.

"You know, Weasley, you're going to have to deal with your sister dating sooner or later." His long cloak swirled menacingly around his legs, making him look fiercer than she'd ever imagined he could. She had the sudden urge to kiss him again, but decided it would probably be best if she put it off till later.

"I am dealing with it." Ron snapped, quickly sidestepping Draco and seizing her arm. "Come on Ginny, let's go."

She shrugged him off coolly, climbing to her feet and pausing to meticulously brush a few stray blades of grass off her robes. Ron glowered.

"See you later, Draco?" she asked serenely, flashing him an apologetic smile. He didn't smile back; his eyes were still focused on her idiotic brother.

"Yes." It sounded like a challenge, and she knew perfectly well it wasn't meant for her.

Nodding, satisfied, she grabbed Ron's arm and marched him off towards the castle before he could say anything else. He would pay for ruining the most wonderful moment of her life.

<*><*><*>

Harry peered nervously at the dream chart he was filling out for Divination and scratched his head in puzzlement. So far, he had deciphered that he would be mauled by a bookcase (hardly unbelievable; Hermione had already smacked him five or six times with her battered copy of 'Hogwarts: A History'. He no longer wondered why so many of her books were in such poor shape.), would drown in a bowl of soup, and would be strangled by his own shoelaces, no less.

What bothered him most was the fact that he wasn't making any of it up.

Staring at his last Thursday's entry in confusion, he leafed distractedly through his Divination book, dreading what he might find out next. Would he be attacked by a rabid Niffler? Contract the Black Plague? He double-checked his chart and snorted.

"Beware the enraged weasel? Now that's just - "

The portrait hole swung open suddenly and Ginny Weasley stormed in, looking murderous. He vaguely wondered how accurate his dream charts could be.

But, thankfully enough, he didn't need to worry about that, as Ginny's current state was easily explained when he noticed Ron trailing in behind her. From the nauseous look on Ron's face, he guessed there had been an interesting new development. Or several. He shoved the half-finished Divination aside.

"Hullo Ginny." He said brightly.

She didn't even pause to glance at him, immediately starting up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. "Hello Potter." She muttered.

Harry blinked. Interesting new developments, indeed. Meanwhile, Ron was turning alternate shades of purple and green. Harry decided that this, in itself, was an interesting new development.

"Dare I ask what happened?" He said tentatively.

"No."

"Ah." He waited a few moments. "What happened?"

When Ron turned an unattractive shade of puce, Harry was fairly sure he was going to collapse before any sort of answer could be gotten out of him. But he didn't, and amidst the following near-incomprehensible tirade, he was able to make out the words 'snogging', 'Malfoy', 'tree', and...

"They were ALONE!" Ron yelled in a final burst of energy. "Completely and utterly ALONE! Malfoy! With my sister!" He sat down heavily, breathing hard, and buried his face in his arms.

"Well..." Harry said, feeling rather bewildered. "Er...you know, it's not that horrible..."

"ARE YOU OFF YOUR NUT!? IT'S MALFOY WE'RE TALKING ABOUT!"

"Well...when I stop to think about it...he's actually been really rather civil this year..." Harry said thoughtfully, tapping his chin with his index finger in that adorable way that made girls scribble 'Mrs. Harry Potter' all over their notebooks. Ron switched from puce to fuchsia with surprising speed.

"THAT'S BECAUSE HE'S BEEN TOO BUSY SNOGGING MY SISTER TO SAY ANYTHING!!!!" he roared.

"For your information," Ginny said tartly, appearing at the foot of the girls' staircase and making both boys jump nearly a foot into the air in surprise. "That was our first kiss - "

"And your last," Ron warned darkly.

She continued on as if he hadn't spoken.

" - and you completely destroyed it! I have half a mind to take out my wand and hex you right now!"

"Now, Ginny, just calm down," Harry said placatingly, standing to receive her. Her glare fixed on him.

"Oh, shut up Harry!" she snapped, and he sank back into his chair, feeling deflated. Ron gave him a look that very clearly said, "I told you she was bonkers; dating that sadistic muggle-hating ferret and snogging him out in the open where any innocent bystander could stumble upon them at any moment! Mainly me! Oh, the public humiliation I am destined to face!"...or perhaps it simply said, "Sucks to be me, eh, Harry?"

Personally, Harry himself couldn't decide.

"Harry hasn't done anything to you!" Ron pointed out, drawing back her attention.

"You shut up, too!" her eyes narrowed, hands balling into fists. "Oooh, Ron, I could just kill you!"

He laughed mirthlessly. "Play your cards right and Malfoy will do it for you! Hey, and while he's at it, why doesn't he just knock off Harry, too? And Hermione! And our entire family! That is what he's planning, after all!"

"Oh, stop it!" she shouted, throwing her arms up into the air. "He's not a murderer!"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you."

"Argh!" Ginny growled, shoving past him and stomping to the portrait hole.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ron demanded, tramping after her. Harry decided he'd best stay put - for his own safety, if not for any other reason.

"I'm going to find Draco and apologize." Ginny said matter-of-factly. "And don't think you can stop me."

"No, you're not."

Her wand was out in a second, the tip brushing against Ron's nose. Ron gulped. Harry considered ducking under the table, but thought it might seem undignified, so he settled for cringing in horror. After all, dignity...wasn't really all that important in a situation like this. He took a moment to appreciate how very dignified Ginny looked.

"Just watch me."

Ron paled, but persisted. "Ginny, he's practically a Death Eater!"

Even Harry knew this was going much too far. Ginny visibly tensed, and she straightened slowly, fixing Ron with a glare that would've stopped a Hungarian Horntail in its tracks. Her voice was deadly even, her wand poised.

"Petrificus totalus!"

Harry watched in panic as Ron suddenly went ramrod straight, eyes rolling madly in his head, and teetered a moment before falling to the floor with a loud thud. And then Ginny turned on him, making him reconsider sliding under the table. Where was Hermione when he needed her?

"Do you have any objections?"

"None whatsoever," he squeaked, giving her a little wave of consent. "Have fun."

As she stomped out the portrait hole, not caring to avoid stepping on Ron (who gave a strangled yelp of pain as she trod on his fingers), Harry glanced at his Divination homework once more and shuddered. Maybe his predictions were more accurate than he'd thought.

He made a mental note to avoid the soup at dinner.

<*> <*> <*>

"A Death Eater, eh?" Draco said thoughtfully, wrapping his arm around Ginny's waist as they walked. "I didn't think I was that far gone...I mean, the occasional anti-muggle joke, but - "

"He's absolutely wretched!" she sobbed, burying her face into his chest. He stopped abruptly, bringing his other arm around her as well. "I can't believe he said all of that! And in front of Harry!"

"He's just a little frustrated, I think." Draco said sagely, then spoiled the effect by chuckling quietly. "He's going to be furious about this you realize."

"I don't care," sniffling pathetically, she brushed a frizzing strand of hair out of her face and pressed her cheek against his arm. "I hate him."

"Oh, don't say that. He'll come around eventually; just give him time."

"He won't change; he's miserable."

There was a slight pause, and then Draco began to stroke her hair gently. He sighed.

"I can talk to him, if you like."

She pulled away, wiping her tears hastily on her sleeve so she could stare up at him in amazement. "Are you insane? He'll...he'll..."

He shrugged. "Well, somebody has got to talk to him."

"I have, it's just that -"

"He won't listen to you because you're his little sister, and he thinks he has the right to order you around." He brushed a hand against her cheek, smiling amiably. "He'll listen to me. After all, I am a Malfoy."

She couldn't help but smile back.

"You can sound so pompous sometimes..." His eyebrows shot up incredulously. "...and I love it."

<*> <*> <*>

Ron was still nursing a few nasty bruises when he arrived in the Potions classroom the next day, and was feeling very bitter about it. Who wouldn't feel bitter about lying paralyzed on the floor for a few hours? Especially since his best friend had been sitting next to him, wand in pocket, and had done nothing; he had had to wait for Hermione to come back before he could move again.

Harry, at least, seemed to be feeling quite guilty, for which he was glad.

"Look, Ron, I'm really sorry; I was just afraid she'd come back, and - "

"It's just Ginny, Harry! You could've handled her if she had come back!"

Harry shifted uncomfortably. "I dunno...she has been studying with Hermione lately..."

"Well, so did we!"

"Yes, well..."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Forget it. I forgive you, alright?" he snapped, rubbing his shoulder absently, and muttering. "...you could've at least given me a cushion, though..."

From the way Harry simply strode into the classroom, Ron guessed he hadn't heard, and, sighing, trailed after him, still rubbing his shoulder.

"Weasley!"

Ron knew who it was without looking, and groaned, picking up his pace. A hand at his shoulder stopped him.

"I need to say something to you, Weasley."

"It's amazing how you can say anything at all when you've got your tongue stuck so far down my sister's throat..." he pushed Draco's hand off his shoulder, and spun to face the Slytherin. "I don't have anything to say to you, so shove off."

Draco's eyes were cold. "I'm doing this for Ginny's sake, so -"

"So what?" Ron snapped, crossing his arms over his chest impatiently. "Can't she just say it herself? I'd much rather talk to her."

"Would you actually listen?"

"Bugger off, Malfoy." Harry said, suddenly appearing at Ron's shoulder.

"This doesn't concern you, Potter." Draco said coldly, not taking his eyes off of Ron. "It's between Weasley and me."

"If you're going to say something, Malfoy, just get on with it." Hermione said, materializing at Ron's other shoulder. Draco's face darkened slightly. "We're nearly late for class, as it is."

"I wasn't looking forward to doing this," Draco grumbled, mirroring Ron's stance. "But I'm going to enjoy it even less with an audience."

Ron suddenly realized that, for once, Draco wasn't being shadowed by his massive henchmen, Crabbe and Goyle. He was completely alone. For a moment, he considered sending Harry and Hermione away, simply for fairness's sake. But only for a moment.

"This is about my sister, right? So let her tell me." He said dismissively, turning to walk away.

"I'm not going to stop loving her because of you."

Ron turned back abruptly, his anger flaring up.

"You don't love her, Malfoy; you can't love someone if you've got no heart." He snapped, stabbing Draco in the chest with his index finger. "I don't know what you're up to, but you'd better leave her alone."

Draco's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What do you know about love, Weasley? I don't see you with a girlfriend." A hint of his old sneer crept onto his face. "Or is it that you don't fancy the females?"

Ron could feel his ears turning red, and he balled his hands into fists, lowering himself into a fighting stance. "That's it, Malfoy, I'll -"

Draco held up his hands defensively, shaking his head. "I won't fight you, Weasley."

"Well, that's too bad, because I'm going to fight you!" And with that, Ron swung his fist as hard as he possibly could.

It connected with the other boy's jaw with a sickening crunch of bone, and Draco staggered backward with a groan. Unfortunately for Ron, however, the sound had not come from Malfoy's jaw, but rather from his hand. Fiery pain lanced through it, and he stumbled back a few steps, watching Draco cautiously. The Slytherin straightened, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, and Ron caught a glimpse of something red.

Malfoy was bleeding.

Draco stared at his hand in shock for a moment, then brought his glare up to rest on Ron once more. There were cold flames of anger dancing in his steely gray eyes. Ron backed up a few steps, wondering if he should be frightened or not, and nearly trod on Hermione's toes. He didn't get much time to wonder, though, as Draco appeared to be coming to a decision himself.

"Right, then." He said resolutely, nodding once, and his fist lashed out so quickly that Ron nearly didn't see it. But, whether he saw it or not didn't really matter, because he certainly felt it. His face seemed to explode with the pain, and his vision was shot with streaks of red. He stood stricken for a moment, feeling himself teetering on the edge of balance, and then all went dark as the floor rushed up to meet him.

<*> <*> <*>

Ginny trailed behind as the rest of her Care of Magical Creatures class trudged up the sloping grounds towards the castle, positively dreading the lecture Ron would surely give her when she returned to the common room. She wasn't entirely sure what she had actually been meaning to do, but she'd been so very angry, and the spell had simply popped into her head. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

"Did you hear about the fight in the Potions dungeon?"

The upraised voice of one of her classmates caught her attention, and she squinted up the hill, searching out the owner. Her eyes alighted on a brown-haired Ravenclaw boy she'd never bothered to learn the name of and the gaggle of other students gathered around him, shouting questions. As per usual, they had been drawn like moths to the flame by anything that even hinted of being violent. Ginny sighed.

"Wassamatter?"

"Who fought who?"

"What's going on?"

"What happened, Geoffrey?"

'Geoffrey' held up a hand for silence and suppressed a grin, very obviously enjoying all the attention he was receiving. "Well, I only know what I've heard, but it all comes from a very reliable source -"

"Come on, just tell us!"

"Who was it, Geoff?"

Ginny rolled her eyes and kept walking on past the little group, favoring them with a disgusted glare. They paid her no attention. Geoffrey continued on with his little 'breaking news' report, totally uncaring of her lack of interest. His audience was big enough to keep him going.

"Apparently, Ron Weasley popped Draco Malfoy one -"

Ginny stopped dead in her tracks.

"--And then, Malfoy knocked Weasley out cold (dangerous chap, he is) -"

"Then what happened?"

Geoffrey lowered his voice conspiratorially, making the crowd draw in closer. Ginny took a hesitant step backward, turning back to look up at him.

"Well, I heard that Professor Snape himself had to take Weasley up to the hospital wing in a stretcher; gave him detention straight off, too. But, that Malfoy got off with nothing at all. Bloody Slytherins..."

There was a murmur of agreement from the gathering (no Slytherins among them, obviously), and then...

"What was they fighting about, Geoff?"

"Apparently, Malfoy said something about Weasley's sister -"

"You mean Ginny?"

At the sound of her name, Ginny sucked in a sharp breath and glanced around, shrinking to make herself as inconspicuous as possible. Nobody noticed; they were all still enraptured with Geoffrey's narrative.

"--Yeah, that's the one. I think she and Malfoy were dating or something like that, and that's what made Weasley mad. I don't blame him, myself; it's unnatural for a Slytherin to be dating a Gryffindor. It just doesn't seem right..."

Another murmur of agreement. Ginny could feel her face heating up.

"If I'm any judge, there'll be more to this," Geoffrey said ominously. "Mark my words."

There was a large amount of head-shaking and muttering as the crowd began to disband, leaving poor Geoff to soak in the dregs of his moment of gossip glory, and Ginny caught a few snatches of hushed conversation as they passed.

"-must be out of her mind, dating Malfoy--"

"--going to get herself in a lot of trouble someday--"

"--he is rather cute, though--"

"--Weasley's right; we should take the lot of those bloody Slytherins and -"

Too furious and embarrassed to keep up a low profile any longer, she shoved past them all and took off full speed towards the castle, letting her cloak whip along behind her. A few of her classmates seemed to realize who she was as she sprinted past, and stood stricken in alarm; had she heard? She paid them no attention, save to glare at the particular few who tried to stop her. If it was the last thing she did, she was going to prove them wrong. There would be no more to this ridiculous little war between Weasley and Malfoy; she was putting an end to it. Now.

<*> <*> <*>

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