The Red Haired Weasel and the Amazing Bouncing Ferret

Ginny Weasley

October 31st 11:57 p.m.

This was it. Tonight I had my first date ever with Draco Malfoy.

And it was wonderful.

The room was twinkling with candlelight when I stepped inside, and I fought to ignore my heart that was racing from inside my throat. A beautiful picnic blanket was set up on the floor, complete with cider filled crystal. And to top it all off, there stood Draco, his arms draped casually behind his back, his face devoid of all sarcasm.

“Ginny,” he addressed. He made no effort to move close, but watched with intelligent eyes as I took everything in.

“You’ve done a good job with the place,” I commented, stepping further inside.

He smiled, showing his pearly whites. “It was nothing.”

He then took my hand and guided me to the blanket. Silence fell as he handed me my drink.

“What will we toast to,” he asked, lifting his glass.

A list of possible suggestions leapt to mind. Forgiveness, trust, a new friendship. “Harry Potter,” I answered automatically.

His raised eyebrow spoke volumes that his voice could not.

I rushed ahead. “Well, if, you know, it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t be sitting here with you.”

He continued to look doubtful as he answered reproachfully, “How do you figure that?”

“If he’d been a little different, seen me as more than a sister…” I groped for words that wouldn’t damage this already tremulous situation. “Then I might not have given up on him, and moved on to…”

“Me,” he finished.

“Right.”

A long silence followed as he considered my words. “Alright then,” he agreed finally, “to Potter. For being an-”

“Draco,” I interrupted swiftly.

He rolled his eyes but I chose to ignore it. “Fine. To Potter.” With a gentle ‘click’ his glass touched my own and we simultaneously raised them to our lips.

And then an odd silence fell and uncertainty began to eat at the edge of my mind.

What on earth was I DOING?! Draco and me? This was crazy. We’d only been on a date for less than 10 minutes and already we were out of conversation topics. I took another swallow and studied the outside sky intently.

A familiar constellation caught my eye and I froze, the glass in my hand trembling ever so slightly.

“Something wrong,” he asked, undoubtedly surprised at my sudden inability to move.

I shook my head.

“Oh, convincing,” he drawled sarcastically.

I wanted to turn and glare at him with everything I had, but I couldn’t remove my gaze from the cluster of stars.

I heard him draw near, and turn his head so that he was seeing the same thing I was.

“Orion’s Belt?”

Oh, Merlin help me, I was going to cry.

I stood quickly, and allowed my hair to fall, shielding my face from his view.

Which turned out to be of no consequence when he brushed the hair behind my ears and studied my expression.

“What, Ginny?”

And at that moment I had never hated anyone in my entire life as I hated Percy.

“I should go,” I forced the words from my lips but couldn’t bring myself to actually follow through with the motion.

“What is it, Ginny?”

Merlin, why did he have to keep saying my name? With each syllable, my heart ached a little more. Ginny. I had always been Ginny.

I longed to tear my eyes away from stars, but it seemed so hard. So instead I answered his question with as much indifference as I could muster. “Percy.” The name sounded odd aloud, as it hadn’t been spoken by any Weasley in over a year.

A year when he’d drawn his wand on my father and had attempted to hand him over to the Death Eaters. A year when Bill had entered the scene and performed a disarming spell to save my father’s life. A year when my brother, my loving, caring, gentle brother had been sent to Azkaban for his repeated service to Lord Voldermort.

“Miss him,” he asked, his voice conversational. But there was something behind it I couldn’t identify, something that might have been understanding.

No, I didn’t. And I told him as much.

“Then…” His words stopped there, but I already knew the question.

Then why was I so upset?

“You wouldn’t understand,” I replied simply.

“I probably would. More than most, anyway.”

Of course he would. He’d been through the same experience that I had. For the most part, anyway.

But to trust him… I wasn’t sure I should. Or could. After all, it had been an evening I’d treasured in my heart, unable to tell anyone of what had transpired. I’d wanted to share it. To have someone that would tell me it would be okay, but as much as my family loved me, they weren’t up to the task. Percy’s memory was still too fresh.

“It’s not Orion’s Belt,” I found myself saying.

He faltered. “It’s not?” He didn’t believe me. Oh well. He’d understand soon enough.

I shook my head to emphasize my point. “Not according to Percy.”

I took a deep breath and attempted to explain.

“There were always a lot of us. I mean, granted, I was born last, so, to me it would seem that way. Anyway, I always knew that my parents did the best they could to make sure that, as little money as they had, they were fair and equal with things they bought us. There were seven of us kids-we had enough reasons to fight without being unjustly treated.”

I paused for a moment to gather my nerve.

“You know, of course, what happened my first year.” I didn’t glance at him to see his reaction. I assumed he nodded and moved on.

“Right. Well, that summer was really hard. I got to a point where I was having nightmares every night of…him… I was so miserable. I was terrified to go to sleep, and it wasn’t long before it began to show. I didn’t tell anyone. I couldn’t bare for them to worry about me anymore.”

The tears that had been brimming in my eyes how slid unchecked down my cheeks.

“Percy was the one that discovered what was happening. He heard me screaming one evening, when I’d finally passed out on account of exhaustion. He was… Merlin, he was so *upset.* He loved me, then, he really did. He begged me to tell him what was wrong, and when I did, he didn’t get scared, like I thought he might. Instead, he hugged me tight and gestured to Orion’s Belt.”

I hated this part. Even in my head it sounded like a hokey, rehearsed stage plot.

“And he said not to be scared to sleep anymore. That as long as the middle star in the Belt was shining, he’d be there to… You know… Protect me.”

There, my story was finished. Already, I could feel the blush crawling up, warming my cheeks, my tears.

Draco sighed and pulled me into his arms. And for the first time since he’d been taken away, I could feel the pain of Percy’s absence lesson. Just a little, but it helped.

“We’re all supposed to be over it by now,” I whispered. “It’s been a year. Voldermort is dead, Harry’s safe, my family is alive and well. And they’re getting happier with each day that passes. But he promised…” I wasn’t crying. The tears were there, sure, but the sobs, for the first time, were blessedly absent.

“I know it hurts,” he returned, speaking for the first time in several minutes. “But it does get better.”

Which wasn’t as hard to believe as it might have been a couple of minutes earlier.

I pulled back gently, then, and turned away from the stars. A food I didn’t recognize and hadn’t noticed before now looked unbelievably desirable from its place on my plate.

Draco followed my line of vision and then laughed. “Hungry?”

I sat down instantly. “Actually, yes.”

He handed me a fork and took a bite of us. “It’s quite good,” he assured me, as I eyed the dessert uncertainly. “It’s called Strawberry Cheesecake.”

“It’s amazing,” I exclaimed, as I reached for another bite.

He smiled rather dashingly. “I invented it myself.”

Doubtful. But I nodded as though I believed him, my mood improving with each bite. I felt better, I really did. I had gotten to talk about Percy, a subject normally forbidden. And I knew now that someone was really truly listening.

And, Merlin, that is good to know.