A Sirius Change

Chapter 2 Christmas, Before, During, and After.

December 12, 2007:

"Finally, a night alone," Cordelia exclaimed, leaning back in her chair, sipping her third glass of Merlot. "I'm not sure we've been alone in this house for a year and a half. It's so quiet."

They were sitting in deep, red, overstuffed chairs perpendicular to one another. Sirius had his feet propped on the same ottoman as Cordelia's. He leaned his head back on the chair cushion and closed his eyes. The silence stretched out for a long time as they both drank it in and used it as a restorative. Cordelia began to run her foot up over his toes, then towards his ankle.

"Are you sure you have to leave tomorrow?" he asked, opening one eye but not bothering to lift his head.

"Yeah, I want to get this trip out of the way before Christmas. I need to brief Ainsley on the aspects of the magical community that she needs to know about. She's been appointed to the minority leader's office, heading up all interaction with the judiciary committee. That means she'll need to know about all the cross-community investigations."

"Ainsley... that name sounds familiar, do I know her?"

"She's married to Sam Seaborne. They worked in the Bartlett White House."

"That's right. How is Sam, what is he up to lately?"

"Funny you should ask. I need to make a visit to his new office as well. He was just elected to the U.S. Senate from Maryland, and I hear he's slated for the judiciary committee as well."

"Really? Good for him. Do I sense a bit of ambition there?" Sirius asked as he stroked Cordelia's leg with his foot.

"Yes, I do believe he does."

"We need to keep an eye on him. He's got a way with words and so far is an ally."

"Can't have too few of them about...," Cordelia shifted to recline across the ottoman and chair and began to massage Sirius' long, skinny feet.

"Nope. Ahhh, oh! How much do you want to keep doing that all year? So, does Ainsley know about us at the moment?"

"Not fully. She was told you were the head of a powerful non-profit organization that had world wide influence, but no specifics. She didn't need to know at the time she was working at the White House. But, since Sam is aware, and she will need to know based on the work she'll be doing with judiciary, she'll be brought fully up to speed. I wanted to be there since I know her from social events with Sam and since she is definitely a skeptic."

"Ahhh, skeptics. Yes, you have some experience being skeptical." He smiled.

"Right then," she said, patting his feet. The massage was completed for the moment, and Cordelia sat up. "This is very good wine. Remind me to thank Draco for it."

"Didn't Nick give it to us?"

"No, this one was from Draco, the white was from Nick. I'm saving that for a sunny day." Cordelia gave a brief salute with the glass and drained it. "Roxanne was a hoot, wasn't she?"

"Is that what Nick's girlfriend's name was?" Sirius asked, still too lazy to lift his head.

"Yes. He calls her Roxy, when she lets him. They're adorable." Cordelia stretched and yawned.

"I'm sure she'd love to be called adorable... until tonight I thought he was gay."

She looked at him in mock outrage. "Sirius! Just because he's in a traditionally female occupation does not mean he's gay," she said in her most formal lecture voice while throwing a pillow at him.

Deftly catching it, Sirius defended himself. "Well, how the hell should I know? You can't tell by looking. I twigged to that with Colin." The pillow was launched in the other direction, landing on Cordelia's lap with a soft 'fop.'

Cordelia sighed and leaned her head back again. "Dinner was marvellous. Thank you for ordering it. If you'd relied on me you would have gotten cereal."

"How very romantic." It was his turn to stretch and yawn, reluctantly sitting up.

"Shall we go upstairs? I'm getting a bit bleary eyed." She made a valiant effort to escape the clutches of the comfortable squashy chair, but finally put a hand out to be forcibly extracted.

Sirius grasped and pulled her to her feet. "After you, my love," he whispered in her ear as he gave her bottom a short squeeze.

Cordelia made her way slowly up the stairs as Sirius locked up for the night. By the time she reached their bedroom, she was so exhausted she simply laid back on the bed and closed her eyes. Her head was spinning, which she attributed to the third glass of wine she had had, and her stomach was suddenly queasy. They had been counting on having an amorous evening, and Cordelia dearly did not want to disappoint. She struggled to sit up as Sirius entered the room and began to undress. She took one last longing look and fled to the bathroom.

"That bad, is it?" Sirius joked fifteen agonizing minutes later.

"Oh God, it feels like all my internal organs dissolved," Cordelia groaned before she retched again.

Sirius took the warm damp cloth and wiped her face and mouth for the fifth time as Cordelia eased herself back against the white porcelain tub.

"I don't think I've ever felt this ill!" She paused considering, searching her memory. "No, I'm wrong... the time I mixed gin, ale, and champagne was worse... but that was university. This couldn't be just from a few glasses of wine, could it? I'm not that much of a light weight," she moaned as she buried her head in her arms.

Sirius sat on the edge of the tub and rubbed her neck as she sat back and rested her head on his knee.

"Do you think it was the food?" Sirius ventured.

"Ugh... don't mention food!" she groaned and retched again.

It was a full hour before she felt well enough to move away from the bath into the bed. Sirius helped her into a nightshirt. She curled up on her side, hugging her stomach. She felt Sirius climb in the other side of the bed and curl up behind her. She ached all over, but it felt so good to have him warm and solid against her back.

He stroked her hair and rubbed her back. "You don't think you're pregnant again, do you?"

"Oh God, no!" Her eyes flew open at the thought as she stiffened a bit. "No, no... I just had a cycle two weeks ago...don't scare me like that, though."

"Scare? Would a third be that bad?"

"No. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It's just that I am comfortable with two. I don't want to be outnumbered."

"Yeah, I know. It's just that our kids are so beautiful. It's a shame there can't be ten of them."

"TEN? You want ten?" She glanced over her shoulder, trying to glare, but feeling too sick to be truly effective. "If you want ten children, you can bloody well have them then. Until they figure out how to do that, we're sticking to two. You did invoke that contraceptive charm, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did," he said softly, resuming his massage of her lower back.

Cordelia relaxed and breathed deeply in and out, trying to concentrate on anything but the way her whole body ached and trembled.

"How on earth am I going to fly tomorrow?" Cordelia groaned.

"I could call and cancel everything. I have an in with your boss." He kissed the soft spot behind her ear.

"Ugh, I just might abuse that relationship if I'm not any better. I guess we should wait and see how I feel. I may be fine in the morning, although at the moment I think I'd prefer to sleep for a month."

"Okay. Get some rest. Close your eyes and try to sleep. I'll be right here."

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

December 25, 2007

"You did put the gifts in the trunk, didn't you?" Cordelia asked gently.

"Goddamn it all, I forgot," he exclaimed, pounding a fist into the steering wheel.

"We have to go back."

"Yes, I know... why oh why can I not remember anything anymore?"

"Two reasons...one is five and one is nearly two," Cordelia said, as she glanced at the two children snoozing in their safety seats in the back. "Child induced memory loss. Don't you wizards have some sort of memory potion?"

"Yeah, but I forgot how to make it, damn... I had those gifts in the front hall so I wouldn't forget them."

An hour later they were pulling into the Bailicroft drive. Even though they were late, they were still one of the first to arrive. They each picked up a child. Cordelia took Ian, wrapped snugly in a quilt with a small stuffed wolf under one arm and a thumb planted firmly in his mouth. Sirius lifted Charlie carefully, hoping not to wake her too suddenly. She stirred and pushed a dark curl out of her face before settling onto his shoulder. She wrapped her arms tight about his neck and wedged her head into the space at the nape of his neck, subsiding once more into sleep.

As they entered Bailicroft, Cordelia could see the preparations were well under way. They deposited the children on the couch to wake slowly. Sirius went to retrieve the gifts as Cordelia sought out Laura to discern her responsibilities. As she made her way from room to room she could smell the fresh pine boughs decorating all the doorways, then came the hot chocolate and cinnamon from the kitchen, and finally the smell of wood smoke from the fires blazing merrily in every room. Candles were in place, making the whole house glow. The stage was set; all they needed was the star of the drama.

The next couple of hours passed smoothly with a relatively jovial atmosphere, considering the circumstances.

Charlie didn't notice anything other than the pretty lights and the happy faces of most of the adults. Uncle Bill and Uncle Charlie's kids were fun to play with. Fiona was the most fun to play with - she was six and Uncle Charlie's daughter. She brought her dragon toys, the ones that breathed real fire and everything. Her mum said it wasn't a dangerous fire and that it wouldn't really burn anything. She also liked playing with her older cousins, Simon and Henry. Simon liked to tickle her, and Henry made funny faces. They were Uncle Bill's sons. Uncle Bill seemed kind of sad. He had a face like Hermione. Mummy said his wife had died last year of a kind of tumour.

All the grownups did was stand around and talk. She liked playing hide and seek, and since the rest of the kids were hiding, she was the one to seek. Charlie was thoroughly searching the hall as two people she didn't recognize nearly collided with her and each other.

"Oh! Charlie, I didn't see you there," a tall woman with warm brown skin exclaimed.

"Hello Quinn," said the tall man with platinum hair.

"I see you got the hair cut?" she asked with a smirk.

"Yes, it was an order from mon Capitan," he said without expression. "How've you been?"

"Not bad. Hogwarts has been busy. It seems the first year students come younger every year." The man and woman chuckled at this.

"So you work for Sirius, eh?"

"Yeah. He's interesting to work for," he said without expression.

"Beats the hell out of Allegra," she offered.

"That's true."

The two grownups were silent for a bit. Charlie thought they looked like they were being told to eat asparagus.

"I heard you're living in Soho... you always did like the art scene. I never had the patience to try to figure out what in the hell most of the artwork was trying to tell me. I think that gene skipped my generation."

"Well, you have other talents, Quinn," he said with a smile turning up one corner of his mouth.

"So you've told me." The lady smiled at this. She seemed happier.

"I hear you're seeing Cameron Stuart. Is he here? He owns the Twisted Spine in Hogsmeade, doesn't he?"

"Yes, he does. Where did you hear that? We thought we were being rather discreet... and, no, he couldn't come today."

"Hey, when you work for the DC you have a certain amount of access."

"I see."

"I think it's great. I've played a few rounds of chess with the man when I went to Hogwarts. Decent guy. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks, Draco." Quinn looked at him for a long moment and smiled. "You look good. Being a good guy seems to suit you."

"Well, that remains to be seen if I can keep up the façade... it goes against my nature, but it sure as hell beats watching your back all the time. I still do that most of the time, but there are times I seem to be able to relax that guard."

"Yep, that's one advantage of working with people who are, by and large, honest," she said with a touch of irony, given their deception of nearly everyone in the wizarding community at one point or another the previous summer. "How's your mum?"

"I'm going to meet her in London tomorrow."

"Good, send her my love. I'm glad to see you here, Draco. "

"I will. Thanks."

"We... I'd better get these dishes to the kitchen. "

"I see you Evan!" Charlie squealed as the two of them took off down the hall.

At the end of the hall, near the big pretty window, Charlie spotted her favourite person in the whole world..."Mummy!" She yelled as she launched herself onto her mum's arms.

"Have you seen your daddy?"

"No, mummy, but I'm hungry"

"Well, let's go get you a snack shall we?" Cordelia swung her daughter up onto her hip and went in search of Sirius and the kitchen.

Following the sound of male voices, she found both. Sirius, Remus, Charlie, Bill, and George were standing around the kitchen comparing the finer aspects of some wizard single malt Sirius had brought in honour of the occasion.

"I'm surprised to find the men in the kitchen?" Cordelia said with an eyebrow arched.

"Hello, darling," Sirius smiled as he lifted Charlie from Cordelia's arms. "Where's Ian?"

"Last I saw, he was ebing entertained by the Christmas tree, under the watchful eye of Hermione's parents."

"As I was saying, Remus, if we haven't checked out that aspect of the investigation, we ought to do it soon before the bloke is released."

"Right, I agree. Where did you get this, it's very good."

"Special deal with the distillery. I get the special reserve at half price if I don't gloat about it," Sirius added with a wink.

"And you're not gloating, right?"

"Never," he said with a smile. "Bill, do you have any information or connections with the wizard insurers in Egypt?"

"A bit, not so much now that I'm located back in London. Why?"

"I have some questions for you. Could you come to my office after the holidays?"

"Sure. Hey, did you see the Dragons the other night?"

Cordelia rolled her eyes, as the conversation turned to Quidditch. Not that she didn't love the sport, she just got quite tired of hearing all the intracasies of the teams and plays. "Come on Charlie, let's go find Ian and we'll build a castle so those dragons of Fiona's have something to guard, shall we?"

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

Two hours later, Charlie was safe playing somewhere upstairs, and Ian was finally napping. Cordelia was searching for a quiet place to take her shoes off and just be still and quiet when she remembered a large leather chair in the study that was calling her name. She finally made her way through the people and felt her heart sink to see Laura, Quinn, and Ginny ensconced in the room. She hesitated at the doorway and turned to leave.

"Come in and sit, Cordelia," Ginny called. "You look dead on your feet."

"It took me an hour to get Ian to sleep... I must have carried him to London and back," she said, settling into her chair grateful at the invitation, but hoping this group wasn't too talkative. "I've got maybe two hours before he's up and crawling on me again. He's like a little leech that attaches permanently to your hip and sucks all the energy from you." She blew the air from her cheeks, leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

"Don't tell us motherhood is all that bad, Cordelia. You'll scare us all away from it," came a chirpy New Zealand voice.

"No, it's not that bad... it's worse!" But Cordelia was smiling through this, determined not to open her eyes. "Besides, you all have magic working for you... I've got it working against me. I can't count the times I'd kill to be able to summon a diaper from the second floor rather than having to run upstairs to get one. Then there's Charlie, precocious little devil, who is showing magical aptitude already in terms of getting into all sorts of mischief. Then there's Sirius who thinks it's all in fun because he could do magic at her age. If even half the stories he's told me about his childhood are true, I would have exposed him on a hillside long before age 11, if I'd been his mum. I've told him he was lucky to make it to Hogwarts."

"Doesn't Sirius help out with the kids? He seems the type to want to take part," asked Ginny.

"Yes, he does. He is wonderful with them, but still...how in the hell did your mum manage with all those kids, Ginny?"

"Threat of murder. We all feared her cutlery."

"I'll have to remember to look more menacing in the kitchen," Cordelia said dryly. "Was it like that with you, Quinn... are all magical children troublemakers with their talents?"

"It was just my mom and me, but I was always into everything. I would take everything apart wanting to know how it worked. There was more than a few times I couldn't get it back together. My mom would sit in her favourite chair on the porch with a book in one hand and her wand in the other. She could undo just about anything I did, but then I'd get sent to my room for the rest of the night.... without supper." Quinn rolled her eyes and feinted at the thought.

"My mum survived... she was Muggle," Laura added. "But then, so was I, until adolescence. That was probably not the best time to acquire a special talent. I can't tell you the number of times I screamed at my mum that she just didn't understand... and she didn't, she couldn't... but I was wrong for screaming that at her."

"Ahhhh, so I have that to look forward to?"

"You'll do fine. Just don't let them see you sweat... would you ever want to changeover, Cordelia?" Ginny ventured.

"Me, magic? I don't think so. Isn't it very illegal? It should be," Cordelia answered with a professional edge to her voice. "Don't you need to be young to do that anyway?"

"It helps, but it's not required. I'm sure you could get special dispensation. I've heard you know the Deputy Chancellor in the biblical sense," Laura raised an eyebrow and leered a bit.

Cordelia blushed, "I wouldn't be so sure Sirius would give me special dispensation, even if I were interested. Besides... I'm way too old for that kind of change, I've never been the least bit sensitive; Sirius told me you had some sensitivities already, Laura."

"I had flashes where I would get a sense of a person or a situation. It's not required though. Sorry's grandmother has done a few changeovers and said it makes it easier and safer. There was one man wanted a changeover when he was 73... he married some young witch and that was one of her conditions. He survived, but barely."

"I didn't know it was dangerous," Cordelia asked, eyebrows knitted in concern.

"Well, that depends on your guide. It's the guide's job to keep you safe. If they are magical enough, you'll be all right. If not, it can kill you."

"Lovely, yep, sign me up." Cordelia rolled her eyes. "No, thank you. Besides it would mean Sirius would be let off the hook for any number of tasks he does with magic... I am quite happy with the current arrangements."

Cordelia closed her eyes and leaned her head back again.

"So Quinn, tell us all about the very nice looking wizard you've been seen with," Ginny piped up.

"What does everyone know? Well, it's nothing serious yet. I'm taking a bit of a breather from the hot and heavy after Draco."

"Yes, do tell us what happened there. I was shocked to learn what the two of you did. And thank God you did," inquired Laura with a sigh. "And then to hear the two of you had split. I was sorry to hear that."

"Well, you do what you can," Quinn assured them.

"So did it bother you that he was sleeping with Hermione during all that?" Ginny blurted out.

"Ginny!" Laura exclaimed.

"What? Oh, perhaps an inappropriate question. Sorry, I've been hanging around journalists too much lately, haven't I?"

"It's okay. Did it bother me? Sure it did. It bothered the hell out of me, but I understood the necessity of it. It was a rather difficult time for us. We couldn't see one another, and we had to pretend all was well. We were still under the impression that this was the real thing. It's funny, when it was all over, and we could stop pretending, it all sort of fell apart. We'd been living for this mission for so long, everything seemed kind of flat without that threat." Cordelia noticed a bit of distance in Quinn's eyes as she spoke. There was definitely regret.

"So, what is Mr. Malfoy like now? I just remember him continually harassing my brother the entire time we were at Hogwarts. He's always seemed like an arrogant jerk to me," Ginny asked with a glint in her

"He was for a very long time, but you'd be surprised at him. He really did have pretty good instincts, once he got out from under his father's thumb. He spent a long time doubting his own judgment, but he came through it well. Better than I could have. He's a great guy; we just didn't have enough in common to make a long lasting affair out of it... and his mum hated me!"

"How come?" Laura asked.

"Besides the fact that, according to her, I was a free-loading, opportunist, black American scum with not nearly enough regal blood for her son, we had a large difference of opinion on just about everything. Like a woman's proper place was behind her husband. Then there's her opinion that women should be chairmen for charitable causes, and not mess about with nasty commerce... that's the man's place. She's quite the pureblood. She really seemed to think it made a difference. By the time Draco introduced us, he didn't share her opinion, but there was so much wrong with me, we'd have had a hard time with her."

"Add to that his near phobic avoidance of the subject of commitment. I'm getting to the point in my life where I don't want to mess with just a casual relationship. We were united and committed to our project, but he did not want to have to commit to just us."

"That's epidemic with men our age, Quinn," Laura commented ruefully.

"There are some women that aren't all that interested in commitment," Ginny added meekly.

"Yes, there definitely are," Cordelia agreed. "I had no plans on marriage and children. They were always for someone else. A lot depends on the person, don't you think?"

"Oh, the whole soul mate idea?" Ginny rolled her eyes. "There is so much chance to that, don't you think. It has to be the right person at the right time in both of your lives and under just the right circumstances. It's a wonder anyone manages to stay together. Then you have people like Harry and Hermione who manage to overcome all that, and then look what happens!"

"No, I doubt I'll ever feel that desire to submit control of my life again to another because of some belief that they might 'complete' me."

"You say that now, Ginny, but you might someday meet that perfect wizard who does complete you. It's not like you were half a person before... it's just that you feel like you're missing something if they're not around," Cordelia said with a shrug.

"I'll believe that when I feel it. Meanwhile... give me the casual affair!" Ginny laughed.

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

A small group of the more energetic adults Flooed to Kew Garden's portal after the Bailicroft Christmas Party, once all the kids had been safely put to bed. The Kew Garden's Christmas Fair was a yearly event for the magical community. Children couldn't wait until they were old enough to go to Kew Christmas. The Fair had been in full swing for a number of hours. There was a loud band in the amphitheatre; there were exhibit tents, as well as a series of food and drink tents. Although they arrived in a series of spurts, they all quickly dispersed to their own agendas.

Circe had a tent in the exhibit area. Ginny headed there first. They were distributing free copies of their Christmas issue. She wanted to make sure there was enough stock and everyone was happy. They were. There was a good crowd, and people were talking favourably about the interviews and cover story.

Ginny moved over to the Witch Weekly Tent. She tried to blend into the crowd, but there wasn't nearly the crowd that Circe had. She also noted large stacks of the magazine they were trying to sell for five Knuts. She was glad she had made the decision to give Circe away.

She had a bit of shopping left to do and she made her way to the tents from the shops at Diagon Alley. She got a few books for Percy, and a new cookspell book for her mum. She wanted to find something special for her dad, maybe she'd ask Cordelia. She knew about all the nifty Muggle things he liked. She continued to wander through the tents. She shivered a bit, she'd meant to bring her cloak, but thought it would be warmer. Ah! Madame Malkins. She ducked inside the tent and rolled her eyes. Why did he have to be here? Yes, Quinn said he was a good guy, and he had been at Bailicroft after all but she hadn't talked to him that day and she didn't particularly want to talk to him now. In the past, he had generally ignored her. When they were at Hogwarts, it was usually either contemptuous teasing or derision for the state of her family's financial state. She glanced at him again, and intended to duck behind the rack of bargain cloaks when he caught her eye. She straightened up to her full height of five feet eight inches, and lifted her chin. He was not going to treat her that way tonight. She had to say hello now, but he would not get to her, she resolved.

"That is not your colour, Malfoy." The cloak in question was a puce yellowish green, and made his fair colouring look sallow and washed out.

"I'm well aware of that, Weasley. I was merely checking it for length and set. It's a new design, wider across the shoulders, but then you should know that already." He glanced at her over his shoulder.

"Yes, that's LeMonde's design, right? He does favour a wider shoulder cut, and you do have those rather broad shoulders." She was doing her best to give him a cold, direct look. "That cut does suit you. Will you buy 25, or just 12 for now?"

He laughed ruefully, "No, legitimate work just doesn't support me in the style to which I had grown accustomed. I can't even justify one of these."

"That's right, I remember, you were disowned. Does poverty suit you?"

Draco gave her a level look, but one corner of his mouth twitched in a slight smile. "I haven't much choice now, do I. We all must shoulder our burdens," he added sarcastically.

"Ah, those broad shoulders again," she commented as she passed her eyes down the length of him.

"What about you, Weasley - try that red one," he said with a smirk.

The cloak in question was a garish red-orange that would have clashed with her hair. Ginny tossed her hair over her shoulder and chose a deep violet cloak with a puff of fake fur trim around the collar.

"How about this one?" she asked as she twirled all the way around.

He leaned against the table, folded his arms, and let his eyes drift from her hair to her toes. She suddenly felt exposed and vulnerable, like he had x-ray vision and could see all of her through those steely grey eyes. Luckily she'd had a few glasses of mulled wine, which allowed her to actually almost enjoy the sensation, rather than be intimidated by it.

"Suits you fine, Weasley, just fine."

Ginny turned to the clerk, "Can I take this with me?" and before she could stop herself she continued "And do you have a LeMonde available for Mr. Malfoy here?"

"What?" he said quickly with the most incredulous look on his face.

"Not in yellow, don't worry." Ginny smiled.

The clerk ducked behind the tent and emerged with a black version of the cloak he'd had on earlier.

"No, Weasley, I don't need you to buy me a cloak." He took out his wallet.

Ginny turned back to the clerk, "If you sell him that cloak I will make sure you never advertise in Circe again. You'll let me buy it, or it goes back in the box."

"Yes, ma'am," the clerk demurred.

"I don't need you to buy me a cloak. I don't want you to buy me the cloak and I will not let you buy me this cloak."

"I can do whatever I bloody well please, and if you don't accept this I'll make sure you never own a LeMonde cloak again. Germain likes me, he owes me a big favour," Ginny said as she tried to plaster the sweetest smile she could on her face.

Draco grumbled and stared for a long moment at the roof of the tent. He opened and closed his mouth a number of times appearing to be collecting his thoughts. He seemed to come to some conclusion. "Fine, the only reason I'm letting you do this is because it really is a decent cloak that costs much more than it's worth."

"And the only reason I'm doing this is so I can lord it over you for at least as long as you tormented Ron about being poor. Six years, oh this will be fun."

Draco rolled his eyes and gave her an exasperated look, but twirled the cloak over his shoulders. "Can I get you a cider as a token of my appreciation?"

She followed him outside with an undeniable sense of triumph. She'd gotten the best of Malfoy. Well, maybe not the best, but felt like she'd won a battle of wits. She considered this carefully and realized that while she thought she'd won she was still out 130 galleons and he got a very nice cloak for free. She reconsidered her sense of triumph, but continued down the path with him towards the refreshment tent.

They strolled amiably through the rest of the tents, sipping their spiced rum cider, commenting on that item or laughing over something garish. Growing up under such different circumstances, they had surprisingly similar tastes. They conversed about various political issues and Ginny learned Draco actually read Circe on a fairly regular basis.

As they made their way towards the amphitheatre, Ginny wondered why Draco was continuing to walk with her, although she was grateful for the company. Friends had been hard to come by since her success. She was never quite sure if people who seemed so friendly wanted to be with her to get to know her or to get something into Circe. The friends she'd had at Hogwarts were dispersed around the globe. She occasionally went over to Bailicroft, but Hermione was justifiably occupied. Grant was in Australia now, and she just didn't feel comfortable enough with her new managing editor to develop any kind of relationship other than professional. She liked her managing editor and had a lot of faith in her, but found her rather stiff and formal and didn't know quite how to break through that without losing her authority. Being in charge definitely had its advantages, but she was beginning to realize the disadvantages as well. She knew Draco didn't want anything from Circe, so maybe he just needed someone to talk to, just like her.

Ginny was pulled from her musing by a terrible cacophony that was passing for music on the main stage at the moment.

"What is that awful screeching?" Draco shouted over the din. "Let's get out of here." He took her by the elbow and directed her down another path.

Ginny had only to nod, as yelling would have barely been heard.

Finally, they were far enough away from the theatre that normal conversation could continue. It didn't, however. The awkward silence stretched on for what seemed to be months. Draco still held her elbow, but for some reason it didn't bother her... much. Ginny was just about to make some apology and take the next fork in the path, when she noticed that coming the other way down that path was none other than one of her least favourite people in the whole world.

"Bugger, it's Crusoe. I so dearly hate that man," Ginny commented quietly, almost to herself.

"Who?" Draco looked around.

"That man in the navy cloak. He is in charge of advertising for Bernie Botts. He's constantly coming on to me in order to try to get better advertising rates in Circe. He's so slimy, he makes my skin crawl ... he must have been a Slytherin." She paused, realising what she'd just said. "Oh ... sorry, no offence intended."

"No, certainly not ... and none taken ... should I be chivalrous and defend you?"

"The only thing that would defend me would be a broadsword ... you don't have one of them handy?"

"No, but I could provide a distraction."

"If you're going to do something, you'd best do it soon. I think he's spotted me," Ginny mumbled, turning her face toward his shoulder.

Ginny felt Draco grab her arm and pull her from the path. The next thing she knew, her head was spinning and her lips were tingling. Her eyes flew open and she stared straight into a pair of amused grey eyes.

"It's a distraction, Weasley. He won't disturb you, just keep kissing me until I tell you," he whispered against her lips.

She started to giggle, half nervous, half shocked.

She heard the footsteps approach, hesitate than recede. The only problem was that Draco's lips were still firmly planted on hers and his tongue was definitely still in her mouth. Not that she minded ... it was not an unpleasant kiss by any means. In fact, her heart was pounding, she was having a hard time with coherent thought, and her body was beginning to tingle and spark. She pulled away before that spark could arc; she'd definitely been shocked.

She stepped back a pace and stared at him, unaware that her mouth hung open. She could see his pulse at the base of his neck beating rapidly as he wiped a knuckle over his mouth. He stared back at her as if she were a sea creature.

"Right then, was that good enough?"

"Yes, that distraction worked. Ummm ... yes, he's gone. Thanks. Yes. It did work. Right then. Shall we?" She managed to stammer this out while trying to regain her sense and logic. It was slowly coming back to her while her primordial self was saying, "Get him to do that again."

Ginny cleared her throat for the third time, "I want to check on things back at Circe, then I ... ummmm ... really should get home."

"You have a loft in Soho, right? I'm not far from there, I'll see you home."

Ginny was surprised at this, but couldn't bring herself to object. "All right. Come on then to the tent, I'll introduce you to our great administrative staff on duty tonight."

There was another awkward silence as they made their way back to the Circe tent. Ginny opted for idle chit chat, not wanting to address the issue of the kiss they'd just shared.

"So, life as a good guy suiting you?"

"Mostly. Doesn't pay as well, as you can see," he gestured to the cloak. "I do enjoy working for Sirius."

"He is an interesting man. Have you gotten to know Cordelia yet?"

"Not well, a few meetings, that's all. How could he possibly marry a Muggle though?" Draco asked in an exasperated voice.

Ginny choked a bit then, bit her tongue and offered, "Love makes you do strange things."

"That I wouldn't know about, and have no interest in knowing about. I did plenty of strange things in the name of hate," he said looking in the distance.

"You've never been in love, Malfoy?"

"Lust, infatuation, deep appreciation, definitely. From what I've read of love it seems like it would involve a loss of control. I have no desire to lose control of my life to anyone anymore."

"I can appreciate that. Try having an overbearing mother and at a minimum of three brothers trying to make decisions for you under the guise of protection. No, thank you. I wouldn't mind being in love, and I have been in love; but I will not give up control of my life or my company for love. It's not worth it. At least not that I've experienced so far."

"I didn't have quite so many meddlesome relatives... my father more than made up for it."

"I've heard, how about your mum?"

"She's the only Malfoy I still see. She's always been the formal sort. You know... peck on the cheek... let the governess take care of the messy stuff type. She was always up to her ears in charity functions."

"That can be very helpful," Ginny said, trying to lighten the conversation.

"Yes, but not a good role model for a loving relationship."

They had arrived at the Circe tent. Ginny was pulled away to deal with three separate crises. She introduced him, but then, as she flitted about the tent, she noticed he hung back, arms folded across his chest, just watching everything. Not a little unnerving, but not entirely unpleasant either.

Business completed, they moved off to the nearest Apparition tent and Apparated into the foyer of the building her loft was in.

"Thanks for the company. I had fun," she commented.

"It wasn't bad, Weasley."

Before the words were completely out of his mouth she'd grabbed his arm and pulled him into another kiss. She'd been considering this all the way home. She really wanted to see if the feeling generated by their first kiss in the gardens was a result of shock and surprise, or if this was a repeatable chemical phenomenon. She wanted to see how far he'd take this, and how far she'd let him.

The kiss was the same. It started with the shock of a sudden attack. Then the tingling began, followed by a feeling of floating and being carried away. His mouth was soft and warm and surprisingly giving. She sensed a tension though, and felt the potential of electrical shock replace the initial shock. She put her hand on his chest and ran it inside his cloak. He jerked back as her cold hand touched him.

"Gonna play that way, eh?" She heard him whisper in her ear just before she felt his mouth warm on her neck. As warm as his mouth was his hands were like ice. They hadn't reached skin yet, but seemed to be destined that way.

She moved her hand to his waist and pressed him against her, and had decided to begin a bit of exploration on her own when the door opened. They jumped back from one another and let the elderly gentleman with three dogs pass between them. Once he was safely out of earshot, Draco exclaimed, "Christ, Weasley, what the hell was that?" He was circling the small foyer.

"Ummmm .," she hesitated long enough to catch her breath. "Testing," she said at last, looking down at her toes, then over to the door ... anywhere but right at him. Finally, able to gather her wits, she looked him directly in the eye and decided on the truth.

"I wanted to see if that kiss in the garden was for real."

That stopped him. "Was it?" he asked, giving her a cryptic look with his hands on his hips.

"Was it?" she echoed, leaning back and folding her arms.

He didn't say anything, nor did he have to. He just glared at her.

"Yes, that's what I was thinking."

"Damn." He went back to pacing like a caged white tiger. He paused and looked her over from head to toe. "You know ... you aren't too bad on the eyes."

"Right, well, should this mean anything? Should we, er, do anything about this?"

"We could, I suppose. It wouldn't kill either of us and I don't have any better offers at the moment." By this time he was leaning against the door with his arms behind his back.

"Thanks bunches, you're quite the romantic talker, aren't you?" she said a bit cynically. "I did enjoy walking with you ... but isn't this just too bizarre to contemplate?"

"I quite agree, who'd have thought you'd have such good taste?" Draco smirked.

"Thanks, I guess... are you referring to the things we saw tonight or yourself?"

Draco smiled slyly. "How about that play down at the Regency Friday."

"Ooooo, I've wanted to see that. All right then. Friday."

"Friday," he countered, turned, and left.

Ginny entered her loft and shook her head, trying to dispel the lingering effect of 'that kiss.' Unfortunately, visions of Draco Malfoy naked in her bed kept creeping into her head as she got into her pyjamas on and turned off the light. Half repulsed and half intrigued, she drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

***********

Draco walked the 10 blocks to his flat, noticing nothing of his surroundings. Who knew she had such a nice arse? Damn. Breasts weren't bad either, he thought. He could feel his fingers curl in remembrance. He entered his flat and got himself ready for bed. Of course, he kept imagining his newly found friend naked in his bed. He shook his head, trying to banish these carnal thoughts by envisioning his father's dungeon, and fell into an uneasy sleep.

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

Two Weeks later

The rain poured down like a waterfall over the windows to Sirius' office. He was preparing a speech to the Pan Pacific Conference of Wizards on the importance of developing tentative ties between wizard and Muggle trade organizations. He was nearly done; a closing joke and he'd be right. He was pacing the office trying out different lines, but not having much luck. His concentration was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"We finally got the results back on the food that made Cordelia sick before Christmas." Colin crossed the room and handed Sirius a roll of parchment.

"I was going to ask you to check on that. Anything surprising or just standard botulism?" he said blandly as he unfurled the roll.

Colin settled into a chair in front of the desk, put his reading glasses on, and referred to a duplicate copy of the parchment he'd handed to Sirius. "Actually, this was deliberate. It was a very obscure potion added to the wine. It's designed to incapacitate Muggles."

"What?" Sirius exclaimed. "Where's Jeralyn?"

"She's still locked up, it couldn't have been her. I'll make sure of that, though." Colin continued, "Immobilizing potion, concentration ...1250 micrograms per litre. The potion master I talked to said most of the ingredients for this have either been banned or are extinct. The potion itself was banned in 1328. They usually don't test for it anymore, but the apprentice was doing a research paper on potions that effect Muggles and was being thorough."

Sirius was stunned. He sat there for quite a few moments struggling to suppress the sudden urge to throttle anyone who might remotely be involved in this. Where is Malfoy when I need someone to throttle he thought cynically

"So what does this stuff do?" he finally said aloud, feeling like a large snitch had just lodged in his throat.

"It immobilizes Muggles, affects the central nervous system. It will kill at a concentration of... hmmm... let's see," Colin shuffled some papers. "Here it is... at a concentration of 1500 micrograms per litre, the stuff will stop the heart. The potion had a lot of substitutions. If it had been made right, she probably would have been killed. Who had access to that bottle of wine?"

"Draco gave it to me... could it really have been him?"

"No, that would be stupid, and way too obvious. He's arrogant and annoying, but not obvious."

"Jesus, Nick opened it early in the afternoon. He insisted it sit it sat open on the counter, to breathe," he said rolling his eyes. "Kate stopped by to pick up the kids. She had some bloke from her gallery with her. Nick's girlfriend came in to pick up Nick. The woman who cleans came by and the delivery man with dinner. Hell, everyone and their brother was in that kitchen that night. I remember because it was supposed to be an evening alone with just Cord, and it was more like King's Cross Station! Did you know she was sick in bed for three days and was still feeling numbness two weeks after!" His voice was raised by this time, as he clenched and unclenched his fists.

"We'll need to question everyone. Can you make me a list? I'll get started. Someone will have to question Cordelia and you."

"Me?" he looked incredulous. "How can you even suggest I'd do something like that?"

"I never said you would, but the investigation would be incomplete and biased if you were not even asked about it," Colin said calmly.

"Fine, just don't send Buchwald... I can't stand that little weasel."

"He's a good investigator..." Colin paused, "Okay he's a weasel, but we're stuck with him. I won't send him."

"Damn. Who did this? And why Cordelia?"

"You both have plenty of enemies. We get threats all the time."

"I know, I know... this just hit too close, Colin."

"Definitely. It was my office's mistake. We failed this time. I won't let it happen again." Colin left as Sirius stared out of the window.

The door slammed open, as Draco entered. "I got some information on the Genevitian transgenerational talisman."

"Don't you ever knock?" Sirius said shortly.

"No. What's got you all bothered?"

"That wine you gave Cordelia and me last month was poisoned. It was an old potion designed to do in Muggles. What do you know about it, Draco?"

"WHAT?" He stopped, a look of shock on his face. "I had nothing to do with it. You don't honestly suspect I'd do something that stupid, do you?" He glared at Sirius.

Sirius took a deep breath and blew it out his cheeks. "No... you may be a lot of things, Draco, but stupid isn't one of them."

"I suppose I'll get the third degree from Colin's goons, won't I?"

"Yes, you probably will, but if you have anything you want to share now, I'd appreciate it."

"I got that case of wine from a friend who runs a wizard gallery. I haven't known her all that long. She's trying to find out some stuff about those talismans you were wondering about. I helped her with some ... er ... issues."

"I bet you did, Draco. Find out everything you can about her. You need to watch who you get involved with," Sirius cautioned.

Draco rolled his eyes, "First the hair, now you want to warn me about women?"

Sirius smiled, "All right then. You're a grown up, and you certainly know how dark wizards, and witches operate. You're right. It's none of my business."

"Damn straight it's none of your business, but point well taken. Can I date your secretary? She's hot."

"I'd prefer you didn't, so would her husband, but... suit yourself."

"You just have no sense of imagination. Right then, since I can't bed Samantha, I'll go have a chat with my gallery friend. I'm in Egypt later this week."

They spent another hour discussing Draco's assignments, generally agreeing on results and the next steps in each investigation.

It was still raining, but Sirius didn't feel he could stay in the office any longer. He wanted to find Cordelia and make sure she was safe. He inderstood this was irrational, but felt compelled all the same.

"Okay. Keep me posted on what you find... and learn to knock, please." Sirius implored.

"I suppose... I just love that risk that I might find you and Cordelia going at it...voyeur that I am..."

"Out! Why do I always want to throw something after you leave?"

Draco smiled and opened the door, "Just my sparkling personality, I suppose, General Whoreson, sir." With that, he closed the door. Sirius laughed.

Draco sauntered out of the office to the reception area.

"So, you're married?" He commented to the very lovely secretary, with long blonde hair and a flawless complexion, who sat there.

"Yep, 3 years, and happily, too," she beamed.

"Damn, I was going to do this...," He leaned across the desk and kissed her.

"Too bad for you," Samantha commented, with one eyebrow arched, as he pulled back.

"Yes, too bad for me." He turned and left.

He'd kissed Samantha just to get on her nerves, but also to test himself. No, it wasn't the same as kissing Weasley two weeks ago. No spark, no fire. This was a problem. Definitely a problem. What the hell had he been thinking to distract her with a kiss... he could think of a thousand ways to offer the distraction she needed now... unfortunately it had been the one he'd thought of at the time.

"My mistake..." he murmured as he entered his office and turned his attention to poisoned wine.