A Sirius Change

Chapter 5 - Mistakes

Come out and play

You're my mistake

You'll be much better than yesterday

Cursing quietly in the dark

Breathing sweet with a pounding heart

No forevers, but good enough for medicine

Our magnetism I can't resist

I hate myself when I get like this

The monsters in me and burns to kiss right now

Come out and play

You're my mistake

You'll be much better than yesterday

(from "My Mistake, by Cherry Poppin Daddies)

The owl swooped down into the flat through the owl hole, just as he was walking in the door. He was hungry, tired and filthy from a day at an archeological site Sirius had sent him to in search of the stupid time travel talismans that were becoming the department's obsession. His blonde hair was streaked with mud and sweat and his jeans were smeared with red clay. He splashed his face and took the parchment from the owl's talons.

Got some gallery opening tickets from Cordelia's mum. I'd like to go, but it's always more fun to go with someone. I know you really like Michael DeJami's work. His gallery is right next door to the opening, so I thought of you. Owl me if you're interested. It's Tuesday, Feb. 14^th. Don't worry, I am not trying to turn this into some trite Valentine's Day date. Just thought you'd be interested in the art. We could swing through both galleries, then have dinner at one of the pubs nearby. How about it, social associate?

Hmmmm, was he interested? Now, that was a good question.

Yes, he was interested in Michael DeJami's sculpture, and despite many misgivings he was interested in Ginny, more than he should be. If he was honest with himself, he was way more than interested. That night after the Circe fire, he'd felt the world shift when he was with her. He'd felt a need for her that was so unlike him. The need burned in his chest. It was like a hunger that never ended. He had never needed anyone. Why her? Add to that the fact that she had made it clear, when her brothers arrived, she didn't need him and he wasn't even sure he wanted to see her again. He suspected how it would end up. They'd pretend they were just pals, then they would touch, that would lead pretty rapidly to a bed, if one was readily available, and then one of them would leave immediately. The shag would be incredible, but staying to hear that it was yet another mistake was getting old.

My Mistake, he had taken to calling her. He felt so adolescent in this uncertainty. It wasn't like he was inexperienced, but this experience was rather novel. His relationship with Allegra, if you could call it that, was all about power and dominance. He really did not enjoy her company in the least. His time with Quinn had been all about change and rebuilding his life. Unlearning everything he'd been taught. He loved Quinn for what she did for him, but never quite felt able to reciprocate that desire to care and help her. He assumed, at the time, that caring of that kind was beyond him. It had been how he was raised after all.

So here was this invitation. Oh hell, Malfoy, you're thinking too much about this.

He dashed off a quick response, naming a time and a place to meet, and went off to the bath.

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

Cordelia gathered up her files and glanced around her cherry wood desk making sure she had everything she needed. She´d just received the report from the Indian Parliament on the potential cooperation between the Muggle and wizarding governments´ response to a particularly strong separatist group resuming activities in their midst. There had been some unrest in a very remote section of the country and each side had thought the other was behind the attacks. They would have been left to sort it through themselves, but there was a multinational consortium of governments and countries wanting to put a pipeline through that area. Cordelia was responsible for trying to at least get those involved talking.

"Sirius isn´t going to like this news, is he?" asked her secretary as Cordelia headed for the doors to her suite of offices.

"No, not one little bit. He was already annoyed at the Indian Magical Council for not cooperating with the Muggle government, and this indicates they're not cooperating with the IFW either."

Cordelia´s department consisted of twenty-five witches and wizards, all with at least one Muggle parent. She preferred her staff to have been raised in the Muggle world so that they would have an appreciation and the vocabulary to interact with Muggles. They were from all over the globe and she prided herself on having at least one representative from each continent, one from each major Muggle and wizarding religion and tried to have staff with experience with the major cultures, and at least a working knowledge of most of the minor cultures. The office was very pleasant to work in. They tried to acknowledge all cultural and religious holidays and celebrate the major ones. This meant that nearly every week they had special food or short ceremonies for this or that remembrance. This not only gave everyone on staff an appreciation for other's beliefs and what was important, it also brought the office together and made for a very special working environment. People became part of each other's lives and lots of friendships, and more than a few romances were formed.

There were still conflicts as in any office over who got what assignment and where everyone was in the structure of the organization, but the diversity worked here and Cordelia believed it helped enormously in their productivity. At least in her office people could see the differing nationalities, colours, and religions as friends, or potential friends, and therefore see others of that culture in a different light.

In order to delay the inevitable, Cordelia took the stairs instead of the elevator. She never really trusted the elevator to let her off where she wanted. It always seemed to let her off where it thought she should be. The wizards seemed to be able to control the pesky thing, but it seemed to take particular pleasure in messing with her. Most of the time it took her to Sirius´ offices on the tenth floor, but occasionally it decided she needed a break and took her to the ground floor and told her to take a walk. Other times it decided she needed sweets or scones from the cafeteria on the third floor. Today she had decided that the elevator would take her to her friend in the Department of External affairs. Sirius had been in charge of this division before he was appointed DC and she still had quite a few friends there. Lisa Morelli was one in particular that always seemed to be able to listen or joke with when she needed a break. She would rather have gone to see her, than talk to Sirius about this issue, but she had made an appointment and had to get there, despite what the elevator thought.

As she climbed the stairs she thought again about this situation. She´d gone through all the proper channels, adhered to all the cultural and diplomatic customs, brought in experts in Indian Law and etiquette, and still this had not gone smoothly.

She reached the tenth floor and opened the doors to the DC`s suite. It was properly majestic, but the atmosphere had developed a more casual tone since Sirius had taken over. People dressed in business robes, but there was more colour and less formal black than before.

"Hi, Samantha, is he in?"

"How are you today, Cordelia? Yep, he is expecting you. He said to show yourself in and lock the door behind you."

"Oh dear, in that kind of mood?" Cordelia grimaced.

"Cordelia, he´s always in that kind of mood when you have an appointment. We have a running tab as to how many times you two have done it in his office," Samantha stated casually.

"What!"

"Sure, it helps lighten the day. Colin isn´t in on it though, because he can hear you from his office, so he knows for sure. It wouldn´t be fair," the secretary said nonchalantly.

Cordelia closed her mouth that had fallen open with shock. They had done it occasionally in his office and occasionally in hers, but she never dreamed anyone would really take notice, let alone keep track. She tried to think of an appropriately outraged reaction, but found none was justified, so she closed her mouth and shook her head.

Once she´d recovered, Cordelia tried to steer the conversation back to business, "You can tell everyone not to add another notch to their wall just yet for today. The Pard is at it again."

Samantha made a grimace. Cordelia knew she´d typed enough memos on this issue to realize what that statement meant. "You´re right. I´ll let everyone know that love will not be in the air this afternoon."

"So glad to be of service," Cordelia said dryly, and set off down the hall to Sirius´ office.

She knocked and opened the door at the same time, as Sirius looked up from the paperwork on his desk.

"Samantha just buzzed me and told me not to expect sex this afternoon, what´s up?"

Cordelia dropped the pile of files on the desk and threw up her hands and shook her head. "Does anyone around here believe we actually have business to take care of together?"

Sirius just smiled. "Well, they all know we take care of lots of business."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Sirius," she said sternly, in her best reprimanding mummy voice.

"Okay, okay. What´s the problem today?"

"It looks like The Pard is causing trouble again. They claimed responsibility for the injuries to a team of surveyors and geologists that ventured onto what they consider their lands last week," Cordelia explained as she took the chair opposite his desk.

Sirius sat back and tossed his quill on his desk. "I thought we dealt with them, and that they were going to allow passage of the pipeline. How angry are the governments?"

"Very. Both have decided it´s the other´s responsibility to control this group, and both believe the group is being used to discredit the other´s abilities to maintain power. In addition, the group´s existence is being questioned."

Sirius frowned. "What exactly happened?"

"A team of ten geologists and surveyors were tasked to map the pass. They had all the proper paper work and brought along four armed guards just in case. They made it through 75% of their work when their camp was attacked at night three days ago. There were only five survivors. They haven´t quite determined who or what attacked the camp. The guards shot at everything that moved that night, but they said they just kept coming. One was uninjured, four are dead, five have minor to severe injuries and the other four have not yet been accounted for. None of the attackers injured or dead were found. That means we have no real evidence as to who or what might be behind the attack. The weird thing was that the survivors swore that at least some of the attackers were animals. They were described as large and black. No further descriptions have been forwarded." Cordelia looked up from her folder. Sirius was rubbing his eyes.

"You need to get your eyes checked, are you getting headaches?"

"It´s nothing, my eyes are fine. So The Pard claims responsibility?"

"Yep, they are making demands that the infidels stay off their land, which they refuse to define, but threaten further attacks to anyone who violates their borders. They claim the mapping expedition was not approved and their permission was not sought. They claim that important religious markings were destroyed and artifacts were removed from the area."

"I see why the Indian governments are not taking this all that well." Sirius stroked his beard for a while. "Were there Muggles and wizards in the group that was attacked?"

"Yes, but it seems casualties were evenly divided," Cordelia answered after looking at her notes again.

"So why are the governments all over one another? Why don´t they take this group seriously?" Sirius asked.

"They are the thing of legend. When they surfaced a couple of years ago they seemed all smoke and mirrors. Even though we negotiated with them and thought we had agreements, the principals never appeared in real life. This time the governments have independently decided that it is just smoke and mirrors and that each is undertaking a covert operation to undermine this enterprise."

Sirius shrugged. "The Muggle government has more to be suspicious of than the wizard government, but I guess I understand. So what do we do now?"

Cordelia thought for a moment, "We need to get these governments cooperating."

Sirius leaned forward in his seat. "You think it is a real threat. What if it is just smoke and mirrors? Do we know for sure this Pard exists?"

"I believe they do, but I´ve seen odder schemes. The consortium that´s supporting the pipeline has threatened to cancel the project, but I think they´re bluffing. They still need the pipeline and this route is still the most direct. We´ll have more information once the survivors get back to civilization and their wounds are examined. They're trying to find the bodies, but no trace has been seen, not even any blood. And the missing have vanished without a trace."

Sirius let out a sigh. "I´ll call both heads of state and see if I can bully them into talking to one another at least. I´ll call the I.F.W. Ambassador and see if he´ll meet with the U.N. Ambassador. If we can get the governments talking maybe they can come up with a solution. Don´t contact the consortium yet. We need to get the governmental issues resolved before we bring in regional issues."

"I agree. Would you call the I.D. and see if they have any information on The Pard? Would Hermione know about them?"

"I´ll ask Argo."

They were silent for a few moments as Sirius jotted some notes to himself in his diary. Finally he set down the quill and looked up again at Cordelia. She was checking her watch. "In a hurry?"

"Can we put off our regular update until tomorrow morning? I have to get to Charlie´s school early. They want me to help out with a project for their Beltane celebration."

Sirius looked confused, "That´s not for two months yet."

"I know, this has something to do with constructing a set, and they thought since my mum owns a gallery that I´d have some sort of artistic ability." Cordelia shifted uncomfortably.

Sirius raised his eyebrows, "You?"

Cordelia glared at him. "I tried to tell them otherwise, but they wouldn´t hear of it. Anyway, I have to be there in about thirty minutes, so if the rest of the report can wait, I´d rather do it tomorrow."

"Yep, that´s fine. Just log the appointment with Samantha, she´ll be angry if she doesn´t know you´re coming."

."Yes, I know... she might lose out on the count." Cordelia gathered her folders up again and crossed to the door

Sirius laughed. "Yeah, I´ve heard of the count. Oh, I got those tickets to that concert you wanted, so our Valentine's Day plans are complete."

"Did you book the suite at the Ritz?"

"Yes I did. I did that right after we left last year. I am hereby making that a Valentine's tradition."

"Oh, do I need to get something new to wear?"

"That would be fun."

"Right then. I´ll see you at home tonight? Mum's coming by for dinner. Don't be late."

"I won't. See you then." With a quick kiss she left, pausing to let Samantha know that nothing indeed happened, but there was always the chance tomorrow. She exited the offices with a smile and decided to let the elevator take her where it pleased.

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

Tuesday, February 14^th, 2008

Hands stuffed into his black cloak, he was still cold despite the warmth charmed t-shirt he wore beneath his grey Icelandic sweater. His cloak wasn't long enough to keep the wind from whipping in and cutting through the black wool trousers. His feet were beginning to freeze in the boots he wore. He began to twiddle with his wand, letting his mind wander towards all the curses that he knew that generated heat with the curse. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to actually use these curses, as most were illegal, and he was really trying not to do things that were illegal.

There she was, just turning the corner. Her deep green cloak was pulled up to her chin, and a green beret was pulled over her ears. All her hair was tucked up beneath it as well. "Damn," he said quietly, for while he was not actively fantasizing about her hair, he was unexpectedly disappointed not to see it swinging about her shoulders.

"Sorry, I'm late," she apologized as she undid the top knot in her cloak. "Mad rush at the cover shoot today. Nothing seemed to go right. The fire destroyed our studio space, and the space we had to rent had terrible lighting. We couldn't do it outdoors, because the model was in a swimsuit. Then the heating charms kept fading."

"I thought you did that yesterday?"

"Well, it ran into today and if Miss Starlet has her way, it will still be going on three weeks from today," she said as she rolled her eyes.

He laughed as he held the door to the gallery open for her. Whenever he was around her he had this bizarre tendency for gallantry. That in itself used to make his skin crawl, but she did seem to like it.

They spent the better part of an hour going through the DeJami sculptures. His pieces tended to lean towards the abstract, so they had more than a few discussions differing on what exactly the sculpture was supposed to be. He could tell she was making a point not to touch him, and he knew for a fact that he was trying his damndest to not touch her.

See, that was another problem, he thought. Not only did he actually like spending time with her, but when he touched her, even the most casual brush of shoulder against shoulder, he'd feel it. That jolt of adrenaline. That racing feeling shooting momentarily to all his extremities. So they didn't touch tonight.

They progressed to the next gallery, discussing the artwork. They paused for a bit to chat with Cordelia's mum, who was hosting the opening.

Kate pointed out various new artists and explained a bit about the artwork. Ginny stared at one particular sculpture. Kate said that that piece was done with a particular patron's house in mind, but the patron had decided against purchasing it. Personally Draco thought that particular sculpture was less than inspired or inspiring. It looked like a great wad of clay with a fossil stuck in the middle, but he noticed the gleam in Ginny's eyes and an excitement about her

"May I buy it," Ginny interjected as Kate turned to move to the next piece.

"Certainly! I know the artist, Maggie Nielson, will be tickled. She was a bit disapointed when Mrs. Stapleton turned it down. She's a very talented artist. I think we'll be hearing a lot about her in the coming years. I was so excited to get her to locate her studio here. She'd been working from some hole near Charring Cross. I think she'll be much happier here.

After the purchase was complete, they set off to look at more of the art. They chatted about what each had been doing for the last two weeks. They'd last seen each other in his flat after the Circe fire, and that other fire. He had an urge to wrap his arm about her shoulders, or take her hand, or offer his arm, but, no. They were not going to touch.

"My Mistake," he whispered. She didn't hear him.

*********

Social associates. The words echoed in her mind. Like she could ever not want to touch him. She was deluding herself to think she had the self-restraint not to touch him. They were eating dinner after strolling through three galleries. She had purchased a sculpture at Kate Hunter's Gallery. It was a Muggle piece, but she just loved the lines and curves of it, and the mysterious focal point drew her to it. Just like he drew her to him. They hadn't touched yet. Maybe social associates wasn't going to be as difficult as she thought.

It wasn't just his body, although his body was perfect. And it wasn't his chiseled, patrician good looks, although they were quite easy on the eyes. It was something else. They seemed to have a connection that was organic and defied logic. She knew the slightest touch set off a chain of fire in her that needed to be consummated. They seemed to know this. They'd agreed on social associates, just sharing events together. This was the test. The last time she'd been alone with him was in his bedroom, after the fire. He didn't seem too pleased when her brothers arrived. She had been relieved. She had a feeling he wanted to renegotiate the terms of their association, and she knew she was deluding herself, thinking that she didn't need to as well. But she just didn't quite know what to make of them. She didn't feel confident of the non-sexual relationship to be ready to upgrade to any kind of partnership. So if she could not touch him tonight then maybe renegotiation wouldn't be necessary. She believed she could just put the thoughts away in a little box and fasten the lid down, just as long as he didn't touch her.

They chatted and laughed through dinner. She performed a long monologue on the absurdities of the day's photo shoot and the bizarre requests of the cover model. He had a good sense of humour, if somewhat cynical, but he seemed to appreciate her stories. He stared at her a lot. She was a bit uncomfortable with that, but didn't dare let on. She knew he'd take that and abuse it to make her feel even more uncomfortable, if she let on.

They finished up dessert, and a second glass of wine. She didn't dare Apparate after that much wine; she was always a lightweight when it came to alcohol. They had just exited the restaurant when his hand brushed hers as he helped her on with her cloak. There it was again, that fire and the undeniable need to kiss him and connect with him. She turned and looked up. They paused and his mouth was on hers. The kiss started off soft and subtle. She thought he would stop at that, but then it became a probing question, she wasn't sure she was ready to answer. Her body took over and answered in kind, deep, delving, demanding.

Pulling away, more than a bit flustered, Ginny stammered, "Umm, I'd best get going, it's snowing."

Draco glanced away, then turned back to her. "I'll walk you home; it's only a couple of blocks."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Ginny hesitated, trying not to show just how unsure she was that this was a good idea.

"I don't plan to come in. I won't even see you up the elevator, if you think that would preserve your virtue," he said sarcastically.

She laughed nervously. "I wouldn't let you freeze in the street. You can come up for a cup of hot chocolate. I think I can guard my virtue," she said as she rapidly changed the subject. "Look how bright the moon is!"

They walked in silence the rest of the way to her loft. Not quite knowing where the evening would end up. The door closed and that was it, the fuse was lit. He immediately reached for her cloak, then his hands were everywhere at once. His mouth was on hers and the instant his tongue touched hers she began to melt. She could feel the roughness of his palm on her stomach, around the small of her back, beneath her sweater, covering her breast through her lace bra, running up beneath her skirt, at the tops of her stockings, up along her arse and around the black lace thong she'd put on against all better judgment. There goes the virtue, she thought with a smile.

Not long after, they lay still in an awkward silence for a bit before she moved to disentangle her body from his. "I'm going up to change. Are you staying?" She tried to keep her voice neutral, not meeting his eyes.

"Have you got some wine? I think we should talk, don't you?"

"Yes, we should," she said, hoping the reluctance didn't show in her voice. "I'll be right down."

Ginny straightened her bra and adjusted her skirt, picked up the remaining bits of clothing and went up the stairs. She reached the top and took a deep breath. She went into the bathroom and splashed her face. Her heart was still racing, and her skin was flushed from their passion. She drew her hair back, and rummaged through her drawers to find the least sexy clothes she had. She pulled out a pair of baggy trackpants that rode her hips; they had been Bill's a long time ago. An oversize knit shirt with the arms cut off seemed to work. Nothing tight, nothing form fitting, hopefully boring, and not seductive. That's the last thing she wanted to convey. Right then, she said to her reflection. Talk. Don't touch.

"Trying to put me off?" Draco asked as she entered the kitchen.

"Well, yes, actually. Am I that obvious?"

Draco just smiled. He uncorked the wine and searched the cupboards for glasses. "Here's what I think we should do. We skip work tomorrow and spend tonight and tomorrow together. When that's over, if you still want this absurd social associate arrangement, so be it. I will never touch you again." He placed two glasses on the counter between them and looked her directly in the eye. He had his jumper back on without the t-shirt underneath, and to Ginny he still looked like sex.

Ginny looked at him suspiciously. "So you want to spend the next thirty-six hours getting to know one another? How do you propose we do that?"

"We drink some wine and talk some, tell each other things, then make love, sleep a bit, make love again, talk some more, make love some more, maybe shower, have some brunch, make some more passionate love somewhere else, sleep a bit more, then maybe break down and have some very sweaty sex, talk one more time and then decide where we stand."

Ginny's mouth was hanging open. Draco leaned across the counter and kissed her, thoroughly. "Sound like a plan to you?" he asked when they came up for air.

"Ummmm... err... yeah... sounds like a plan," she said, a bit breathless.

"Nice wine."

"This certainly sounds like an interesting thirty-six hours, but I have to ask why?" Ginny asked as she reached over and poured the wine. She took a sip. "Why are you interested in sorting this out? It seems to me you've usually been the type to enjoy a physical relationship without the complicated emotional price."

Draco picked up his glass and swirled the contents. "And you've always seemed like the kind to reject a purely physical relationship."

Ginny stared at him for a long moment. "Touché. Guess it wouldn't hurt for us to get to know one another better, no matter what the outcome. Although thirty-six hours of sex can't be a bad thing, it is a bit intimidating. What if we get tired of it, or each other?"

"Isn't it better to learn that now rather than waste time and energy on learning that part more slowly? This is good wine, a good year. I'll let you sleep some, and for the most part you'll be lying down," he said with a grin.

"So we start this by talking? I get to find out all about you?"

"Yes, this is the talking part, since we just finished having sweaty sex."

Ginny blushed, "Right then, you first. Tell me about how you became a good guy?"

"Hmm, you go for the big question right off, don't you? What happened to what's your favourite colour?"

"Okay, what's your favourite colour?"

"Black, what's yours?"

"Green."

"A good Slytherin colour, we should get along fine then."

"So, do we just go up to bed now? I haven't finished my wine." Ginny raised her glass and looked over at the stairs.

"No, we need to finish the wine. That's the rule. Between sex you have to engage in some sort of meaningful conversation or sleep. Favourite colour doesn't count, and if you are eating or drinking, the food needs to be finished."

"Okay, keep me up on these rules; I'm not familiar with this game."

"Will do, but I reserve the right to change the rules at any time."

"Any time?"

"Yes, particularly if you do something very arousing and I feel the need to terminate the discussion and cut straight to the sex."

"Do I have that option as well?"

"I'll have to think about that."

"All right. So why did you change, or is that confidential?"

"Most of it is confidential, but I'm going to tell you anyway."

"Why?"

"I learned from Quinn it isn't good to keep history and motivation secrets. This change was a big part of who I am now, and if you don't hear it you'll most likely continue to carry around a lot of misconceptions about me based on who I used to be. I'd ask that you not repeat a lot of this and realize I am certainly not proud of a lot of my actions before and during this time, but it's important you know."

Ginny gathered up her glass of wine and curled up in the chair across from the couch. Draco followed her and slouched in the twin to the chair opposite the fireplace. They could look at one another or the fire, whichever was more convenient. Draco finished off half of his glass of wine and began his story.

He started by describing his role in Allegra's Circle. "I'd been doing glamours for Allegra for a long time. She had me spying on everyone. I got so used to lying about who I was I practically needed note cards. It didn't matter if they were supposed to be a trusted lieutenant or a potential infiltrator. So I was supposed to get information on an American witch with a young daughter. She had some talents Allegra was interested in. I was her friendly new neighbour. I never did like going into female glamours, too much trouble," Draco smiled.

Ginny laughed, "So you know what it takes to be a girl and look beautiful, eh. Now that's a switch."

"It sucks, doesn't it? Anyway, she caught on that I wasn't who I said I was. I got abnormally annoyed at this, and nearly killed her. Something actually made me pull back, and I've been trying to build on that ever since."

"Why did you turn?"

"My father had been sent to finish them off, the woman and her daughter. Allegra couldn't take the risk of my cover being blown. So they showed up and killed the little girl. In front of the mother."

Ginny felt the bile rise in her throat.

"That was it. I couldn't let them do that. I attacked them and prevented the mother's death, and ran. I lived in the woods for a few days, and then Quinn found me. She nursed my body and my soul and showed me that most people know how to care about something."

"Or someone?" Ginny offered.

"Or someone," Draco answered with a wry grin. "I went back to Allegra to ruin her. I bided my time in the organization again until Quinn and I could find a way to bring her down. We finally did, and the rest is history."

"You already told me about Quinn. She seems like a wonderful woman."

A veil of pain dropped over Draco's eyes for a moment. "Yeah, she is. I wish I hadn't hurt her."

"I thought it was a mutual break."

"It was, but that doesn't mean there wasn't hurt."

"Did she hurt you?"

Draco shook his head no, but didn't elaborate.

He went on to talk about the other things he used to do.

Ginny sipped her wine, listening raptly, asking questions and laughing at the appropriate places. She was amazed by his openness, and very curious as to why he was being this open with her. She felt a bit squeamish about the things he'd done to others. There were a few moments when she had to struggle to keep her food down.

"So, that's about it. Ever since the showdown, I've been trying to rebuild a life on the outside, so to speak. Now it's my turn," he said, before she could ask anything else about him. "What happened between you and Harry?"

Ginny was surprised, "For that I need more wine."

Draco crossed to the kitchen and snagged the bottle and refilled her glass as well as his own. But rather than sitting back on the couch he stretched out in front of the fire facing her. Ginny took a long sip of wine and began. She found herself revealing more details about that affair to him than she'd ever felt comfortable revealing to anyone before.

"So, by the time Circe went public, I had a lot of pent up resentment and there had been a lot of miscommunication. Grant came into my office, and well, one thing led to another and he is rather attractive, and ..."

Draco was sitting up with a shocked expression on his face. "Are you telling me you had sex with this Grant character before you broke it off with Potter? Weasley, you are a slut!"

Ginny started to take offence, but saw the smile in his eyes and blushed, "What? That I would dare cheat on Harry or that I would do it with Grant?"

"Both, actually, although I've never met Grant. A lot depends on what relationship you had with him."

"I was engaged to him once, okay, twice. Once before Harry and once after, but I broke it off, both times."

"Do you have trouble with commitment? I wouldn't think that was a Weasley trait."

Ginny shrugged and took a gulp of wine. "So now you know. Does it change who you thought I was?"

"Actually, yes. But in a good way. I realized you had sluttish tendencies when you and I went at it after our first date. I mean sluttish in only the most honourable way, in case you were wondering."

"Really? It's not something I'm all that proud of."

"It took spine though, and courage."

"No. What would have required courage was for me to resist until after I'd called it off with Harry."

"Well, Potter was in love with Granger at that time, so you weren't the only one being dishonest in that relationship."

"I think I knew that even then."

They had both drained their glasses. Ginny got up and picked up Draco's from the floor and moved back into the kitchen. She stood at the sink and rinsed them out, and rinsed the empty bottle as well.

Draco came up behind her, and slid his arms around her waist, as he touched the tip of his tongue to the base of her neck, then trailed small kisses up her neck. She leaned her head back against his shoulder and closed her eyes as his hands found their way beneath her clothing.

"Done talking for now?" she asked, gasping to get enough air.

"Yes, we're done talking for now," he whispered against her lips as he turned her to face him and pressed her up against the counter.

She could feel his whole body react to hers. She could feel his heart beating fast in her chest. She felt him sliding her trackpants off, and felt a cool breeze blow across her. He lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs about his waist. He was still clothed, and the sensation of his heated clothing, and the body beneath on her naked skin was terribly arousing. He carried her slowly out of the kitchen and up the stairs, keeping his eyes locked with hers and kissing her softly and gently when he could. He paused only to darken the downstairs with a wave of his wand.

He paused near the bed and Ginny slid down touching her feet to the thick green carpet. She lifted the jumper over his head and kissed her way down his body, enjoying the texture and scent of his skin. There were those feral noises again and hums of contentment and other noises of pleasure.

After a while he urged her to her feet.

"Don't you like that?" Ginny whispered with a smile against his lips.

"I'd rather share, but if you insist..." He started to press down on her shoulders.

"Sharing, are we?" she asked, pulling back and resisting his intentions.

"Yes, I like to share with you," he said with a smile, skimming his hand over her breast.

"Why?"

"You ask that a lot. Don't you believe me?"

"I'm learning to. But you didn't answer me."

"Because you share with me." He picked her up and carried her to the bed and spread her hair over the pillow. "And because you're beautiful."

"You're just saying that so you can have your way with me."

"Ginny, we're naked and in your bed, do you really think I need to use lines at this stage?"

Ginny laughed, "Good point."

"I have a better one."

"Hmmmmmm..."

There didn´t seem to be any need for conversation after that as the point of the activity was quickly made. Ginny felt strangely relaxed and excited, safe, but in a precarious position. Like being pushed off the astronomy tower and hoping a hippogriff would catch her, and being confident it will. This was more than sexual excitement. It was more intense and somehow involved her heart, more than her sense of touch. Her head was blissfully left out of the process.

"Merlin, Malfoy. Good is such an understatement," she gasped as her breathing returned to normal.

They kissed lightly and separated. She curled up beside him, wrapped in his arms; sated, content, slightly tipsy on the wine and the warm feelings bubbling through her veins, and very sleepy. One last deep breath and she was asleep. Beside her, the breathing was getting slow and steady as well. He tightened his arms about her, curled his body protectively around her, kissed her hair, and drifted off.

A few hours later, Draco awoke to feelings of light caresses across his cheek and silky strands moving across his shoulders and chest. He slowly gained consciousness and realized that Ginny was awake and taking advantage of his unconscious body, exploring and learning all about him.

She looked up at him when she noticed he was awake. "You said we needed to get to know one another," she said, moving over him and straddling his hips.

"A lovely way to be awoken, actually. Mind if I explore some on my own?"

Ginny smiled and kissed him, long, slow, deep, lots of tongue, and that spark he felt when they connected. The flame was a small campfire, meant to light the darkness and provide warmth. If experience was any teacher it would ignite into a bonfire, but right now a small fire was better.

Her hair hung down around them, curtaining them from the outer world. Her body was within the curtain, and he took this opportunity to run his hand ever so lightly across her nipples and down and around the curve of her breast. He heard a quick intake of breath and smiled. "You like this?"

"Sometimes, other times I want you to hold me hard enough to hurt, but right now this is very nice."

"You don't mind if I hurt you?"

"Not a big hurt... no whips, chains, or that sort... but a little rough isn't bad once in awhile. Extremely gentle is also nice. Variety. I think you can handle variety, can't you?"

"I'll show you variety..." With that Draco flipped her onto her back and proceeded to show her a variety of things he could do with his tongue and those long elegant fingers that left her gasping.

No one had ever felt this right. No one had ever aroused him this much every time. He had that feeling of hungering for her again, as if through being with her he could feed off her essence and fill up that space in him that she seemed to create. Draco felt her moving over him again as her hair fell about them. He drew her down to him and tasted her, and contained her growl of release as she contained his.

Their heart rates returned to normal again, but instead of drifting back off into sleep, Draco stretched and sat up with his back against the headboard and pulled Ginny in to sit against him. "Back to true confessions. What was it like to grow up with so many people in one small house?"

Ginny gave a short laugh, and leaned her head back against his shoulder, as he nuzzled her hair. She started to weave a web of warmth and comfort, and fights, and screaming, and not enough, and too much, and being close, and losing touch, and the hole left by Ron's death. Draco listened, stroking her arm or leg or hair, just touching, skin to skin. She talked for nearly an hour. Finally she paused.

"Did I tell you too much? Are you properly terrified now?"

"Nearly. The potential of meeting your family as your lover certainly doesn't excite me. Bill made it clear he wasn't crazy about the idea."

"He asked me later, when we got back here, what was going on."

"What did you tell him?"

"I lied. I said nothing. I'm sorry, but I just wasn't ready to deal with us. I didn't have it figured out yet, and in all honesty, I'm not sure I do now."

"We have another," Draco glanced at the bedside clock and smiled, "twenty-four hours at least."

"Your turn, what was it like growing up with everything?" Ginny said this quickly. It seemed to Draco that she was avoiding any discussion of her feelings. He let it pass. There were times when he could be patient.

"Everything? Hardly." Draco then went about describing just what it was like to grow up as Lucius Malfoy's son in the sterile confines of the prison that was Malfoy Manor. He felt her go stiff with what seemed like indignation at some of the anecdotes. She gaped at him on more than a few occasions. He talked for less time than she did. "You'll learn more as we go on. I'm sure you'll get to experience the Manor directly. Mum still lives there and insists I come to dinner every few weeks. If we do decide on some sort of something she will insist on meeting you."

"Families can be prickly."

"Yes, they can."

They were quiet for a time, just touching each other randomly, stroking, caressing. Finally Ginny yawned and stretched. "I need to sleep, Draco."

"Yep, that's next on the agenda. The sun's coming up. Damn, you have a great view, Weasley!"

"Yes, I do. I've spent loads of time watching the sun rise from here."

"Trouble sleeping?"

"Too much to do. Oh! I need to send an owl. I'll be right back." Ginny swung out of bed and wrapped a robe around her.

She'd sent the owl telling her assistant that she was sick and wouldn't be in the office. By the time she came back upstairs, Draco was asleep. Christ, he was beautiful. His body was lean and hard, with abs to die for. Long graceful legs, with a light dusting of blonde and silver hair, glinting as occasional shafts of sunlight struck them. A wide sensuous mouth capable of a sneer as well as some lovely kisses. His blonde hair was tousled in sleep, with a strong arm and graceful hand thrown over his eyes.

"What the hell is this," she asked herself as she stood in the doorway. She shook her head vigorously, removed her robe, and crawled back in bed. Draco rolled over and gathered her into him, and drifted off again. Seconds later Ginny was asleep as well, feeling content, and safe.

A few hours later, Ginny awoke to the sound of the shower going. She was very sore, very hungry, and still rather groggy. She rolled over and sat up, trying to orient herself and process the last twelve hours. She felt relaxed and content, but not really ready to accept the reality of her situation. Right, she thought. Let's get the hunger part taken care of. I can do breakfast, probably. Should find out what he might want to eat. Yep, that would be the polite thing, right?

She slowly rolled off the bed and dug in her closet for a different robe. It was white satin, but comfortable and hung longer than the grubby terry cloth one that she would be embarrassed to show even her mother.

She knocked on the bath door, and stepped in. "What do you usually do for breakfast? Feast, or just toast and tea?"

Draco had his arms braced in the entrance to the shower, with water dripping down his body and off his hair. Ginny followed the path of the glistening water droplets down his chest and over his hips. He was obviously glad to see her. Ginny licked her lips and mentally fanned herself, cleared her throat and asked again a bit more distracted this time. "Breakfast?"

Draco reached out and pulled her to him. Ginny resisted, but he pulled her in and turned on the water before she could pull away. She gave a brief shriek, but then couldn't stop laughing as he wrestled her in.

"Draco! My robe!"

"It's marvelous all wet," he said with a glint in his eye, as he dragged her beneath the spray. He kissed her long and hard and deep, while her hair got wet and clung to her back.

Ginny gasped to regain her breath, "Breakfast?"

"I'll have you."

"You've had me, quite a bit. Don't you need food?"

"Yes, but you look better at the moment."

Ginny rolled her eyes and leaned back against the wall. Big mistake. "Ummm," Ginny had her eyes closed as he peeled the wet robe from her body. She wasn't sure she could handle another orgasm, but she sure as hell wanted it. Something about him just called out to her body. He was incredibly attractive, but it was more than that. It was almost a hunger. When they were together, she felt wanted, loved, and necessary. Not that she had any delusions that he actually loved her, she wasn't sure he could do that. But that's the way she felt.

He moved his hands and lips over her body once again, her knees felt weak and her mind went blank. This was all his show. This time she was the object of love, the inspiration, the cause. She reveled in this role every once in a while, and since this was his idea, he was doing all the work. Not that this could really be considered work. It felt way too good to be work. He had her pinned to the wall with the spray cascading down her shoulders and thighs. The water, although heated, felt cool compared to his body, which was pressing tightly against her and heating her core. His mouth was tight against hers, his arms holding her up, her leg wrapped about his hips for support. Nothing had felt that way before. Strength and vulnerability. Power and powerlessness. Control and no control, all simultaneously.

Then they reached that peak again. He cried out her name for the first time. Usually his sounds were low growls and sighs of satisfaction afterward. This was the closest she felt he'd come to that loss of control that she nearly always felt at this stage. She smiled and wondered if maybe love was possible for him. Was that what this thirty-six hours was about? Maybe, just maybe, he was trying to convince her he loved her? Ginny shook her head, dismissing that silly idea.

They separated, her robe left in a wet crumpled heap on the shower floor. He pulled her into the spray and washed his lovemaking off her gently and slowly with soap and shampoo. Then after a final rinse, he shut the water down, and wrapped her in a large fluffy towel.

She dried her hair and handed him a third towel, which he wrapped casually about his hips. He leaned against the counter while she combed out her hair, watching.

"So, you mentioned breakfast. I know a great place for scones, but you might be spotted there, plus I couldn't shag you in the kitchen that way either. I have this wonderful fantasy of shagging you at the sink from behind."

"I'll have to be careful then, won't I?"

"Constant vigilance," Draco said in his best Moody voice.

She laughed. "Go get dressed so we can eat. Isn't this one of those talk times?"

"Yep, we are due for a discussion of some sort, so figure out what you need to know about and I'll go get coffee started." Draco toweled off and slipped his clothes on. "Actually, I need to go back to my place to get some clean clothes. Should I do that now, or make you breakfast?"

"You cook?" she asked incredulously, as she slipped into green satin knickers and bra. She could feel Draco's eyes on her and half expected him to touch her again before covering the set with a t-shirt, jeans and a jumper But he behaved himself and just looked.

"Had to learn lately. Not real proficient, but I can whip up some eggs and bangers without too much trouble."

"No, you go change and I'll do breakfast. I'm good at that, not much else, but I love a good brunch. Mum did rub off a bit."

"Right then, I'll be back in a flash," he said as he started down the stairs. About halfway down he stopped and turned, "You won't lock me out, will you?"

"No, you're way too much fun." She smiled and looked over the edge of the stairs.

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

Draco had been home for a few minutes and had changed his clothes. He was going through his owls that had accumulated overnight when Sirius' head popped up in his fireplace.

"There you are, Draco. I need to see you. We have something that needs your expertise. Have you ever heard of or been involved with The Pard. I need to know what you know and maybe who you know there."

Draco had heard rumors of The Pard during his days with the Circle, but they were so outlandish he always assumed they were fabrications. He´d heard they were not entirely a wizard organization and there were rumors that they sheltered shape shifters in their hierarchy. He´d also heard that they ate their dead and performed regular human sacrifice, in addition to starting the disco trend and other outlandish tales involving magic and Muggles.

"I don't know anything factual about them, just rumours. I won't be in today. Can we discuss this tomorrow," Draco said as he shuffled the owl posts into the desk.

"Are you sick? You don't look particularly ill, although you are usually a bit pale. You need to get out in the sun more."

"Sirius, it's raining, and no I'm not sick. I just have some personal business to attend to."

"I really could use this information today. We are trying to decide if we need to send a team out to investigate. Would you please be here by noon."

"No I can't. I am taking a day off. I will be there tomorrow to assist you as much as I can. I don't have any credible information anyway."

Sirius looked irritated. "We could use anything you've got and it would be helpful to have your input. Can you let us know where you are so we can reach you if needed during our noon meeting on this issue."

"No," Draco said bluntly.

Now he looked really irritated. "This better be good. I will expect to see your ass in here first thing tomorrow and I expect a full explanation. The owl you sent in this morning was from Ginny Weasley's place. Will you be there today?"

"Mind your own business. I'll be in tomorrow."

Sirius shook his head and disappeared from the fireplace.

A half hour later Draco had returned to Ginny's loft in black jeans and a different jumper. "Damn, it's raining hard," he said as he shucked his cloak and charmed his hair dry.

"I know. The windows have gone all dark and gloomy. It's such a shame; I was hoping we could walk on down to the park. It was such a gorgeous sunrise. Damn."

Draco came up behind her and wrapped his arms about her. "All the better to stay inside and play," he whispered, nuzzling her neck. "So, where's my breakfast, wench?"

Ginny broke away and got the hot pads set on the table. She whisked two plates out of the oven. There was French toast, eggs, and sausage. She had orange juice in a pitcher and tea on the table keeping warm under a cozy. The table was set and there were seven candles in the centre of the table.

Ginny curled up on the dining room chair with her legs tucked under her. Draco slid into the seat beside her. "So tell me about Circe? Why did you start it, and why is it so popular?"

Draco could tell this was Ginny's favourite topic of conversation. Her eyes lit up and she got very animated while describing the early days and relating the horrors of some failures. She talked almost non-stop for the duration of breakfast, and he didn't mind a bit. He really enjoyed watching her talk when she was in this mood. He could tell it was her passion and her life. She glowed when describing what she felt the first time she hit various goals. She blushed and cringed at her setbacks, but seemed to enjoy them as much as the successes. He had been taught failure was not an option and here she was relishing the failures, laughing over them, and deriving as much from them as from the things she'd done right, which were plentiful.

"Enough about me, I could go on all week on that subject. What are you doing now, and do you like it?"

"Yes, I do. I enjoy working for Sirius. He's a fascinating man. I have a lot of respect for him and what he's been through." They spent another hour talking about Draco's work, Sirius, Cordelia, Harry, Hermione, and various other people they both knew. Draco carried the plates over to the sink.

They finished brunch as Ginny described some of her more interesting editorial decisions. She sent the dishes to the sink and decided she would temporarily ignore them. .Right now, she was exhausted. It continued to rain and the sky outside was a slate grey, with black clouds punctuating the view. All was very cosy inside, however. The fire was going and it really was an excellent day to stay home sick, even without Draco threatening to make love to her all day. That was just an added bonus.

"Come here to me," Draco said from the couch.

"Can we both fit?"

"We did before."

"Err... we were rather close then."

"We can get very close now."

Draco was stretched out with his back to the arm of the couch, facing the fire. Ginny swung her legs up and leaned back against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and smoothed the hair on her head. She looked over her shoulder.

"Your hair was tickling my face."

"Sorr..." She was cut off by a kiss. It lasted quite a long time, and while it was fierce and intimate and probing, he hadn't let his hands roam. His arms were still tight about her waist. He didn't seem to be initiating anything more intense than a kiss. She gave up wondering where he was going with this and just closed her eyes and relaxed into the kiss, enjoying the sensations bubbling along her spine.

He broke the kiss and cleared his throat. "This is important. I think you've been as honest with me as you've been with yourself so far, which at times has not been all that honest. But I want to make sure here. I've done enough lying for three lifetimes and I don't want to lie anymore. Not to you. I don't particularly have the right to expect complete honesty, but I can ask for it anyway. Can we try not to lie to one another?"

Ginny blew air through her cheeks and laid her head back against his shoulder. "I must admit to not being the most honest person in relationships, mainly when I couldn't get my own feelings sorted out. I like to think I wouldn't intentionally lie; I was raised with the idea that lying is very bad. It's kind of one of those things where you don't intentionally plan to lie, it just comes out because it seems like the best thing to do at the time. Usually it's in attempt not to hurt someone else."

Draco was chuckling, "Most of the time my lies were very intentional and targeted to directly hurt someone. I never even really thought about lying to spare someone's feelings."

"You are odd, Draco."

Draco shrugged. "So, can you be honest with me. I really would rather you be honest than worrying about sparing my feelings."

"You know of everyone I know, you are one of the few who probably could handle a completely honest relationship."

"I like to think so," Draco responded with a slight nod to her.

"Hmmmm, okay, I'm game. This could get kind of hairy, though."

"A lot less so than a relationship filled with lies and deceit. Trust me on that one," Draco assurred her.

"I do for some reason," Ginny said, still feeling a bit suspicious.

"Thanks, it's one of the things I love about you."

"Love?" Ginny couldn't keep the surprise from her voice.

"Yes, love, but don't get all excited. I mean it in this context along the lines of 'I love a good whisky'," Draco explained.

"That's a relief."

Draco looked puzzled. "Don't women want men to love them, with a capital 'L'?"

"Some women do. It seems a bit scary to me."

"Scary? You're scared of me loving things about you?"

"No, I thought you were going to come out with the big 'I Love You' pronouncement."

"What if I did, would that scare you?"

"Yes! It's too soon. We hardly know each other. What if you're wrong?"

"Au contraire, I think we are getting to know one another quite well, and how can you be wrong. You either love someone or you don't, and if you're honest with yourself, you can't be wrong, at least at that moment."

"But shouldn't love be reserved for forever... that all passionate 'I'm sure that I'm sure' love, like Harry and Hermione or Sirius and Cordelia? They didn't go into it saying I love you, but only for this moment."

"Ginny, I've been through so many changes in the past five years; I have made a point never to look too far ahead. I can't possibly predict who I'll be next month, let alone next year. If you want to love me you have to love who I am now, not worry about whether you will love who I am next week even. And if I fall in love with you, it's who you are today, I can't promise next week either."

This conversation was getting way too scary for Ginny's preference, but she was curious. "So you love things about me?"

"Yes, there're lots of things I love about you."

"Right then, out with it, what do you love about me, a gal never gets tired of hearing that, you know."

"I love your hair and your body, and your mind and your energy and your openness."

"Openness?"

"Yes, your assumption that I know how to care. You have no idea how foreign a concept that is to me, do you?"

"Well ... no. Doesn't everyone know that, you just choose not to care for a long time, right?"

"Wrong. Malfoys are raised to utilize and manipulate, to guide each situation and person to their purpose. Care and support others? I never grasped that concept until Quinn. I'm still not all that good at it."

"Really? You do an awfully good job at pretending."

"I'm learning."

Ginny got very quiet after that. She settled back a bit more, relaxing into him and gradually drifted off.

In her dream, she was floating on a raft in a lake. Water droplets were playing on her belly and inner thighs. They cooled her skin which had been heated by the sun. It took more than a few minutes to realize the heat was coming from just under her skin and the water droplets were a result of a tongue running over her body.

"How did I get this way?" she asked langorously.

Draco raised an eyebrow, "Surely you've heard of disrobing charms."

"They're illegal though," she said, still emerging from sleep.

"What's your point? Do you mind?"

"No."

"I didn't think you would. If I thought you would I wouldn't have done it."

"Did I miss anything?" Ginny whispered, her voice still thick with sleep.

"Nope, just making us more comfortable and doing a bit of exploring." he said in a low voice, as he moved up to lay beside her. "I love the curve here and here." He ran his hands over the curve of her neck and then down to her waist.

He was propped up on one elbow, following his other hand with his eyes. She stretched like a cat, pointing her toes and reaching her arms above her head. As she relaxed, Draco moved to kiss her. The kiss was long and deep and thorough. It felt like a possession and surrender all in one.

Draco moved over her and took hold of her hands, entwining his fingers in hers, stretched them above her head.

She smiled and closed her eyes. He felt wonderful. She was still not fully conscious and in that half-sleep state she didn't struggle against the intense feelings that were rolling through her heart and stomach and lower regions.

She was lost in these feelings when she realized he was asking her something, not just murmuring erotic suggestions in her ear.

"You think you can live without this?" He punctuated his question with a slow caress that brought his hand lightly down her body from her face to her knee.

"No," she said breathlessly.

"You want me bad."

"Isn't that obvious?"

"But you don't love me?"

Ginny opened her eyes fully. This question threw her. She stared into those steel grey eyes for a long moment, deliberating how to answer it. Her heart wanted to answer in a way that her now fully conscious brain would not allow. "Are you going to stop if I don't?" She ran her own hand down his naked back.

"What if I did?"

"Could you?" she challenged.

"Probably not. Not happily anyway," he said with a half smile.

"Mmmmmm," she sighed.

"So tell me, do you love me?"

Ginny smiled and gave a half of a laugh, "I'd tell you that you were the King of England at the moment if it means you'd keep doing that."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "You'd lie about love just to get good sex?"

"At this point, yes." Ginny arched her neck back and stretched against him "Keep doing that, it felt really good."

"This?"

"Oh yeah."

"I want the truth or I'm leaving. Why won't you admit you love me?" He was smiling, but his eyes were serious.

"I can't..." Ginny said at first, then looking away, "I don't know... It's too soon. I don't know if I can trust you not to hurt me."

"You already do."

She felt very confused.

"You trust me not to hurt your body. You let me do whatever I please to you. You trusted me to take care of you, after the fire." He moved his hands again, caressing her slowly, then kissing slowly and deeply.

She couldn't keep her pleasure from bubbling up as a quiet moan as she closed her eyes. "I can't think when you do that."

"You want me to stop?"

"NO! God, that feels good." She had her eyes open now and was looking at him more softly now.

"But you don't love me?"

"I don't know yet, Draco," she said quietly.

"I think you do." He moved his lips over her again and kissed her deeply.

After regaining control she pulled her mouth from his. "Christ, you are arrogant." She felt a sense of panic in her brain and maybe even a bit of annoyance. Why was he persisting with this? her brain screamed. But her confusion seemed to be heightening all her responses. "Can't we leave love out of this for now?"

"No."

"Do you love me?"

"Yes." He kissed her, a bit more forcefully this time.

This really threw her. She'd assumed when asked directly he would have said no. He'd promised honesty after all, so she'd expected honesty. What the hell did he mean by yes? She twisted her mouth free again, "When?"

"The fire," he said softly, moving his mouth down the long line just to the left of her breast.

Merlin, this was confusing. Ginny's thoughts and feelings and sensations were all jumbled up in a whirling mass. Different objections would surge to the front, then recede in tandem to the rhythm Draco was setting with his hands and lips.

"But what if you hurt me?"

Draco glanced up, and met her eyes. "Have I hurt you yet today?"

"What if I hurt you?" Ginny asked quietly.

"You won't." Draco smiled.

"How do you know?"

"I don't know. I'm taking the risk. This is worth it. You are worth it." He punctuated this declaration with a ruthless nip to her breast.

"I am?" She was quite surprised by these revelations, in addition to the confusion in her own heart.

"Yes."

"Forever?"

"No, no one can promise forever and not be lying." He kissed her again. The logical side of her brain wanted him to stop and let her go somewhere all alone and think. The other half was having no part of the logical. It wanted her and him to quit talking and get down to the business of responding to the marvelous stimuli being presented. That half seemed to be winning as she could feel her hips responding to Draco's touch and movement.

She gathered her wits enough to try to continue probing his feelings. "What do you mean? How can love be just for now?"

"Things change." He was a bit breathless by now. He was answering in short simple sentences. "We can hope for next week. But who the hell even knows about tomorrow." He paused and looked directly at her again. "So could you live without this?"

"No." And she knew at that moment that she couldn't. He kissed her then possessing her mouth and through her mouth her soul. But she felt aware that she had a very small corner of his as well.

"Do you love me?" he asked with his lips against hers.

"Yes."

He smiled a brilliant smile. He looked like he'd just won. "Right then." He kept her hands pinned above her head. He kept his lips attached to hers. She couldn't cry out, but she was building to a point where she couldn't not cry out. She opened fully and stopped doubting, stopped thinking, and gave trust a try. She relaxed into him and let her body respond. The responses were already intense. She was tingling from head to toe; lost in a surreal world where what was happening was just not possible.

He collapsed, his weight heavy on her, but reassuringly protective. He released her hands, and began to stroke her face. Her arms wrapped around him and held him tight for what seemed to be a very long time. They slept until the sun went down.

Ginny woke up first. She gently slid out from Draco's embrace and stretched. She got up and put on her old terry robe, as her good silk one was still wet from their shower games from this morning. She brushed her hair and went down to the kitchen. She stood in front of her window for a long time, thinking about all he had said during that last encounter. She figured it was just the passion talking and he probably didn't mean it. What she couldn't figure out was, did she?

Actually, if she was honest with herself, she knew the answer to that, and he'd asked for honesty, didn't he, she murmured to herself. But could she possibly be in love? With him? What the hell would her parents think. She shuddered at how her brothers would react. No, that was too uncomfortable. It must have been the sex talking again. He didn't love her. She would give him a way to withdraw his words. What he couldn't take away was the way he kissed her and the way they moved together. That wasn't a mistake. But misinterpreting that as love certainly was, she decided. She shook her head and wandered into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator and stared into it for a long time.

"That's the trouble with those things," Draco commented dryly, as he leaned into the kitchen with his hands braced on the door frame. "You've got to watch them every minute."

Ginny ran her hand through her hair, "It's just that there's nothing in here that could be remotely contrived as dinner."

"I already owled the take-away curry place two blocks over. It should be here any minute. Go up and get some clothes on, you're much too tempting in that robe."

Ginny smiled, "So I should put on the sweats again? Not the transparent negligee or the black bustier?"

"No, save them for next time. I need something to look forward to."

She reappeared just before the food arrived and set the table, as he answered the door and paid the tab.

They settled across the table from one another. She had brought out another bottle of wine and poured two glasses. She raised her glass and he responded in kind. They both sipped and Ginny moved her food around her plate with her fork.

Finally Ginny asked, "So what were you going on about in bed before?"

"What do you mean?" Draco responded innocently.

"You know..."

"Seems to me we talked about a lot of things in bed today."

Ginny blushed, "You're going to make me say it, aren't you?"

"Yep," he said, looking at her directly.

Ginny took a deep breath, "That you love me. Did you really say that?"

"Yes, you were there, weren't you listening?" he asked with a smile tugging the corners of his lips.

"I wasn't sure I believed you."

"I told you how I feel about lying," Draco said without emotion.

"But not forever."

"I don't know forever. I thought we went over that earlier."

"We went over the forever stuff, but ... when you're in love, aren't you supposed to be sure? I mean, from what I've been told, you know when it's right. You just know. And since you know it's right, forever is assumed."

"Forever is a long time to assume."

"Yeah, but..."

"Look, I've heard all that, too, but I think it doesn't fit everyone. A lot depends on how loudly that little doubting voice speaks in your ear. If you pay attention, you'll never know that it's right. There's that voice that questions everything. Some people know how to silence it and overcome it; others let it rule their lives. Your confident voice proclaims, 'She's the one.' But that other voice says, 'What if she's not. What if she finds out about that terrible thing you did fifteen years ago?' You may be the one, but if you can't handle one of my various evil deeds, then the jig's up. So for me, it's one day at a time."

Draco continued, "For now you mean more to me than a social associate, or someone to go to dinner with, or a series of really great shags, which you are by the way. But I can't know how either of us is going to feel tomorrow. I don't want to lie and tell you it's going to be forever. I'm sick of lies and pretense. The people that say forever are delusional, which is perfectly fine for them, and if they need that delusion, fine. I don't want it. The question is, can you live with that?"

Ginny sat back and pushed her food around some more. "So, what's the worst you've done?"

"Depends on what you mean? Quantity or quality? Number of people killed, cursed, and tortured in one day, or the deed that has made me feel the worst about having to do that deed."

"Your choice."

"Okay. What I'm going to tell you stays between you and me. I shouldn't be telling you because it's none of your business and it involves people close to you. They can't know I've told you as I told them I'd keep it between me and them. Can you handle that?"

"I think so," Ginny was getting concerned this was going to make her sick. "Will I need to throw up after you tell me?"

"It isn't all that violent, just a bad betrayal."

"Okay, if that's all..."

"Before you let me off the hook you might want to know. It involves Harry and Hermione."

Ginny's stomach did a flip. "Did this happen when you were pretending to be evil, after Quinn found you?"

"Yes. I didn't have a choice, but that doesn't excuse what I did." Draco was silent for a bit and took a few sips of wine.

"Get on with it..."

"Right, well, remember Hermione's boyfriend before she and Harry hooked up?"

"Gerald. Yeah, what happened to him? He just sort of disappeared, and she never talks about him. She's talked about the others, but never even mentions him."

Draco waited for her to stop. "You're looking at him."

"But he was younger and blonder and didn't look anything..."

"Ginny, it was glamour; don't you remember anything about transfiguration?"

"That wasn't my best class. So you're saying you pretended to care about Hermione, or did you really care about her?"

"No, it was just to get information and keep tabs on Harry and Hermione for Allegra."

Ginny was quiet for a long time, she was rolling this information around in her mind. She felt shock, horror, betrayal for her friend. For a moment she did feel as if she would be sick. She expected Draco to have more of a past than other men she had been with, but never dreamed of this. She wondered how Hermione could be so civil to Draco and understood why Harry was not. She got up and went to the kitchen, poured herself a glass of wine and drank half of it in one gulp. She stood there for a long moment bracing herself on the kitchen counter. He was being honest. He thought enough of her not to sugar coat this. She went back into the room.

"So you slept with Hermione?" Ginny asked, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice. She hoped she didn't sound angry, and if she was being honest a tiny bit of jealousy had crept into the back of her mind as well. But when she looked at Draco she could see a small flicker of hurt in his eyes. She could see the regret and she could also see a bit of fear. That confused her. Fear of what? That she would tell? No that wasn't it, but it was fear... just a tiny bit, though.

Draco nodded. The flicker was gone. All that was left was regret.

Ginny shook her head. "Damn, what does that make us, second string to the romance of the century? You've been with Hermione. I've been with Harry. That should make an interesting dinner party! God, I'm glad I didn't talk to Hermione about you!"

"Why didn't you? Isn't that what women do? They talk amongst themselves about men, and what we're like in bed."

"Well, I did, just not to Hermione."

"To who then?"

"Ummmm... Cordelia."

"WHAT! Christ, Ginny, Sirius is my boss. That means he knows all about us."

"Is that bad?"

"No, but it explains why he sent you to my flat the night of the fire."

"I thought it was about security?"

"That was probably a minor factor. Sirius has been very interested in my love life. I guess he likes playing matchmaker. Damn, it's really none of his business."

"Sorry. I had to talk to someone. It was just after our first time. I was confused and there you were in the hospital and I hadn't planned to see you." Ginny deftly changed the subject, "So Harry and Hermione are still civil to you. They've forgiven you?"

"Hermione has, Harry still wants to beat my brains in, but restrains himself for Hermione and Sirius."

"I can see that. He always seemed barely contained around you."

"Well, it was wrong to use her like that and to lie to her. Do you see why honesty between us is important to me?"

"Yeah."

"Can you live with what I did to Hermione?"

"If she can I suppose I can try. Would you ever do that again?"

"Never."

"You can say never on this, but can't say forever on love?"

"Never only involves me. Love depends on two."

"But what about the people who will love that other no matter what? No matter if it's requited or not?"

"That's obsession, not love. In my book a love is only alive if both parties are involved. Otherwise it's futile, and I really hate futility."

"Do both parties need to be in love?"

"No, just involved."

"Okay." She sat back again, considering.

"So now what? Do you want to back off and just be social associates?" Draco asked with a mocking tone on the last two words.

"No, we can't do that," Ginny said quietly and seriously.

"I don't think so either."

"Isn't this declaration of love supposed to be in some ultra romantic setting?" She looked at him sideways.

"I told you in the middle of making love to you. What more do you want? It was on Valentine's Day after all. Well, the day after, anyway."

Ginny raised one eyebrow, studying him for a moment, then she suddenly realized, "Ewwwwwww, if we decide this is where we start, do we have to use Valentine's Day as our anniversary? Ick!"

"I'm not the one to delay all this, and you're planning way too far ahead again. An anniversary is after a year. But if we do make it that long we could pretend it's a different day," Draco said with a shrug.

"How about the day of our first shag."

"Works for me." Draco slid over into the seat next to her and nudged her arm with his. "So you love me?"

"Forever?" Ginny gave him a sidelong look.

"No." Draco got serious.

"For today?'

"Yep."

"Yeah, I guess I might. Just for today," Ginny acknowledged. Saying 'Just for today' was a whole lot easier to say then 'I love you' and thankfully Draco seemed satisfied with that.

He smiled as he magicked the plates into the sink and poured them more wine. "I guess we both need to be up early tomorrow. I have an 8:30 meeting with Sirius and Colin. I should go and let you get some sleep."

"No, stay. Besides you promised thirty-six hours and it's only been twenty-nine since we met at the gallery," Ginny said. She hoped it sounded casual and not needy. It wasn't really need tonight, it was simply want. She didn't want him to leave yet.

"I'm not sure even I'm up for more sex."

"We could just sleep." She batted her eyes innocently.

"Hmmm, yes, I suppose that is possible. Are you a pyjama or a nightshirt kind of gal?" he asked, as he looked her over appraisingly.

"With you I'm au naturel," she said with a teasing smile.

"Just sleep, eh?"

"Yeah, can you handle that?" Ginny challenged.

"Sure, of course. Can you?" he scoffed.

"Is this a dare?"

"Yeah, go on up, I'll lock up."

Ginny climbed the stairs, discarding her clothes as she went, smiling at Draco the whole time.

"You're a slut, Ginny," Draco called from near the front door.

Ginny laughed.

They did in fact just sleep. Once he joined her in bed, he wrapped her in his arms and they were both adrift in minutes.

Ginny got up first. She showered and dressed for the day in a long black wool crêpe skirt, black boots, a white shirt, and a short hunter green jacket.

She had made the coffee and was watching the sun come up, as he descended the stairs.

"I missed you in the shower this morning," he commented.

"I've probably had enough sex to last me a year or more," she said with a blush.

"You can never have too much sex," he said as he kissed her just below the ear.

They got some breakfast. She had cereal, he had toast. They both had juice and coffee. When she was done she collected the dishes and dumped them in the sink. She took off her jacket and rolled up her sleeves, muttering to herself about the dishes from the previous thirty-six hours. She drew out her wand and began to take care of them. Draco snuggled up behind her and kissed her neck.

"Here, make yourself useful, instead of distracting me." Ginny handed him a tea towel to dry the dishes.

"They have charms for that you know. I need to get you a house elf."

"I know, but housework will keep you humble." Ginny paused and glanced at him. "In your case it will make you humble since you were never humble to begin with."

Draco laughed, "No I've never been accused of humility. Never saw the purpose in it."

Ginny just shook her head and finished up the washing.

When all the dishes were done and put away, Draco turned Ginny around to face him and kissed her like it was the last time he would ever kiss her. His hands had been busy as well, although Ginny didn't really notice, occupied by the kiss. He released her lips and nipped at her breast one more time before adjusting her bra back into position and buttoning her shirt. Ginny smoothed her skirt back down as Draco drew her against him.

She relaxed against him, as he held her tight, and kissed her neck again where he'd bitten her a moment before.

"We'd better go. I'll owl you later," Draco said as he broke away and adjusted his own clothing to look decent again.

Ginny nodded as she crossed to the door, grabbed her bag and cloak, and tossed Draco's cloak to him.

As they left her loft she asked, "Forever?"

"No, but for today," he answered.

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

Two weeks and many delicate negotiations later, Draco, Sirius, and Cordelia had gotten settled at a table near the back of the restaurant waiting for Ginny. Draco had been dreading this all week. It had been two weeks since he´d gotten Ginny to admit that she did in fact love him and if he´d known that she´d insist on this he might have skipped it. She was determined to "out" them. He´d been content to keep their relationship just between them. It was no one´s business who he was in love with or even who he dated. She, on the other hand, had gone on that their relationship didn´t seem real until they shared it with someone. That´s when the conversation started about whom to share their new found togetherness with. Her family was out, she wasn´t ready for it. His family was definitely out, since Dad was imprisoned and Mum was a snob. Harry and Hermione? Not likely. Maybe eventually, but it was way too soon for that. Neither had a plethora of casual friends, which was why they started talking to begin with. Finally Ginny had suggested Sirius and Cordelia, since Cordelia knew about them anyway and therefore Sirius did too. Draco had reluctantly agreed. He absolutely hated the idea of Sirius knowing anything at all about his private life. It was too likely to come back to haunt him, too easy to use against him. He had to remind himself that Sirius was not Allegra or his father, and to try to take Sirius' interest in him as a casual friendly thing rather than a threat. Still it made him uncomfortable.

He had asked the previous week if Sirius would like to join him for dinner sometime. Sirius had been curious and seemed suspicious. He had asked if Draco was going to quit. He thought it was a resignation dinner and had tried to be very solicitous and even offered him more money, which he took. But after making Sirius sweat a bit, which while entertaining was not the point of the invitation, Draco had mentioned that Cordelia was invited and it was purely a social call. It wasn't until Sirius had asked if Ginny would be there as well that he realized Sirius had known for a while that he was seeing Ginny Weasley. Sirius had laughed and reminded Draco that he used to do a lot of intelligence gathering for Dumbledore, and then Harry. He wasn't the only one who could figure things out on his own. That helped Draco feel a touch better, but he was still uncomfortable. Knowing Cordelia would be there to run interference helped. He remembered thinking more than once Ginny had better appreciate this, and kept thinking of ways she could make this up to him.

The restaurant was one of the more upscale ones on Diagon Alley. It was originally a home and the tables were set up in small rooms of the house. There were only three other tables in the room where they were seated. This was helpful to Colin´s security team as well as making it more tolerable to Draco. He didn´t like to be stared at and he was sure this evening would engender more than a few curious looks. Thankfully two of the tables were doubles where heavily involved couples gazed longingly into their partners' eyes. Get a room, Draco thought. And the final table was made up of what appeared to be a few serious business wizards closing some sort of deal.

Cordelia was filling Draco in on the latest information on The Pard when Ginny swirled into the room. Although she´d left her cloak at the front, her robes gave the impression of billowing about her. Her hair was loose and spilling over her shoulders and his body reacted to the sight of her instantly. It always did.

"You will never believe this!" Ginny exclaimed. "I just spent the last two hours filling out ministry reports. My flat was broken into and ransacked! I went home to take a bit of a nap this afternoon, and when I got there the door was ajar and everything was everywhere."

Draco noticed Sirius and Cordelia staring in shock. He was just confused. "Who on earth would want to ransack your place? You don´t have a lot of valuables there."

"I know that and you know that, but apparently whomever did this did not. They seemed to be interested in the art. Two of my sculptures were missing, and they broke the one I got at your mum´s gallery, Cordelia. They skipped the paintings, although it looked like they tried to take one of them. My neighbour said she heard them when she got home and called the Ministry. They seemed to have been interrupted. Oh, before I forget, Cordelia, could I give this to you. It was on that piece of sculpture. I´d like to see if the artist could recreate the piece. I really liked it, and it fit wonderfully in that niche under the stairs."

"Sure, is everything else all right?" Cordelia asked as she slipped it into her trouser pocket.

"I think so. I mean, they didn´t take anything irreplaceable, but cleaning up will be such a mess, and since I don´t know what they wanted, I don´t know that they won´t be back."

"Didn´t you set the wards I´d charmed after the fire?" Draco asked.

Ginny looked sheepish. "Honestly, I left the flat at 3 am this morning. They were starting the print run for April´s issue, and I like to be there for the start in case there are any last minute problems. I´m lucky I remembered who I was, let alone remembering to set the wards correctly. I´ve done it wrong once or twice and set them off instead. I doubt the neighbours would have appreciated loud squawking at three in the morning."

"Right, then you´re staying with me tonight. I´ll look into the break in tomorrow and maybe set up some simpler wards," Draco said matter-of-factly.

"Draco, I can take care of this myself. The Ministry is looking into it. It's not an international incident." Ginny shook her head. "I will, however, go home with you. I was planning to anyway. Otherwise I'd take that as quite a chauvinistic command."

Draco rolled his eyes, but wisely kept quiet. He didn't need to get into this in front of Sirius and Cordelia. They'd discuss it later, when he could use more persuasive techniques.

Sirius had been quiet through all this. "Do you think it had anything to do with the fire? I mean, we assumed the fire was targeted at me, but maybe there are some nefarious forces out to do you or Circe in."

Cordelia interjected, "Well, it´s good you´re staying with Draco tonight. I´d offer you our guest room, but since we´re out tonight Nick is staying over," Cordelia interjected.

"How is he working out?" Ginny asked.

With that Ginny and Cordelia were off discussing the kids and the magazine.

Draco was tempted to reassure Sirius that perhaps the Circe fire wasn't about him, but he still felt like it was. Whoever or whatever was targeting Sirius was trying to make it look like a series of random events. He even suspected that Ginny's breakin was an attempt to shift the perception that the Circe fire was about Ginny instead of Sirius. Great, so now both were in danger. He shifted the conversation back to The Pard. Sirius didn´t know as much as he needed to about these extremists. Draco resolved to do some research on his own.

The conversation turned to Harry and the fact that he still couldn´t give them any additional information about where he had been or who had taken him. Draco was convinced that someone had taken him and he didn´t doubt for a moment that it was the Circle or at the very least some splinter group trying to impress Allegra and her minions. Sirius mentioned a few disturbing irregularities in Potter's personality, but nothing he seemed overly concerned about.

The evening turned out not nearly as painful as Draco anticipated. After the uproar over the burglery quieted down, Draco found it not all that unpleasant to socialize as a couple with a couple that he got along with. In fact it was quite pleasant and it was a bit comforting to have someone you could go out with and that would be accepting of such a strange union as theirs, even if it was with his boss.

**********

Sirius opened their door with a bit of trepidation. Ginny´s experience had made him half afraid that their home would be ransacked when they arrived. He made sure he was the first in the door just in case. He´d thought about calling Colin but he knew the security wizards were nearby anyway. He just kept forgetting about them, which he supposed was the point after all.

As he entered the kitchen all seemed well. Nothing looked overturned, everything was in its place, within reason. This household did contain two rather ambitious children whose main goal in life was to pull every toy they owned out of their cubbies and strew them all over the townhouse. There didn´t seem to be any dolls or horses (Charlie´s current favourite collectible) on the kitchen floor, but he was always careful of where he stepped in that if he stepped on one of her beasts not only would he hurt his foot, but there would be hell to pay in the morning when said beastie was discovered broken.

"Hello!" Nick chimed from behind the newspaper. "Welcome home. How was dinner, I´ve heard they have marvelous food there, tell me all about it, I want to eat vicariously through you!"

"I take it you shared Charlie´s mac and cheese again, eh?" Cordelia asked with a moue of distaste on her face.

"With a chaser of cheerios and applesauce." Nick retorted.

"Oh, yum, my favourites." Cordelia rolled her eyes.

"I´m going up to change. Cordelia, could I have a word with you," Sirius said exiting the kitchen, pulling Cordelia with him. "She´ll be right back."

They turned the corner into the dark of the hallway that divided the dining room from the kitchen and led to the stairs. Sirius took Cordelia into his arms and kissed her, thoroughly and deeply. He wanted her badly and wanted to try to make her want him. He knew that she usually did want him, but sometimes she got distracted talking over the children´s activities and moods with Nick. He ran his hands lightly up her sides, just brushing the undersides of her breasts with his thumbs. She flattened herself against him and wrapped her arms around his neck, and leaned into the kiss.

"Mmmmm, you taste good," Sirius murmured

"Shhh, Nick will hear," Cordelia whispered, pulling her lips away just slightly.

"Yeah, and maybe he´ll get the hint and go to bed soon, so I can have you all to myself."

"Don´t worry, you´ll have me tonight. I just want to see if Charlie recovered from the devastating loss of her grey dappled mare." Cordelia nipped his ear and moved down his throat.

"No! Not the grey dappled mare!" Sirius said in mock distress.

"Yes. Seems Miss Angelique, her best friend in the world, borrowed it and her mum ran over it with the car." Cordelia was leaning her head on Sirius´ shoulder, obviously trying not to laugh.

Sirius let out a low whistle. "Yes, you best figure out what we can expect tomorrow morning so we´ll be prepared. But I don´t want this visit with Nick to be a long drawn out chat party."

"Nor do I. Would you like a glass of wine?" He could feel her run her hands up his chest, searching out the buttons. Even through his shirt her hands were frosty. He´d warm them before letting her touch anywhere too personal.

"Sure, no hot cocoa?" Sirius tried to look disappointed about the cocoa, but turned to nibble on her neck a bit instead.

"I´ll make you some if you want?" Cordelia offered cheerfully.

"No, all I want is you, naked, and in my bed in less than an hour," he whispered in her ear.

"Yes sir, will do," she said softly, removing her hand to give him a mock salute.

Sirius left off her neck and reached his hands up to clasp the lapels of her shirt. "Right then. I´m going to get into more comfortable clothes, these shoes are killing me." Cordelia smiled.

They broke apart and Sirius watched Cordelia duck back into the kitchen.

The house was quiet and dark except for the buzz of conversation between Cordelia and Nick. He climbed the stairs while loosening his tie. He was thinking about Cordelia, the Pard, Cordelia, Ginny´s break in and just how content Draco seemed to look talking with Ginny, Cordelia, how enraptured Ginny looked when caught glancing at Draco, and Cordelia. It warmed his heart to see fresh love between Ginny and Malfoy, for he definitely thought that that was what it was. Harry´s reappearance and strange behaviour took the rose off Harry and Hermione´s cheeks lately.

He stopped in Ian´s room and pulled his covers up. He fished the stuffed truck out from where it had been flung in sleep out of the crib and tucked it back in. That should save a trip later tonight, Sirius thought. He switched off the night light, made sure the monitor worked and closed the door.

Next he stopped in Charlie´s room. Horse pictures festooned the walls and little plastic models covered nearly every shelf and much of the floor. The ones on the floors were all lined up in makeshift stalls constructed of building blocks and Legos. Charlie was burrowed under her covers. Sirius peeked at her beneath the pillow and placed it back on top of her head. He would never get used to seeing her sleep like this. He thought it would be suffocating, but she seemed to feel safe and secure like this. Sirius took a deep breath and thought for a moment how good the kids always smelled. There was just something about their scent (after diapers, that is) that was uniquely theirs. Charlie didn´t need a night light or a monitor anymore, so he traced a hand down her back and tiptoed out of the room.

After changing into jeans and a sweatshirt, Sirius came back down the stairs. As he rounded into the kitchen, Cordelia was cursing. On the counter was one upright full wine glass and one that had tipped over and broke. Cordelia was struggling to wrap a towel around her right hand, that was bleeding. It was a complicated mess that was getting both her hands covered in blood.

"Damn, that hurt," she exclaimed, and looked up at him as he entered the kitchen.

"Here, let me help."

"Help me clean up the mess before the wine gets all over my keys and stuff and then spills to the floor. Wine can make such a stain."

Sirius glanced over towards the spilled glass. The shards were glimmering amidst the deep red liquid and in the middle of the puddle was obviously the contents of Cordelia's trouser pockets. There were keys, tissue (now soaked) some mints, the fossil from Ginny's sculpture, and a small toy of Charlie's. He started to pick these up.

"No, I'll get those and you get the rag and wipe underneath. I don't want to cut my hand again. Use the sponge and the towel." She gestured with her head to the sink.

Sirius took the towel, and the sponge. Cordelia leaned over and grasped the keys and such with her still bloody left hand, while Sirius started to wipe up the spill beneath Cordelia's hand that was dripping wine. Then she was gone. Gone. Just gone. Not there and not anywhere else either. Gone. It was as if she Apparated, but that was impossible. He didn't think it was possible to Apparate a Muggle against their will, but yet, she was gone. Vanished. He glanced at Nick who was staring at the spot where Cordelia used to be, open mouthed, looking nearly as stunned as Sirius felt.

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

Cordelia felt like she was floating for a fraction of a second before being slammed into a rough rock wall. She looked up to find a man and something less than a man leaning over her. They looked like guards and they didn´t look friendly, but they did look surprised. She sprang up, oddly noting she still had contents of her pockets in her one hand, and her kitchen towel wrapped around her other. The two guards lunged at her and she struck out. She didn´t know how to fight, and had never had any training. She´d never been in a position to need to know. They moved to grab her by the arms, but she struggled for all she was worth using her legs, and arms, striking out at anything and everything she could. She was thinking if she could at least run she might have a chance of escaping. Escaping from where, she had no idea, but looking at the two guards did not make her want to stay and ask questions. She managed to dig her nails into the less than human guard, just before she saw the guard's claw strike out. Her mind vaguely identified it as a claw, although it could have been a weapon or simply a hand with long fingernails. She turned a fraction of a second before the weapon ripped down her chest.

She felt a warm burning down the back of her arm and then a blow to the head. After that all was dark.