Who Followed Who?

"Has anyone seen Ginny Weasley?" Hermione turned and stared at Professor Snape. Not only had she never heard him say Ginny's first name before, she had also never heard that worried note in his voice.

"We saw her at the last meeting," Ron said, his voice wavering uncertainly. "Didn't we?"

"Of course we did, Ron," Harry reassured him, flashing a warning look at Snape. "And I'm sure Severus did as well." Snape curled his lip distastefully. He hated Potter addressing him as though he were an equal.

"Why do you ask?" Hermione asked quietly. Snape turned his obsidian eyes to her.

"Your friend seems to be drifting away. She had some rather... disturbing thoughts during the last meeting."

Ron's face turned scarlet. "You'd better not be using Occlumency or Legilimency or whatever it is on her!" he fumed. "You swore an oath to Dumbledore that you wouldn't do it to anyone during the meetings!"

"I know perfectly well what I swore, thank you," he said, his voice clipped and angry. "This was after the meeting, when she was hurrying out. Tell me, did the three of you know she was consorting with the likes of Draco Malfoy?" Harry spun around and looked him dead in the eye.

You'd better investigate and stop her while there's still time.

I don't believe you.

Believe what you will; she is on speaking terms with him, at any rate. Who knows what else is going on. Hermione and Ron looked nervously between them, aware that every time this happened, it turned into a battle of wills.

Ginny would never betray us by doing that.

Just like she never betrayed you to Tom Riddle in her first year? Something that could only be called a growl escaped Harry's throat, and Hermione instinctively took a step backwards.

"How dare you," he whispered, his voice dangerous. "How dare you ever make mention of that! You weren't there, and you have no idea what anyone involved went through!" Snape smirked at him.

"Don't I? You seem to forget, Potter, that you are not the only Legilimens running around the Order meetings. If you want to keep your friend alive, you'll inquire into the state of things." With that, Snape turned and went through the door. Ron stared at Harry.

"What was that slimy git saying? Surely he wasn't serious when he said that she'd taken up with him, of all people?"

"Ginny would never do that, Ron," Hermione soothed, reaching for his hand. "She knows that he's evil and would only use her to his own ends." Harry still hadn't met their eyes, which was starting to make Hermione doubt the words she'd just spoken.

"Regardless, maybe we should check in on her tomorrow," Harry suggested, gathering his things. "This is the first Order meeting she's ever missed, and it's not like her."

"Tomorrow, then," Hermione agreed. "Right now, I'm too tired to waste my time thinking about the ferret."

~*~

Sunlight poured in through the windows of Ginny's small flat, and she squinted against it. Morning had always been her least favorite time of the day. She yawned and rolled over to go back to sleep when she remembered that Draco had invited her to watch Quidditch with him. Her eyes flew open and she flung the covers off, scrambling out of bed and heading towards the bathroom to shower.

At the Manor, Draco was no less nervous. He had begun pacing in the sitting room, mulling over what he'd heard the night before. He knew it was impolite to eavesdrop on his Mother's conversation, but when he'd heard his name mentioned, he'd been rooted to the spot. He was intrigued by what he'd heard, too, which he believed had led directly to his weakness last night in asking her to watch the game with him.

She had been right; he needed a friend, in the worst way. He was terribly lonely. Not that his parents weren't good company; they were. There was just the tiniest problem of his father not being able to go out of the house, lest the Ministry and Potter sweep down and cart him back off to Azkaban. His mother stayed home almost constantly as well; she wanted to spend time near his father. Ginny would be a welcome distraction- anything that allowed him out of the house on occasion was.

He didn't know why, but he'd felt the sharp sting of guilt when she'd told his mother that she knew he was just using her for information. How could she say that, when he hadn't asked her for any? She'd volunteered her own information, and he'd asked about it for clarification, but aside from that he hadn't asked for anything more. Yes, it was why he'd originally started talking to her, but it still stung nonetheless that she'd said it.

He smirked and stopped pacing to stare out the window. She'd called him handsome, hadn't she? Well, he knew he was good looking. That wasn't anything new to him. A glimmer of something started in his chest. She'd mentioned the kindred spirit thing before she'd mentioned his looks, and she hadn't said he was rich, had she? Yes, she'd said he could be generous, but that was different than filthy, stinking, betray-your-family-for-a-handful-of-galleons rich.

Perhaps she was the one. The one who would see him as more than a pocketbook.

He shook his head to try and clear the thought. You can't go into every relationship believing that this one will be the one, Draco.

"Yes, but I can't go into every one thinking that it won't be the one, either," he murmured aloud. His eyes widened. Had he really just caught himself thinking about Ginny Weasley in the context of entering into a relationship with her?

~*~

Ginny had just finished brushing her hair when she heard a loud pop in the sitting room. She smiled to herself and stood, moving into the other room. Her smile died on her lips. Instead of the white-blonde hair she'd expected (and been looking forward to) to see, she was greeted with a mass of unruly black hair. His bright eyes were darting around the room, looking for signs of - what, exactly, she wasn't sure.

Her temper flared. Snape must have said something to him, or else he wouldn't be here. She cleared her throat and Harry spun, surprised to see her.

"Good morning, Harry," she said, forcing herself to sound less angry than she was. She moved into the kitchen and began pouring herself a glass of juice. He followed and watched her closely.

"Morning, Gin. You weren't at the meeting last night, so I thought I'd come and check on you. How have you been?"

"So you drew the shortest straw then, did you?"

He blushed. How had she known that they drew straws to determine who would take on the unwanted tasks they had to do? "It's not like that, Gin. We're all really worried about you. You've been acting strange lately." She turned and glared at him.

"You're all worried about me, are you? Then how is it that only one of you is here to check on me? And who thinks I've been acting strange? Because I know it sure as hell wasn't one of you that noticed it."

"Now hang on just a tic-"

"No, you hang on, Harry Potter." She was so angry that she didn't hear a pop in the other room, signaling someone else's apparition. "I'm sick and tired of being the little tagalong that you all decide to ignore until something goes wrong. Maybe if the three of you paid attention to anything outside of each other, you'd realize that you're not as invincible as you seem to think you are!"

"Just what in the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?" he fumed, his eyes glittering angrily. "I just came by to check on you because you missed the meeting!"

"Oh? Well I'm not buying it, Harry. Why did you really come?"

"What are you talking about?"

"It does no good to lie to me, and you know it. Your left eye always twitches a bit when you do." His cheeks turned crimson.

"Fine. I do have another reason for coming to check on you."

"Well? Out with it."

"Someone told us that you've been speaking to Draco Malfoy."

"And if I had been?"

"WHAT?"

"You've no control over who I choose to speak to, and if Draco is someone I choose to spend time with, then that's just too bad for you, isn't it?"

"Ginny," he sputtered indignantly. "Malfoy is among the foulest, nastiest things to ever-"

"Don't you dare talk about him like that in front of me," she said, poking his chest with her forefinger. "He has been nothing but a perfect gentleman to me!"

"That's because he wants information from you!"

"Yes, and? I know that no one could ever be interested in me for me, Harry. You proved that to me a long time ago." His cheeks very nearly turned purple with rage and embarrassment.

"I didn't come here for you to launch a personal attack on me!"

"No, you most certainly didn't! You came here because you got stuck with checking on your best friend's little sister. Even my own brother doesn't care enough about me to come and check on me!"

"That's not-"

"Save it, Harry," she said, holding a hand up to silence him. "It doesn't matter what you say, it won't work. If I wish to continue speaking to Draco, then I will."

"What if we cut you out of the meetings, then?" Harry asked, his voice trembling. "Then you'll see how interested in you he was."

"If you choose to do that, then I will be up front with him and tell him. And you're right, he'll probably stop speaking to me, and you will be responsible for having lost me my only friend. It will all be on your conscience, Harry."

"Don't bother coming to the meetings any more, Gin." He turned to leave, but stopped at the door to look at her over his shoulder. "It didn't have to be like this, you know."

"The hell it didn't. You made it this way, all of you. Ever wonder why I picked up Tom's diary and began writing in it, Harry? No? It was you. I was sure he'd tell you that. Didn't he? What a shame." She turned and went back to her juice, her shoulders slumping when she heard the telltale crack signaling that Harry was gone.

She leaned over the sink and began to cry so hard that she was shaking.

Suddenly a hand dropped on her shoulder, and she spun around in surprise, bumping noses with Draco as she did.

"Oh, Gods, I'm so sorry," she said quickly, horrified. He blinked at her over the hand that was cupping his nose. "Are you all right?"

"I was until you bloody well brained me, you ninny!" She put her hands on her hips, then reached up to pull his hand down and inspect his nose.

"Oh, you're fine. It's just going to bruise a bit- nothing a little glamour won't take care of. I am sorry for it, though." He wiggled his nose a bit and winced, then took a closer look at her.

"You've been crying," he said flatly. She felt the heat rising in her cheeks and turned away to rinse out her juice glass. "Why?"

"Why does anyone cry?" she shot back quietly. He watched as she dried the glass and replaced it in her cabinet.

"Are you ready to go, then?"

"Listen, Draco," she began, turning to face him. He froze. She'd never addressed him by his first name before, and it sounded strange coming from her lips. "Before you decide if you want to talk to me any longer, there's something you should know. Harry's just been here, and he's told me that I'm not welcome back to any of the meetings, so it looks like I'm not going to be much use to you after all. Thanks for the past few days, and I'll send your mother an owl with the clothes she bought me. Let me just-" her sentence died and she went into the sitting room, where she pulled the cloak he'd bought her off of the hook and held it out to him. He just stared at it.

"What's all this, then? I bought it for you, do you really think I want it back?"

"It's only right of me to give it back to you, considering the circumstances." Still he made no move to take it from her.

"And what circumstances are those again?"

"Well, the fact that I'm not allowed to the meetings any longer, so I can't be of use to you." He arched an eyebrow at her.

"And why, may I ask, did Potter tell you not to come back?" at this her cheeks turned crimson.

"He just- he didn't like that I missed last night, and we got into a fight about it, is all." He stared at her. He'd been listening; he knew bloody well that she'd gotten kicked out because of him. So why had she stood her ground? Why hadn't she raged at him and blamed him for getting her kicked out of Potter's little club? Was it possible that she preferred his company to theirs?

"And that's it?"

"That's it."

"Then let's get one damned thing straight here," he drawled, his face entirely serious. She took a deep breath. "Potter is the biggest moron that ever walked the face of the earth, and now we both know it. Just because he's stupid doesn't mean that I've uninvited you to anything." She stared at him, not daring to hope. "And it sure as hell doesn't mean that I want my gift back, either. To add to that, I'm sure my Mother would be most upset if you returned her gifts as well. I believe she's grown rather fond of you."

"She has?" she breathed, her heart beating erratically. He smirked at her.

"She has indeed. Now put the ruddy thing on and let's go, before we miss the start of the damned game!" She didn't hesitate to throw the cloak about her shoulder and step into the fireplace. When she was gone, he sighed.

"And bugger it all if she's not the only one."