Who Followed Who?

"Come on!" Ginny screamed, flailing her arms at the referee. Draco couldn't help but grin at her; he was not accustomed to seeing a woman get excited about Quidditch. She flopped down in her seat and took a long sip of her butterbeer, then turned to him. "Did you see that ridiculous call? Haversacking, my arse!"

"I agree," he said, sitting up straighter. He waved for the waitress to bring another round of drinks. "It couldn't possibly have been haversacking- his hand was nowhere near the Quaffle when it went through!"

"The ref is bloody blind!" she snorted. Draco chuckled.

"Do you always get this aggressive during Quidditch?"

"Sadly yes. I'm even worse when I play."

"Why is it that you never tried to play professionally?" She wrinkled her nose.

"For starters, I wasn't nearly good enough. Secondly, my family wouldn't hear of it. Quidditch is much too dangerous a sport for a woman to play." He stared at her.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No."

"They do realize that Holyoke is all women, do they not?"

"Yeah, but who'd want to play for Holyoke?" she pretended to gag herself, and he laughed.

"All right, you have a point there." Ginny smiled at him before turning back to the game. She'd never had so much fun watching Quidditch before; Draco was an excellent companion in that respect. He knew the game inside and out, and he seemed to have the same love for it that she did. He was even a fan of the same team that she was.

All in all, she was supremely sad when the game ended- even though her team had won for the first time in nearly a month. She stood and tossed some money on the table, which Draco promptly handed back to her. She stared at it in her palm before meeting his eyes.

"Draco, I didn't come here with the intentions of letting you buy all of my drinks. I wouldn't have had nearly as much had I known you were going to be treating." He scowled at her and handed her her cloak.

"It's nothing. It was just a few butterbeers." She looked down at the empty bottles on the table, then at the cloak that was draped over her arm.

"I don't want you to think that I'm coming around just to get things from you." By this time they had approached the fireplace, but he stopped just before he stepped in, and turned to her. She pulled her cloak on, and he led her out into the nearly deserted street.

"Why do you keep coming around, then?"

"It's nice to have a friend," she said simply.

"Does that mean you consider me your friend, then?"

"I think that's what I just said, yes," she grinned cheekily. He chuckled.

"And here I thought you were just using me to get to my mother." She threw her head back and laughed, and he was immediately struck by how much happier she looked now than when he'd run into her that first day on the street. The snow made crunching sounds beneath their feet as they walked, and soon rosy spots appeared on both of their cheeks.

"How about some chocolate, on me?" she suggested, pointing to a vendor. He smiled.

"That sounds wonderful." She purchased the drinks, and handed him his. She was just about to take a sip of her own when she spotted a red head moving swiftly towards them.

"Oh, no," she muttered. Draco followed her eyes and immediately stiffened. "Maybe we should go," she said hurriedly. He turned his eyes back to her.

"Ashamed to be seen with me, are you?"

"No, it's not that at all, Draco, I swear. I just don't want-"

"Ginevra Weasley!" She closed her eyes as he shrieked. "What in the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" She opened her eyes and glared at Ron.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she snapped. "I'm having chocolate with a friend." Draco couldn't understand the pleased feeling that flooded over him at her words.

"Friend?" Ron sneered at Draco. "All right, you've had your fun, now come on. There's been an emergency meeting called, and you've got to be there." He reached for her arm, but she jerked it away.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said, laughing bitterly. "Hasn't Harry told you that he banned me from the meetings?" Ron stared, then shook his head.

"That's not true, Harry wouldn't do anything like that."

"I assure you it is true, Weasel," Draco drawled coolly. "Heard it myself. He told her not to come back to his ruddy meetings." Ginny blinked but said nothing. Ron's ears turned crimson.

"As if I'd believe anything you had to say, ferret boy."

"Don't call him that!" Ginny said, her voice low. "Why don't you just go to the meeting and ask Harry about it? I'd even be willing to place a wager on the fact that the meeting is actually a sort of way to brainstorm an intervention for me." Draco's eyes flew to her in surprise, and Ron gaped.

"This is ridiculous! Ginny, just drop this act and come with me. You've made your point, and we all notice you now."

"Sod off, Ron." With that, she turned and began walking in the opposite direction. Draco had to jog to catch up to her, and when he did, she rounded on him. "Did you really hear Harry tell me that?"

"I did."

"What else did you hear?"

"Enough to know that Potter is a moron- not that I didn't already know that." She stared at him, then her face broke into a smile. After a moment she started giggling. When she had sobered finally, she smiled warmly at him.

"I can't thank you enough for this afternoon. It's the most fun I've had in a long time. It's nice to watch a game with someone who's rooting for the same team as me."

"Ditto," he said, grinning. "You know, Weasley, I have to admit that I had my doubts about this relationship before, but I'm beginning to come 'round. You might very well be tolerable, after all." She giggled again.

"No, you're just doing it to sod Harry off." He shrugged, but he was smiling.

"That's just a bonus."

"In any case, I don't care, so long as you at least pretend to like me." They had reached the end of the road, and he stopped walking to look at her.

"I don't have to pretend anything." She held her breath as she met his eyes. "I enjoyed the afternoon, too, and I look forward to seeing you at dinner as well. Perhaps this evening you can stay a bit longer? I could give you a tour of the Manor, if you'd like." Her eyes lit up.

"Are you sure? I'd love to see it." He grinned.

"Eight o'clock, then." She nodded, and he disappeared with a loud crack.

Once he had gotten back inside the Manor and hung his cloak up, he sought out his mother in her sitting room. She looked up from her book and smiled.

"Did you have a nice outing, sweet?" He sat down and smiled at her as he leaned back in the plush chair.

"I did, actually. Weasley and I went to the Three Broomsticks to watch the Quidditch match."

"How did it turn out?"

"The Falcons won."

"How lovely!"

"Mother, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Yes, darling?"

"I overheard something when I went to pick her up, and I wanted your opinion on it. She was speaking to Potter, and he was being rather nasty to her about something. She stood up to him and told him that she was not going to stop talking to me, regardless of if I was just using her for information."

"She's a very strong girl, Draco. Did it bother you to hear her say that to him?"

"No, quite the opposite, Mother. When I finally showed myself to her, she even admitted that she was no longer going to be in his inner circle, and she offered to give back the cloak and all the things you'd purchased her, since she wasn't going to be of any use to me any longer."

"Heavens, no! What did you say?"

"I told her to keep the things, because we'd both be upset if she gave them back. I also told her, in not so many words, that it didn't bother me that she was no longer attending meetings with Potter." His mother relaxed visibly and smiled softly at him.

"So what's still troubling you, then?" He fidgeted for a moment in his seat before he met her eyes.

"I know she doesn't want anything from me," he said quietly. "She was willing to give back all of the expensive gifts without a second thought, and she's never asked me to buy her anything. I'm just not sure what to do now. What do I do, Mother?"

"Darling, are you trying to tell me that you've developed feelings for the girl?"

"I-I don't know," he admitted. "She stood up to her brother for me today, and it made me feel... I just don't know," he sighed in exasperation.

"Don't try to force it, Draco. Just let it come naturally; let it wash over you. If it helps at all, I already know that the girl has developed feelings for you." He stared at her.

"How would you come to know something like that?"

"The entire time we were shopping, whenever your name was brought up, she would get this very faraway look on her face. She may not be aware of it yet, but she is falling for you." He turned this over in his mind for a bit.

"What if something should arise between us? Would you-"

"Your Father has already spoken his piece about her to you. You know how I feel about her. It's up to you, Draco. If she makes you happy, you will do the right thing, I'm sure of it."