Who Followed Who?

"Do you like my brother?" Ginny blurted. Pansy looked surprised, and then blushed profusely. She turned back to the mirror and began reapplying her lip gloss. She and Ginny had retreated to Ginny's room to freshen up, while the men remained in the library.

"I think there's potential there," Pansy shrugged. Ginny bit her lip to hide her knowing grin.

"You do like him, don't you?" Pansy couldn't help herself, and a giggle escaped her.

"Yes, but don't tell him that," she whispered. Ginny smiled.

"I won't. He must really like you, too." She went back to checking her reflection, and Pansy turned to her.

"Why?"

"Usually he's too afraid to ask girls out. When he and Hermione got together, she had to ask him out." Pansy's mouth turned up into a stupid smile, and Ginny laughed.

"And you know that Draco's totally in love with you, too, right?" Ginny blushed.

"Love is a strong word," she chided gently. "He hasn't known me long enough to love me." Pansy stared at her.

"You think it's too soon for him to be in love?" she asked curiously. Ginny nodded. "Well then, how do you feel about him?"

"I-" her voice died. Pansy nodded smugly.

"That's what I thought. It's not too bloody soon, because you're head over heels for him, too."

"I don't know," she said quietly. "How do I know for sure?"

"When you look at him, do you feel like your stomach has been invaded with butterflies?"

"Yes, until he gets close, and then the feeling changes," she said honestly. "I feel totally at ease with him. Unless he touches me," she said, blushing.

"And how do you feel then?"

"Like I'm burning," she said, averting her eyes in embarrassment. "I get hot and shaky."

"You're in love," Pansy said gently. "Don't fight it. He cares about you, too, or he wouldn't act the way he does around you."

"What do you mean?"

"He pulls chairs out for you when you sit down. He put his arm around you. He stares at you when he thinks you're not looking."

"He does?"

"Yes, he does. I'm surprised you haven't caught him doing it. Besides, if he didn't care about you, he would have just slept with you and told you to leave."

"He doesn't strike me as that type."

"I'm glad you're here, Ginny," Pansy said, the honesty welling up inside of her. "Draco has been so unhappy for so long. He needed someone to come and be his friend, and he needed that person to be someone who wouldn't judge him for his past. Not to mention that I'm glad to have you as a friend, too. It's hard for me to keep friends that are girls."

"Why?" Pansy shrugged.

"Most girls aren't interested in the same things that I'm interested in. I like Quidditch and flying, and I love creatures. Has Draco told you about his Runespoor?" she asked excitedly.

"He's shown it to me already."

"What?" Pansy's eyes widened. "He showed it to you? As in, he took you to the stables?"

"Yes. Why, is something wrong?"

"No," Pansy said, looking awed. "He's just very selective about who he takes out there."

"You've been out there, though, right?"

Pansy shook her head. "I meant what I said, Ginny. He cares about you, a lot. He even said he was going to dance with you at the wedding!"

"What's so special about that?" Ginny laughed.

"Draco Malfoy does not dance, unless his mother forces him to dance with her. For him to do it willingly is a big deal. You know, I'd love it if you'd stick around a while."

"I am," Ginny said, nodding. "I'm staying with the Malfoys for a month."

"And what a month it will be!" Pansy declared, smiling. Ginny laughed and let Pansy link arms with her as they made their way back towards the library. When they got there, Ginny wasn't at all surprised to see that the men had started in on a game of chess.

Draco looked up as the girls walked through the door, and when he saw their linked arms, gave a heavy sigh. "I knew that it was a bad idea to let the two of you be alone together. Before I know it, you'll overthrow me and just keep to yourselves." Pansy let go of Ginny to pat Draco's cheek.

"I would never take Drakie-poo's ickle Ginnykins away from him," she cooed. Ron's head shot up, and he started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Draco asked.

"He probably thinks it's funny that I'm being called Ginnykins, since everyone else calls him ickle Ronniekins." Ron stopped laughing, which made Ginny smile.

"So, who's winning?" Pansy asked, glancing at the board. Both of the men were silent, and Pansy and Ginny exchanged silent glances over their heads. Draco caught their shared look and sighed.

"They're even giving each other looks now," he lamented to Ron. Ron sniggered.

"Women," he muttered.

"Please," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. She started to sit down on the small sofa across from the men, but Draco caught her eye and patted the arm of the chair he was in. She blushed, but perched herself on the spot he'd indicated. Pansy hid her smile, and Ron ignored them.

"So," Pansy said, clearing her throat. She pulled up a chair and sat down beside Ron, whose ears turned crimson when her knee accidentally brushed his.

"Mmm?" Draco murmured, eyeing the board.

"Tell us more about your family," Pansy said, nodding at Ron. He raised his eyebrows.

"Are you trying to distract me so Malfoy can win?" he asked suspiciously. Draco didn't even look up as he answered.

"She doesn't need to distract me, Weasley. I can beat you with my eyes closed."

"Naked male insecurity really bores me. Doesn't it bore you, Ginny?" Pansy asked dryly, faking a yawn. Ron gave her a half smile, and she winked at him. Ginny giggled.

"Perhaps the two of you might like to be alone," Draco mused quietly. Pansy and Ron blushed, and Ginny averted her eyes.

"Perhaps you and Ginny might like to be alone," Pansy teased back. Draco arched an eyebrow and looked at her.

"I thought you'd never ask. You're dismissed; I no longer wish to share my girlfriend with you." Pansy laughed.

"You'll have her to yourself soon enough," she said, wagging her finger. "I'm leaving after dinner, and I'm taking Ron with me." Ron looked up, interested.

"Oh?"

"Indeed," she said, nodding. "I'm going to kidnap you for the evening. What say you to that, Ron Weasley?" His cheeks turned pink, but he grinned.

"I say kidnap away." Ginny covered her mouth with her hand and faked a cough to prevent her laugh from escaping. Ron turned his eyes back to the chess board.

"Malfoy, I believe my sister might benefit from some mouth-to-mouth right about now. Please don't make Pansy or I do it." Draco looked almost as surprised as Ginny. Ron calmly moved a game piece as Pansy cackled.

"Ron!" Ginny said, astonished. Draco turned to Ginny and grinned.

"You heard the man. Do you need mouth-to-mouth?" Ginny turned crimson.

"No, I most certainly do not!" Draco looked disappointed.

"She'll be begging for it when we're gone," Ron commented. Ginny looked shocked again, and Draco roared with laughter.

"What in the world has gotten into you, Ronald Weasley?"

"He's spent too much time around Draco today. His humor rubs off like that," Pansy said, giggling. Just then, Narcissa appeared at the door.

"It's time for dinner," she said pleasantly, smiling particularly brightly at her son. Draco looked up and nodded.

"We'll be right there, Mother." She nodded and disappeared back into the hallway. Ron and Pansy stood, and to his surprise, Pansy linked her arm through his. She guided him out of the room and down the hallway, leaving Draco and Ginny alone in the library. Ginny rose from the arm of the chair, intent on leaving, but Draco reached out and grabbed her wrist. He tugged a bit, causing her to lose her balance and fall onto his lap. She blushed a deep red color, and he smiled softly at her.

"I haven't been alone with you since this morning," he said softly. "Promise me that when they leave, you'll spend some time with me." She nodded.

"I will."

"Good." He leaned down and pressed his lips gently against hers, and she gave a soft sigh. When he pulled away, his eyes were dark. She stared at him for a moment, then stood and waited for him to get up. He rose from the chair and reached for her hand, threading his fingers through hers. "It's been a good day," he commented, leading her out into the hallway.

"It has," she agreed. "I think my brother has taken to Pansy rather quickly."

"She'll be all over the poor bloke as soon as she gets him out of here," he laughed. Ginny smiled at him as they entered the dining room. She noticed that Lucius and Narcissa were already in their spots, and her eyes darted quickly to Ron. He was talking to Pansy, and didn't look in the least bit rattled by their presence. He looked up as she sat down and smiled at her.

"It's nice to have you with us, Ronald," Narcissa said, smiling at him. Ron grinned in response.

"Everyone has made me feel very welcome." Ginny stared at him, wondering when her bumbling brother had been replaced by this person, who had a definite air of confidence. Lucius smiled at him.

"That's good to hear. Tell me, is your family well?"

"Everyone in it that matters is, Sir," Ron said pleasantly. Ginny blinked, and then turned to Draco with a questioning glance. He leaned close enough to whisper in her ear.

"I'll explain later." She nodded, satisfied that there was an explanation, and that Draco was going to share it with her.

"Excellent," Lucius said, nodding. "Now, shall we enjoy the wonderful meal that the house elves have prepared for us?" The meal passed with amicable conversation, and Ginny remained totally amazed at Ron's apparent ease with the entire Malfoy family present. After dinner, they shared coffee and brandy in the parlor.

"Thank you for the lovely meal," Pansy said, standing. "It's been a wonderful evening. I'm sure I'll see you both tomorrow, as Draco has invited us back over to spend some time with he and Ginny." She bent down and hugged Narcissa gently, then nodded to Lucius, who smiled at her. Ron stood and offered his hand to Lucius. Ginny watched incredulously as Ron shook the hand of a known Death Eater - a man who had, at the moment, a very handsome price on his head, courtesy of Ron's own best friend, Harry Potter.

"Thank you for having me over."

"You're most welcome any time you choose to visit," Lucius said graciously.

"Perhaps you'd like to walk your brother and Pansy out, Ginevra?" Narcissa suggested. Ginny nodded and followed Ron out into the hallway.

"What's going on?" she whispered. "Why didn't you freak out at dinner, or go all weird in there?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"That's Lucius Malfoy," she hissed. "I know what kind of a reward Harry's offering for his capture! You're not planning on turning him in, are you?" Ron snorted and rolled his eyes as he pulled his cloak on. Pansy remained silent and pulled her own cloak on.

"No, I'm not."

"Then what's going on?" Ron sighed and turned to look at her. He gripped her shoulders lightly and met her eyes.

"Malfoy said some things to me in the library that made me rethink my stance on things," he explained slowly. "I know you're happy here. They've obviously been good to you, or you wouldn't want to stay. I'm not going to jeopardize your happiness by being rude to your host." Ginny stared at him, awed.

"You are the best big brother in the entire world," she gushed, squeezing him in a tight hug. "Thank you for understanding."

"No, thank you for giving me a chance to make things right between us." He squeezed her back, then pulled away and smiled. "But that doesn't mean that he and I are going to be best friends - you do realize that, don't you?" She smiled.

"I know. Thanks anyway."

"I love you, Ginnykins," he said, grinning. She rolled her eyes.

"Get him out of here," she told Pansy, laughing. Pansy smiled and linked her arm through Ron's.

"Ready?"

Chapter 29

Ginny waited for Ron and Pansy to disappear through the front door, then turned to find Draco smirking at her. She arched an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips.

"Now can you tell me what's going on?"

"Your brother and I had a somewhat enlightening, if not unusual, bit of conversation while you and Pansy were gone." Ginny tapped her foot impatiently, making Draco chuckle.

"Well? I want to know what was said to make him behave that way. Ron has never been so polite in his entire life, and especially not around enemies."

"What?" Draco looked affronted as he moved forward and slid his arms around her waist. Her expression softened immediately. "Who said we're enemies?"

"I do."

"Why?" he murmured, watching her intently.

"Only because the two of you have hated each other since before you met," she offered weakly. His thumbs were tracing slow circles on the small of her back, making her shiver slightly.

"People change," he whispered, brushing his lips lightly against hers. "Especially when there's a loved one involved."

"Oh," she breathed, letting her eyes flutter closed. He dropped another light kiss on her lips, then another, and another. After several moments of this, she was starting to get light-headed and frustrated; the feathery kisses were wonderful, but she was starting to want one with a little more substance. Just as she was wondering if she should deepen the kiss, she felt his tongue sweep across her mouth, begging entrance.

She opened herself to him with a sigh of relief, then slid her arms around his neck. He groaned and kissed her hard before pulling away and burying his face in the crook of her neck. She could feel him trembling as he held her.

"We can't keep doing this," he whispered against her neck. Gooseflesh arose on her skin from the contact. "Every time we're alone, all I want to do is touch you."

"I'm sorry," she breathed, her eyes still closed. She was trying to savor the sensation of his breath tickling her neck as he spoke.

"Are you?" he asked, pulling away to look at her. He examined her face, then gave her a highly amused smile. "I don't think you are."

"Fine, I'm not," she admitted, smiling back. He chuckled, then let go of her to grab her hand. He turned and began walking down the hallway, tugging gently on her hand to indicate that she should follow him. "Where are we going?"

"To the library."

"And what exactly are we going to do in there?" she asked curiously. He turned and smirked at her as they walked.

"Nothing improper," he assured her. "A bit of light reading, perhaps? Or a game of chess?"

"The board is still set up for the game you were playing against Ron," she reminded him. He stopped and gave her a thoughtful look.

"Right, I'd already forgotten. I expect we'll want to continue the game tomorrow night, too." She squeezed his hand gently.

"Thank you." He looked confused.

"For what?"

"For being so nice to my brother," she explained quietly. "I know you don't have to, but it means a lot to me that you're doing it anyway." He reached out and stroked her cheek gently.

"You're welcome. He's really not that much of a sodding prat when you get to know him." She snorted.

"Yes, he is," she said. He laughed. "But that's why I love him. He and I have always been close - at least, until he and Hermione got together." Draco started walking again, and she followed him.

"Granger stole all of his time, did she?"

"More than I thought was possible," she nodded. "She was like a leech, sucking all of his energy and happiness away." At this, Draco stopped again and turned to look at her in surprise.

"He wasn't happy to be marrying her?"

"I think it's possible that he was, deep down. Things between them were becoming strained, though. At least, I think so. Hermione and Harry are both Ministry employees, and Ron wasn't able to get on at the Ministry, even with Dad's connections there, and I think it made him feel even more inferior to the both of him than he already felt." They were standing in front of Ginny's bedroom door, and she pushed it open and led him inside without thinking about it.

He let go of her hand and sat down in a large, plush armchair, and she sat on the bed. "It's not difficult to have an inferiority complex next to Potter," he said bitterly. She blinked.

"I don't understand why," she mused, shaking her head. "I mean, consider Harry's life. He was raised by an abusive family, and was lied to for the first eleven years of his life about who he really was. Then he was thrust into the Wizarding world with no prior knowledge of it, and was immediately hailed as a hero for something he didn't even consciously do."

Draco stared at her. "You sound as though you've given this quite a bit of thought."

"I have," she admitted, nodding.

"Well, don't expect me to feel sorry for him," he said, shaking his head. "He gets everything he wants handed to him, and he never has to worry about consequences when he does things."

"Of course he doesn't," she reasoned. "Not as long as Hermione and Ron are there to help back him up." Draco's eyes widened slightly.

"Are you trying to inadvertently discuss Potter's weaknesses with me?" His voice belied his amusement. She shrugged, smiling.

"Not really," she said. "I should think that anyone would be able to see his weakness without really trying to." Draco puzzled over this statement for a moment, feeling sure that she was trying to tell him something that he was overlooking, then shook his head in an attempt to clear it.

"Do you know how very tempting it is to be in your bedroom with you? And alone, at that?" She blushed.

"No more tempting than it is to be alone with you in a bedroom," she answered, forcing herself to meet his eyes. He arched an eyebrow, then moved to sit beside her on the bed. He lay back and rested his head on her pillow, then held his arms open, beckoning to her. Without hesitation, she curled up beside him, resting her cheek on his chest. He closed his eyes and sighed.

"Does your brother have enough money to buy something suitable for the wedding?" Draco asked softly. Ginny closed her eyes and snuggled closer against him.

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "I can't imagine where he would get the money. But he can spend the money I have saved up." Draco frowned.

"The money you have saved up?" he repeated curiously.

"Mmm hmm," she murmured sleepily. "I have some money saved up in Gringott's. I saved it in case of an emergency."

"How much do you have saved?"

"Not much, only about three thousand galleons." Draco gasped.

"You don't consider that a lot of money?"

"Not when compared to what you consider a lot of money," she said.

"It must have taken you a long time to save it all," he commented, wondering if she'd always be so open when in a sleepy state.

"Not really. Once I realized that people would pay for an accurate Ceromantic reading, I started charging for them."

"You earned your money by doing readings?" he asked, even more astonished than he had been moments before. She nodded against his chest, then yawned. He smoothed her hair back away from her face, his mind racing as he listened to her breathing steady.

She was turning out to be more of a surprise than he'd originally thought. She had her own money; no wonder she'd never asked to be repaid for the items she'd purchased for his mother last week. But if she had all of that money, why didn't she live in a nicer flat? Why didn't she have better clothes? She hadn't even owned a warm cloak when he'd seen her that night outside the café; he'd had to purchase one for her.

Ginny Weasley was a mystery, indeed. He closed his eyes and rubbed her arm gently until he drifted off to sleep.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Hermione rubbed her eyes as she trudged to her front door to peek through the eyehole. Whoever it was that had woken her up from a happy dream about her wedding had better have a damned good reason for doing so. She cracked her eye open to peer through the hole, then unfastened the locks on her door.

"Harry, it's two o'clock in the morning," she said, yawning. He nodded and pushed his way into her flat, closing and locking the door behind him. She watched as he performed several silencing charms, and then flopped down on her couch.

"I know it's late," he said apologetically. "And I wouldn't be bothering you if it wasn't something important." She sat down wearily in an armchair and waited for him to continue. "I've been racking my brain, trying to figure out a way to get Ginny away from both Ron and the Malfoys so we can fix things."

"And?"

"We're just going to have to work on getting her out of the Manor as our first directive."

"Harry, you know we can't get onto the grounds. Lucius Malfoy has had the entire property charmed since before Draco was born so that Ministry employees can't so much as touch a blade of grass without him knowing."

"I know," he growled, massaging his temples. "So how do we trick Ginny into leaving, without bringing one of her new friends?"

"I don't know that we can," she answered back. Harry glared at her, and she shrugged. "You were there; you saw how Malfoy is romancing her! If she was starving for attention and he's somehow deluded her into thinking he cares about her, she's not going to want to leave him."

"We've got to make sure that we keep tabs on Ron, too. Got to make sure that he's nowhere near when she leaves the Manor, so he can't follow her and try to do something stupid."

"I can invite her to lunch or something," she suggested weakly. "But I'm not sure if she'd accept. She's got to have some kind of positive proof that you won't be anywhere near us when we're supposed to be getting together." He frowned.

"Would you be able to handle her if I wasn't nearby?"

"Of course I could," she said, stiffening. "Harry, don't talk down to me like that. I'm irritable and I'm just not in the mood for it. You know very well what I'm capable of." He grinned at her.

"I know. I just wanted to make sure you realized it, too. All right - you invite her to lunch, and I'll figure out a way to distract Ron. I'm going to have him followed for the next day or so, to see if there's a discernible pattern to his outings or anything, and then you can set a date to meet with her."

"Fine," she said, waving her hand dismissively. She stood and turned to go to her room, but he called after her.

"Hermione, you know that we're doing this for the good of everyone, don't you?" She turned slowly and stared at him.

"Are we, Harry? Are we truly thinking of everyone's best interests, or are we just thinking of ourselves?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm trying to tell myself that we mean well, but it's not working. I know deep down that I'm only doing it to get Ron back. What you have to ask yourself is why are you doing it, Harry? If Ginny is really happy where she is, why are you trying to end it all?" She turned without waiting for his answer and went back to bed. He stared after her for several moments, and then headed out into the cold November night.

"I'm doing it to save my own ass," he muttered into the whipping wind. "And to save yours."