Truth Will Out

TRUTH WILL OUT

FACING THE FAMILY

Draco glanced around the packed sitting room. It was quite literally standing room only, and only half the family was in there. Ginny had disappeared the moment they'd arrived, leaving him to his own devices. He politely fought his way through the crowd to the kitchen. The women were all busy preparing a mountain of food for the family, so he slipped out the back door unnoticed.

"You're here, Malfoy!" Ron said.

"I am," Draco answered tightly.

"Does that mean Ginny won your little bet?"

"I suppose it could be viewed that way."

"You mean she actually found you a girlfriend."

Draco smiled evasively. Despite the fact that it had been his idea to tell everyone, he didn't particularly relish the thought of Ginny's brothers finding out about their change of status, however the chance to see Ron's face was simply too great to resist.

"You could have brought her to lunch," Ron said earnestly. "We would have loved to have met her."

"I did," Draco answered succinctly.

"But you came with Ginny." Ron frowned.

Draco smirked. He could almost see Ron's thoughts trying to make sense of what he'd been told as opposed to what he'd seen. "I told you, I brought my girlfriend with me... or did she bring me?"

Ron shook his head. "No... No, this is not happening."

"Oh, it's happening," Draco confirmed.

"How? You two were supposed to be finding each other a partner."

"You can blame Zabini," Draco replied casually. "He thought it would be fun to set your sister and I up."

"But you didn't have to--"

"Ah, but we had to tell the truth," Draco cut in.

"Did she--"

"We both felt the same."

"Bloody hell," Ron hissed.

"Problem?" Harry asked.

"You could say that," Ron muttered.

"It all depends on how you look at it," Draco commented.

"You're the only one who wouldn't see it as a problem," Ron retorted.

Harry frowned as he looked between the two men. "What are you two on about?"

"Do you want to tell him the good news or shall I?" Draco asked.

"Go ahead," Ron replied flatly.

"The bet between Ginny and I is over."

"You lost, Malfoy!" Harry laughed. "You wouldn't be here if you'd won."

"Actually, I feel like a winner," Draco said with a large grin.

"Well, I guess, if you've got a good woman now, you would feel like a winner," Harry rationalized. "So, is the lucky lady here?"

"Absolutely," Draco answered.

"Where is she? You didn't leave her in there with the family, did you?" Harry looked towards the house.

"She fits right in," Draco assured him.

"Hang on... Someone you're allegedly seeing fits right in here?" Harry challenged.

Draco nodded. "Blends right in."

"You're hedging," Ron accused. "Just tell him."

Harry looked between the two men again. "What?"

"Well..." Draco started.

"Ginny! It's bloody Ginny he's seeing," Ron expressed dramatically. "My sister!"

A smile slipped across Harry's face, and it wasn't long before he was chuckling.

"It's not funny," Ron complained.

"But that is." Harry pointed in the direction of the house.

As Draco turned his blood chilled. He wasn't truly surprised, if he were honest with himself, to see the other five Weasley brothers standing just outside the back door looking at him with a myriad of expressions on their faces -- they tended to turn up when he least wanted them to -- but he couldn't deny the terror that flooded his system. There was no way of predicting what they might do to him, and the unknown petrified him.

"So, you and Ginny finally saw what was right in front of your noses then?" Bill asked.

Draco opened and closed his mouth. "You expected this?"

"We knew it'd happen one day," Charlie admitted.

"You two have been blind to each other for so long l was beginning to have my doubts," Fred admitted.

"Tell Zabini he's a genius," George said enthusiastically.

"How did you know--" Draco started.

"About Zabini?" Fred asked.

"Yes," Draco answered.

"We're not deaf," Charlie replied.

Draco hoped the horror he was feeling wasn't showing on his face as he ran through the conversation he had with Ron and Harry. "How long have you lot been--"

"Listening?" George interjected.

"Yes, listening," Draco clarified civilly, swallowing the irritation at having his sentences finished for him by the twins each time he opened his mouth.

"The whole time," Bill admitted.

Draco cringed. He couldn't help it, because he couldn't quite remember how far he'd gone to taunt Ron now that the pressure was on. "I didn't say anything that would--"

"Encourage us to kill you outright?" Fred interrupted.

George sighed heavily. "I told you before, we're not doing that. We need to torture him for a millennium first."

Torture? Draco gulped. If the twins were talking about torture, then he was in real trouble. They were best known for their creativity. "Where's Ginny?"

"Come on, Malfoy," Charlie crooned with a malevolent smile. "You don't need your girlfriend here."

"She'd only get upset and you wouldn't want that, would you?" Bill added, his smile equaling his younger brother's for wickedness.

"I--err--" Draco looked around the yard as the men started to advance and panic began to override his rational thoughts.

"Oi! What's that on your neck, Malfoy?" Charlie inquired, pointing to Draco's marked skin.

Unable to help himself, Draco smirked. He knew it wasn't the most intelligent thing to do under the circumstances, but he simply couldn't stop himself. "Didn't you know ... Your sister displays some frightening tendencies towards vampirism."

"Bloody hell! Hey, George, it looks like Ginny's got better suction than you have," Fred declared as he examined Draco's neck earnestly.

George shoved his twin aside and ran his fingers over the bruised flesh on Draco's neck. "Bloody hell! That must have hurt!"

"Didn't feel a thing," Draco confessed.

"You were distracted, weren't you?" Charlie asked dangerously.

"Err-- She's gentle--really gentle," Draco stammered.

Bill rolled his eyes. "Sure she is."

"We're not fools, Malfoy," Percy said pompously. "We know exactly what those types of brands lead to."

Charlie spun around and faced Percy. "Tell us, dear brother, what do those brands lead to?"

Percy flushed redder than his hair. "Well--you see--" He pushed his glasses up his nose. "One would usually be--be rather--"

"Horny?" Ron offered with a smirk.

"There are less vulgar ways of--" Percy snapped.

"Yeah, but you were having trouble thinking of one," Ron pointed out.

"Hang on a minute." Bill held his hand up to silence his brothers. "When did you say you two got together?"

"Yesterday," Draco answered. The moment the word left his mouth he realized that he'd most likely just signed his own death certificate. "I--We--"

"Jumped straight into bed?" Charlie offered with a growl.

"NO!" Draco tried to take a step backwards, but found himself standing on Harry's feet. "We didn't. We talked first, and then we--"

"Then you jumped into bed," Fred said helpfully.

Draco's eyes rotated to look at Fred, who was sporting a malicious grin. "No! Well-- yes-- sort of."

George leaned closer to Draco. "You didn't make it to the bed?"

"Yes!" Draco's heart was beating so hard that he feared it was going to escape his body. He was very right to be afraid of these men; they had a knack of making him admit things that are categorically not good for his health. "I'm just going to shut up now," he said in a small, miserable voice.

"Don't do that," Charlie crooned. "We're having fun."

"Fun?" Draco's eyes just about bulged out of his head. "You call this fun?"

Charlie shrugged. "I do. What about you, Bill?"

"It's fun for me," Bill answered. "How about you, Ron?"

"Having a ball!" Ron declared. "Harry?"

Harry sniggered. "Likewise. Fred?"

"Better than tormenting Percy," Fred said heartily. "George?"

"I couldn't agree more! What about you, Percy?"

"This behavior is a little childish, but--"

"You get the idea, Malfoy," Charlie said, cutting Percy off before he could get into a longwinded rhetoric about adult behavior. "We're just having a little fun."

"Percy doesn't sound like he agrees," Draco blurted in a rush. He was clutching at anything that might give him a reprieve.

"Percy's opinion doesn't matter," Ron informed Draco.

Draco whimpered silently to himself. He kicked himself mentally. Ginny had been perfectly happy to keep their relationship to themselves for a while, and he had to insist that they tell everyone. Why on earth had he done that? At least he'd have enjoyed some time with her before his demise. There was also that promise that he could handle anything her brothers dished out hanging over his head. It wasn't as if he could make a break for the house and let her know what was going on without looking like a pathetic fool -- not that he'd make it two feet with the men surrounding him.

"Where were we?" Bill asked, looking at his brothers amusedly.

"You made it to bed, didn't you, Malfoy?" Charlie prompted.

Draco nodded, despite instructing his body not to respond.

"And then what happened?" Fred inquired.

There was a minute drop of relief when Draco realized the question required more than a yes or no answer. At least he couldn't give himself away without opening his mouth. Of course, there was still the fact that they wanted some form of reply. He weighed up the pros and cons of being unashamedly honest with them. They could torture him for longer, but if he dared to go into graphic detail they might just kill him accidentally, and then this torture would be over. If only he could see Ginny one last time before committing himself to death.

"Cat got your tongue, Malfoy," Harry goaded.

Draco lifted his chin haughtily and drew on every last ounce of courage he possessed. "I know you lot don't really want to hear this, because you'll find it disturbing, but you asked for it--"

Sniggers and snorts of laughter erupted from the men as the closed in to hear what Draco had to say.

"We did make it to the bed. Your sister, as I discovered very quickly, is a little vix--"

"Draco Malfoy!"

All the men in the yard flinched as the back door banged hard enough to rattle the windows.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ginny demanded.

The Weasley men and Harry inched away from Draco as Ginny strode over to him.

"Committing suicide," Draco answered in a small voice.

"Suicide?" Ginny eyed him up and down with some amusement in her expression. "You want me to kill you?"

"No, not you," Draco answered hurriedly. "They were torturing me, so I was just going to put an end to it the quickest way I could think of."

"And it didn't occur to you that telling me would have been far quicker?" Ginny asked.

Fred snorted. "As if he'd have gotten that far."

"We'd have--" George snapped his mouth shut as his sister's eyes all but burned a hole in him.

Ginny stared at her brothers with obvious contempt. "Draco and I are together, and yes we do have sex -- lots and lots of hot, perverted sex. If any of you have a problem with that, you can go a talk to someone who cares, but leave Draco and I alone, because we don't care. Furthermore, if any of you want more detail than that, I will gladly oblige by tying you to a chair and making you watch Draco and I during the aforementioned hot, perverted sex. Questions?"

Draco didn't breathe, let alone dare move during her little harangue. He'd always thought the twins were the scariest of the Weasleys, but he was suddenly quite sure that Ginny was the scariest of them all, and he was fool enough to get caught divulging her secrets.

The sound of someone clearing their throat nearby, garnered everyone's attention.

"Oh--" Ginny flushed bright red. "Sorry, Dad."

Arthur shook his head with a bemused smile on his face. "Just like her mother," he uttered quietly.

Disgusted moans and complaints arose from the men present. Draco kept his thoughts to himself -- still not quite brave enough to draw Ginny's attention by moving or speaking or even breathing yet -- but he was definitely cringing on the inside, along with Molly Weasley's sons.

"Boys, I would definitely leave the subject alone or your sister might do to you what her mother did to her brothers," Arthur advised wisely.

"What did Mum do?" Ron asked. "Oww!" He rubbed his arm after Charlie punched him.

"Gideon and Fabian were giving me a hard time, just like you're doing to Draco, so your mother sat them down and gave them a minute by minute account of what we'd been up to in the old barn the night before." Arthur chuckled at the memory.

"They just sat there?" Charlie questioned.

"I believe they were too horrified to move," Arthur answered. "The point is, boys, they're a dangerous breed to tangle with, and you'll come off second best every time, if you dare."

There were a few muttered words of agreement from the boys, as they started to drift away slowly.

Bill made a beeline for Draco. "I'll be blunt. If you hurt her, we'll kill you."

"We'll torture you first, then kill you," Charlie amended from a distance.

"Yeah, torture first," Bill agreed. "That's if there's anything left after you've answered for telling tales outside the bedroom."

Draco closed his eyes and sighed. He had no doubt that Bill had brought that up to deliberately remind Ginny of what was going on when she walked out.

"Good luck, son." Arthur patted Draco's shoulder affectionately. "You're going to need it."

The silence that fell only moments later seemed deafening to Draco. He wished for just a little noise, anything so he knew wasn't alone.

"I don't believe you did that," Ginny snarled.

His eyes opened slowly. Sure enough, he was alone with Ginny. "They were--" He winced as a small, pointy finger poked him in the middle of the chest.

"You don't tell them anything," Ginny growled. "If I wanted them to know what I was like in bed I'd have tortured them with that information already."

"Sorry," Draco whispered ashamedly. "I couldn't think of any other way to make them leave me alone."

"I can think of plenty, so if you're short on ideas just ask," Ginny snapped.

"I'll remember that," Draco replied. "Are we all right?"

"Yes, we're all right." Ginny rested her head on his chest. "I'm just--I'm horrified my dad heard me--"

Draco started to laugh. "If it bothered him, he didn't show it."

"He was just getting rid of the boys."

"I don't know," Draco mused aloud. "I can envision your mother being a little vixen in her day."

Ginny groaned. "Please don't talk about that."

"There you are!" Molly exclaimed.

"Sorry, Mum. The boys were giving Draco a hard time," Ginny explained.

"Those boys." Molly shook her head.

"Dad scared them off," Ginny told her.

"Good." Molly moved towards Draco with her arms outstretched. "I just came out here to tell you how pleased I am for both of you."

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley," Draco managed while being thoroughly squeezed by the Weasley matriarch. Visions of what Mr. Weasley had alluded to kept going through his mind -- picturing what Ginny was like behind closed doors and putting her mother's face on the hallucination had the potential to kill his passion for a decade.

"It's about time the two of you settled down," Molly said firmly.

"Settled down?" Draco questioned. He had been under the impression that Ginny hadn't told her family that they had already discussed the possibility of marriage.

"Yes! The two of you have been running around with Merlin only knows how many different people," Molly clarified. "I do read the social pages, Draco, and I can't keep up with Ginny's boyfriends."

"I see," Draco uttered as relief bloomed in his body.

"Those waifs you're usually pictured with-- Well, they don't look like the types who are interested in family," Molly continued frankly.

"No--No, they're not terribly interested in family," Draco concurred quickly. The last time he'd dared to defend one of his dates to Mrs. Weasley he'd received an hour-long lecture in the benefits of dating virtuous women, while Ginny stood behind her mother sniggering into her hand.

"You don't have to worry about that now." Molly patted his chest affectionately. "I must get back to the kitchen. I hope you're hungry!"

"Starving," Draco mumbled. His eyes followed Molly inside and then he turned to Ginny. "Is she planning our wedding?"

"I hope not," Ginny wailed. "She was so excited when I told her that we were together."

"How impossible is she going to be when we do announce our engagement?"

"You haven't asked me yet," Ginny pointed out.

"I was just weighing up the benefits of eloping," Draco divulged.

"As tempting as it might sound to begin with, we'd have to face both our mothers afterwards," Ginny reminded him. "I don't know about you, but I think they'd both be pretty scary if we had the nerve to do something like not invite them to our wedding."

"You could be right," Draco mused. "Still, it might be worth just putting the idea aside for now, rather than dismissing it totally."

"I just said they'd be scary," Ginny said. "Not that I wasn't willing to do it if things got too out of hand."

"We'll call it our escape clause," Draco suggested cheekily.

"Sounds good," Ginny replied, giggling into his chest. "The boys weren't too bad, were they?"

"I'm a little confused actually," Draco confessed. "At first they acted like they were expecting it, and then they weren't happy about it. I just don't know what to think."

"As far as I can tell, they were expecting it, but they feel obligated to give you a hard time," Ginny explained.

"Would it have been so hard for them to shake my hand and tell me to look after you?"

"That would have been a bit boring," Bill interjected from the doorway. "Mum said lunch is ready."

"Thanks, Bill," Ginny responded. "Come on. It's time to face the whole family."

"Your sisters-in-law aren't going to go nuts are they?"

"Probably," Ginny answered casually. "You don't mind your cheeks being pinched, do you?"

Draco cleared his throat and quirked an eyebrow at her. "You are kidding."

Ginny just grinned and kept walking.

A frown crossed Draco's face briefly. There was something unsettling about Ginny's expression. He shook his head and followed her into the house. The kitchen table was full to bursting with family and food. Seats were few and far between, and it took him a few minutes to locate Ginny in the crowded room. Draco began to move around the table to one of the few vacant seats. It was a tight squeeze at times, and several times he seemed to get a little stuck, but he managed to get across the room.

He eyed the chair that was tucked tightly into the table. There was no room on either side of it, so there was only one way to actually take his seat. Draco pulled the chair all the way out and prepared to pull himself to the table in a half sitting position.

"Oww!" Draco shrieked, jumping to his feet.

"What's wrong?" Ginny demanded.

Draco looked around himself. He could have sworn something just bit his arse.

"Draco?" Ginny called impatiently.

"Nothing, love," he uttered. "It was nothing."

"Aww isn't that sweet," Fred crooned.

"He called her love," George added.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Shut it, you two."

With a little apprehension, Draco tried to sit down again, and again an almost painful sensation went through his backside. "What the--"

"Well?" Angelina demanded.

Fleur blushed as she began to giggle. "As tight as we assumed."

"You," Draco blurted. "You pinched my arse!"

"Only because you sat next to me," Fleur explained in an innocent tone.

Draco looked around the table. The men were all sniggering quietly, including Bill, who should have been horrified in Draco's opinion. "What is going on?"

"Draco, sit down," Ginny instructed.

"I don't trust Madam Touchy-Feely here on the right," Draco claimed childishly.

"Fleur, please leave his backside alone," Ginny said amusedly.

"You can trust me, Draco," Fleur insisted. "I have the information we were after now."

"Draco, sit down," Molly instructed firmly. "Everyone, eat up before it gets cold."

Before Draco could draw his chair up to the table everyone else started filling their plates. It was a long way from the civilized meals he was accustomed to with his family; his mother would have a heart attack if she witnessed this fiasco. In time, he managed to get a little food onto his plate. Although, he'd eaten with the family before, Draco had not mastered the art of grabbing a platter as it passed before the person two chairs down claimed it.

How anyone heard anything of the conversations they were conducting was a miracle. The noise in the room had reached a crescendo that Draco found deafening, though it didn't seem to bother anyone else. He sat there quietly eating his food, which didn't take long, and watching the goings on around him. One wouldn't think it was easy to blend into the background with this family, but Draco found he had no problem, as long as he kept his mouth shut. As usual, Ginny was taking her time over her food while chatting away to Charlie. Draco couldn't hear the conversation, but Ginny was laughing occasionally and Charlie appeared to be in good spirits, so he assumed it was about something positive.

As soon as the meal finished, the men and children vanished, leaving the women to clean up. Draco drifted into the sitting room for a little bit. Most of the men had paired off and were continuing discussions from before lunch. Ron had set up his Wizard Chess set and was calling for challengers. He considered playing a game, but there was no challenge in beating Ron, so Draco drifted back to the kitchen doorway.

"He's as hard as a rock," Fleur said as she dried a plate.

"You're so lucky, Ginny," Angelina expressed wistfully.

Ginny smiled and flushed pink.

"There's nothing quite like a man with a firm backside," Molly established with a breathy sigh that would have befitted a much younger woman. "Arthur used to--"

Mrs. Weasley's words faded into the background, as Draco realized what they were talking about. He hyperventilated for a few moments before respiration seemed to stop altogether. Escape was foremost in his mind right now, before he heard something that might leave him permanently scarred. Draco turned, staggering a little as he moved back into the sitting room.

"All right, Malfoy?" Charlie asked.

Bill laughed. "Too much pumpkin juice at lunch?"

Draco raised his hand and pointed an accusatory finger at the oldest Weasley brother. "You--your wife--she's--at lunch--" He growled in frustration. His mouth simply would cooperate at the moment.

"What about Fleur?" Bill questioned with a smirk.

"She--she pinched my arse!" Draco exclaimed.

Charlie sighed and shook his head. "And now the girls are discussing how flabby it felt?"

"My arse is not flabby," Draco snapped.

"What's the problem then?" Ron inquired.

"They're talking-- married women-- even Mrs. Weasley--" Draco gasped for breath as his lungs emptied.

Arthur chuckled. "Don't worry about it, son. The girls have been wondering what your backside felt like for years."

"Why?" Draco whispered weakly.

"All the rumors," Charlie answered. "Women talk, and they just wanted to confirm the gossip."

Draco frowned deeply. He didn't know whether to be amused or to curl into fetal position and bawl. It wasn't as if he wasn't aware of the rumors that flowed through the pubs he frequented, but to know that everyday ordinary married women talked about him -- Ginny's family, to be specific -- that disturbed him. "Why now?"

"It's not that hard to figure out, is it?" Bill asked. "You're with Ginny now, so no simple pinch on your backside will be misconstrued as a signal that a woman is interested in you, thus keeping our girls safe from your advances."

"How is that logical?" Draco demanded.

"If Fleur had pinched your arse a month ago, would you have made a big deal of it like you did today or would you have given her one of your famous 'come hither' looks?"

"I don't touch married women," Draco stated categorically.

"Except for that Countess in Bulgaria last year," Charlie reminded him. "What was her name?"

"I was unaware she was married," Draco ground out.

"Of course you were." Charlie grinned in a way that told everyone that he didn't believe Draco.

"I thought we cleared this up last year," Draco snapped.

"He's still jealous that you landed her and not him," Bill explained.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Next time I'll send the married ones your way."

"Not the ugly ones," Charlie warned with a chuckle.

"The married what?" Ginny asked as she walked in.

"Ginny, I was about to come and get you," Bill announced.

"Why?"

"Draco needs to go home for a bit of a lie down," Bill told her.

Ginny looked to her boyfriend, and then back at her brother, raising an eyebrow at him.

"He's a bit shocked that you women were discussing his backside's form," Bill explained.

"I wasn't discussing his form," Ginny retorted.

"They were," Draco alleged.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, they think I'm a lucky girl," Ginny responded with a smile.

Bill snorted with laughter.

"And Fleur said you could do with getting on your broom more often to tighten your arse up again," Ginny added mockingly.

"There's nothing wrong with my backside," Bill claimed in an affronted tone.

"Not if you like saggy," Fred interposed from the other side of the room.

"No one asked you," Bill snapped.

"I like to share," Fred replied smugly.

"No one has yet explained to me why it was all right for Fleur to pinch my backside," Draco said suddenly. "Why aren't you furious?" he asked looking directly at Bill.

"Fleur was nominated to gather the information for the rest of the women," Bill informed him. "She's the oldest and she's French -- they're touchy feely people, so she can get away with doing things like that."

"Nominated?" Draco repeated in disbelief.

"The girls have ways of--" Charlie started.

Draco stared incredulously at Bill. There was no way on magical earth that he'd accept Ginny touching another man's derriere, even if it was simply for a fact finding mission. "Just keep her away from my body."

"Don't worry, she's got what they wanted for now," Bill assured him.

"What if they want something else next?" Draco growled.

"Are you suggesting we measure your wand now?" Charlie laughed loudly.

Draco sneered at Charlie's attempt at humor. "Ginny, I think it's time we left."

"Good idea," Ginny agreed. "I wouldn't want to have to hurt one of them. Mum gets really cranky when I do that."

"I'll get our cloaks while you say goodbye," Draco offered. "Gentlemen."

It wasn't until he'd taken several steps inside the kitchen that Draco realized the women were sitting around the table with a large pot of tea, and his bottom would be vulnerable, if he didn't take measures to protect himself. With as much casualness as he could muster, Draco turned his back to the wall and began to inch along towards the cloak rack.

The giggles started slowly as one by one the women became aware of what he was doing. It was humiliating, but it was better than having his bum fondled by women he would eventually consider family. Draco glanced at the back door; it was still quite a distance away -- too far to risk running for it, given the number of depraved women in the room.

"What are you doing?"

Draco's head snapped up and towards the sitting room door. "I--they--"

"Come on, I'll protect you," Ginny promised as she approached him.

As he relaxed and moved just a fraction away from the wall Hermione twitched in his direction suddenly. Draco flattened himself against the wall again, much to the amusement of the women.

"All right, that's enough," Ginny commanded. "You lot need to behave yourselves, or I'll never convince him to come to lunch again."

"Girls, Ginny is right," Molly said strongly. "Leave Draco alone now."

His surprise was hard to hide as the women suddenly straightened in their chairs and composed themselves. Confident that he wouldn't come to bodily harm now, Draco strode to the cloak rack and began to sift through the many garments present for his and Ginny's cloaks. He'd just spied his cloak and was reaching for it when an unmanly yelp burst from his throat expectedly. "Oww! Who was that?" he demanded, turning to face the women.

Draco inspected every woman's face. Most were cackling inanely without a hint of guilt, but there was one who had mischief dancing in her eyes.

"What?" Ginny smirked at him unashamedly. "I'm allowed."

He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily. They were starting to rub off on Ginny -- teaching her bad habits. "Home," he said simply.

Ginny muffled a giggle. "Okay."

Draco turned back to the rack and snatched up their cloaks. He quickly threw Ginny's around her shoulders and secured the cloak pin. "Have you said goodbye to your mother?"

"Not yet," Ginny answered.

"Perhaps you can do that now?" Draco suggested.

It only took another fifteen minutes to escape the clutches of the Weasley family. By the time Draco Disapparated he was sure he had a couple of cracked ribs compliments of Mrs. Weasley's overenthusiastic farewell. Ginny had also silenced his complaints by reminding him that coming to lunch today had, in fact, been his idea. He was already diligently working on a plausible excuse to get out of Sunday lunch next week.

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