Forever Yours

I am the AUTHOR and here are my NOTES: haha, here it is guys! The next chapter. It didn't take that long to get up as I thought it would have. I am currently working on the chapter after that and depending on how fast the ideas come to me, it'll be up soon too. Within the week I should say. But don't sue me if it's not...lol. Anyways I hope you guys enjoy it! Thanks to my beta- Elisabeth!

Chapter 18

The next morning, Ginny felt groggy. She was extremely comfortable wherever she was.

But sunlight was creeping into the room, blinding her and shouting at her to get up.

Her eyes flew open. It was morning, the next day. And she was in her own room.

How had she gotten here?

The last thing she remembered was the fight with Macnair. And then she and Malfoy had shouted at one another for a while and then he had healed her leg. Her leg!

She pushed the covers off and pulled her pants up. Her leg was clean and there was no more blood... or pain, for that matter.

Malfoy had taken her to St. Mungo's last night, she now remembered. She supposed she had been dropped back off to her bed by the Healers.

She glanced at her clock. It was nine o'clock. She could still make it to work if she hurried.

Ginny heaved herself up and walked to the loo, pleased that he leg no longer troubled her. The only problem was that she walked with a slight limp.

Fifteen minutes later, she was walking briskly to her office, with a limp in her leg.

Smith walked up to her and said, "I guess you're lucky that you got paired with such a good partner."

"Sorry?" she said, trying to understand.

"This," he said, holding up the Daily Prophet. TWO AURORS IN TRAINING CATCH 10 NOTORIOUS DEATH EATERS AND OLD SHOPKEEPER, read the title.

Oh, yeah. The Death eaters she and Malfoy had caught last night.

She took the paper from him and skimmed the article. It went into details about how they had caught the Death Eaters as well as Borgin, who had never been proven that he was a Death Eater.

"It doesn't list names, of course," Smith said.

Ginny looked up. "Oh?"

"You're both undercover agents, so Mr. Dawlish made sure that the reporter did not get your name," he said.

Ginny nodded and started walking to her desk.

She reached her desk and was just about to sit down when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

Turning around, she saw that it was Malfoy. Of course it would be.

"How's your leg?" he asked her.

"Fine, thank you," she answered. They stared at each other for a minute before saying anything.

"Dawlish wants to see us both," he said to her.

She got up and followed him silently to Dawlish's office.

He knocked on the door and only entered when a voice from within said, "Enter."

Malfoy opened the door and they entered the large office. It was larger than Malfoy's office and just as nice, with large windows lining it.

"Yes, sir?" Malfoy said. "You wanted to see us?"

"Yes," Dawlish said, gesturing to the chairs in front of him. "Take a seat."

They sat down and waited for him to speak.

"Yesterday, when I heard that you caught ten Death Eaters, I could not believe it," he started off, smiling slightly. "The ten Death Eaters that you were assigned, you caught them all in one evening. I am very pleased with your work, Draco."

"Thank you, sir," he said, smiling.

He nodded. "It's quite a feat to do such a stunt in one night. You were able to fight with all of them all at once and capture them, without letting any escape. I am most pleased with your completion of this assignment."

Malfoy glanced at Ginny and then said to Dawlish. "It wasn't all me, though, sir. It was Ms. Weasley here as well. She thought of the idea and was part of the execution."

"Really?" he said, raising an eyebrow. "I thought Kingsley told me that you were the only one present."

"Ms. Weasley was hurt and so I took her to St. Mungo's," he explained, "and then I returned, which is when I spoke to some of the other Aurors. They just hadn't seen Ms. Weasley."

"I'm sorry for that, then," he said, turning to her now. "I was under the impression that it was all Mr. Malfoy. Forgive me. That is quite a feat for an in-training Auror."

"Thank you," she said softly. No one had known that she had been part of it? No wonder the paper only listed one Auror as their captor. She had thought that it was just a tactic to protect her identity, but apparently not.

"This is your next assignment," he said, handing them another piece of parchment. "I am most impressed by your partnership and I've shortened the deadline for this assignment, to see what you can accomplish."

"That's fine, sir," said Malfoy, taking it from him and standing up.

"Congratulations again," he said, smiling.

Ginny followed him out the door and to his office, waiting for him to give her a copy of the assignment.

She sat down in her usual chair in his office and faced him. "Thank you."

"For what?" he said, looking up.

"For mentioning me to Mr. Dawlish," she said, looking down.

He just gave her a weird look. "What?"

"You know, you didn't have to tell him that I was part of it. If you hadn't, no one would have known the difference, except for the Death Eaters and Borgin. But you told Dawlish that I was part of it. That means a lot to me," she said, feeling a faint blush on her cheeks.

"Why wouldn't I tell him you were part of it when you were?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

"I don't know," she mumbled. "Maybe because I didn't obey orders and nearly ruined the mission. I would have expected you to take the success all for yourself."

He rolled his eyes. "The judging never ends. Just because you nearly messed it up doesn't mean that I'm not going to give credit where credit is due. What do you think I am?"

Ginny looked up and saw anger in his eyes. "I... I don't know."

"You're the reason that the mission did succeed in the end, after it almost was lost," he said, "and I'm not so cruel as you think I am that I'll take all the credit for myself. I'm not who you think I am."

She blinked. His voice was filled with hurt now, not anger. He actually sounded upset for once. "I... I don't think you're cruel."

He just shook his head. "But you judge me, just like everyone else. You think I'm a Death Eater, deep down. That I'm not true to my cause. That I'm... like my father. But I'm not."

"I never said that," she said, her voice soft. "I do have reason to believe that you would do something like that and..."

"Reason from when?" he asked her, his grey eyes meeting hers. "From when we were younger and in school? Have I done any of those things recently?"

Ginny stared into his eyes. There was something there, something that she couldn't handle right now. "I- I... I don't know."

She got up and left his office, with her head pounding away. She went to her small cubicle office, sat down in her chair and put her head on her desk.

She had walked out on him, just when he had been going to say something to her. But she couldn't handle it. Not right now. She didn't want to know what he wanted to say.

It was because she had realised something. The advice she had lived by and had preached, she hadn't followed. Her policy of never judging anyone was something she hadn't followed.

She felt like she had cheated on herself. The policy that she had thought everyone should live by had been shaped by what she had seen people say to Muggleborns like Hermione about their blood, thinking Muggleborns to be stupid because of their blood. In the meantime, Hermione was the cleverest witch in their year, but she still got judged.

This policy was fair. And she had thought that it applied to everyone. No matter what- no judging.

Yet she had judged Malfoy. Because of what he had done in the past and his family history, she had judged him horribly and had thought he was like his father, even when he had proved that he wasn't. He was a different person, yet she still held him accountable for his father's actions.

Her head was hurting now and she couldn't think clearly. Her leg was starting to hurt as well as the pain returned.

So she decided to ask Dawlish for the afternoon off. He completely understood when she asked him. He knew that she had spent the night in the hospital now (he knew now) and he told her that he had been surprised when she had shown up for work even. He suggested she go home, rest for the day and return tomorrow.

So she went home and lied in bed, with her head pounding. Around four o'clock, she got up and ate something.

While she was eating, she decided to write a letter to Prince because she was so upset.

Sept. 10, 02

Dear Prince,

I know you're busy with work and such, but I had to write to you. I miss you. I miss receiving letters from you so often. My days are so empty now. Please start to write to me again.

I have a confession to make and you can't be angry with me. Remember two years ago when we decided we were never going to judge anyone ever again? I judged someone, Prince. I judged them horribly when they're so different from what I expected.

I know I should apologise to him, but it's too hard. I judged him according to his family's history and to our past together, which was wrong. He's so different now, but I wasn't used to that. I was still used to the childhood version and when I met him now, I judged him according to that.

It's wrong of me, but I couldn't help it. I feel like such a hypocrite, too. I always vowed I'd never judge anyone because I've seen the damage it's done myself, especially with you. But there I go- judging someone according to my preconceived notions.

I hope you'll forgive me. And help me get through this. It's such a depressing feeling, knowing that I've cheated on one of my own values. Please write back. I really do want to talk to you.

Chariot

She mailed the letter and waited for a reply, like it would come within minutes. But it didn't. She waited for an hour and then realised that he wasn't going to write back.

So she wrote to Hermione and asked her if she could come over. Hermione's letter came within a minute with an enthusiastic yes.

That night she spent at Ron and Hermione's, who were very happy to smother her over for the evening.

"Congratulations," said Hermione, once Ginny told her about the mission.

"Thank you," she said, smiling at her across the dinner table.

"I told you, didn't I, Hermione?" Ron said as he stuffed himself with mashed potatoes.

She nodded. "Ron just received the paper this morning and he told me that it was you who was the unnamed Auror who caught those Death Eaters. So how was it, catching them? Scary?"

And the rest of the evening was spent happily in the telling of Ginny's mission the night before. Athena had to be sent to bed halfway, but she continued talking to them until nine o'clock when she decided to go home.

The next day, Ginny went to work and found the new assignment on her desk. Playing with her necklace, she skimmed it over.

The new assignment was one that was extremely complicated and involved a series of stakeouts with old Death Eaters that had never been caught and writing reports every step of the way.

She worked on the assignment that day and for the next few weeks. Working with Malfoy became awkward now, because he was short with her and hardly talked. He only talked to her about the assignment and was distant the whole time.

By the time October rolled around, Ginny was tired of the silence and realised the depth of her mistake when Prince's letter came to her in the morning before she left for work.

It was short and to the point.

October 17, 2002

Chariot,

Just remember how you felt when someone judged you. You'll do the right thing. I know you will.

Prince

So Ginny remembered. She thought back to her days in Hogwarts and when people used to think she was a weak little thing and was stupid because she was quiet and was the youngest Weasley child.

She had such a hard time in her second year, trying to break free of those preconceived ideas. Even Harry had a hard time seeing her as anything else other than his best friend's sister.

Ginny had cried herself to sleep for so many nights in her second year, for more reasons than one. Even in third year, whenever she tried to talk to the older students, they used to stare at her and ask her if she was Fred and George's sister or Ron's sister.

She didn't want to give anyone that pain that she had had. She had told Prince about all those instances and he had used them to make her see her mistake without preaching it to her.

She wiped a tear from her cheek and smiled, wishing Prince was there. If he had been there right then, she would have hugged him tightly and have told him how much he meant to her.

Quickly, she put the letter away as she rushed to work, ready to work on the next assignment.

When she walked through the door, people weren't working and were standing around chatting happily.

With her brow furrowed, she slowly walked in and looked around. No one was working and there was no paperwork anywhere.

"Um, hi Jill," she greeted the nearest co-worker.

"Hi," she greeted back.

"What's going on?" Ginny gestured to the non-working office.

Jill grinned. "Sandy and Lisa just caught the last of their Death Eaters, ones that the office have been looking for a year."

"Wow," Ginny said, looking for Sandy and Lisa. She found them by the water pitcher. "Congratulations, you guys."

"Thanks," said Sandy. "It was hard, but of course it was nothing like your capture of those ten Death Eaters, but..."

Dawlish had entered the room and was saying, "Several of our Aurors have recently caught some Death Eaters, doing so in a manner that surpasses all expectations. That is why I am allowing a small office party for you to enjoy."

Several workers cheered and Ginny just grinned. She dropped her files off on her desk and then got caught up in conversation with Jill; she didn't notice that Malfoy wasn't there.

By the time the food came out at twelve, she finally noticed that he was missing. She needed to see him and he wasn't there. Odd.

She found Dawlish talking to Lisa, so she went to him and asked him if Malfoy had come to work today. He nodded and told her he was in his office, not wanting to get behind on his work.

So Ginny decided it was now or never. She cut a piece of cake and put it in a plate as a peace offering.

Smoothing her robes and taking a deep breath, she walked to Malfoy's office and knocked on the door.

There was silence and then a voice called out, "Enter."

She turned the handle and walked into the office. It was dark in the room as the blinds were down. Malfoy sat in his chair, staring into space, his grey eyes vacant.

His robes hung on the back of his chair and he wore a long sleeved collar shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His tie was loosened and he had circles under his eyes.

"Hi," she said, trying to smile and be cheerful. "I brought you cake." She gestured to the cake like an idiot.

He briefly looked at it as she set it down on his desk and said in a monotone voice, "Thanks."

"Do you mind?" she asked, pointing to the chair, wanting to sit down.

He nodded, his head moving slightly to the right and then to the left.

"Thanks," she said, sitting cross-legged as she had done on numerous occasions, getting comfortable.

He didn't say anything as she shifted her legs, waiting for the awkward silence to pass. When it continued on, she decided to speak.

"Look Malfoy," she started off. "I don't..." She stopped because she heard him say something. "What? What did you say?"

"Draco," he said, his grey eyes finally filled with an emotion. "I have a name."

Ginny didn't know what to say. Blaise's words came back to her at this moment. Isn't the whole surname bit from Hogwarts a bit old now? I would think that we're all mature enough to use first names now.

He was right. Using surnames was stupid. It was calling someone by their family name, basically subjecting them to the same treatment as everyone else with that same name. Just because he was a Malfoy didn't mean he was the same as the other Malfoy's she had heard of.

This was going to be a lot more difficult than she had anticipated. "I'm sorry," she said, biting her lip. "Draco, then. Draco, I'm sorry about what I said before. And about judging you for the whole time I've known you. I shouldn't have done that."

He just stared at her. "It makes no difference."

"Of course it makes a difference," she said. "It means the world. I don't want to judge you by the same values that people judge your whole family by. It's wrong. Just because you're a Malfoy doesn't mean you're a Death Eater. And I was stupid to say that before. Very stupid."

He didn't even crack a smile when she insulted herself. She waited for any sign of being forgiven, but she got none. Ok, time for a different tactic.

"Look, I know we don't get along very well and we may have our differences, but that doesn't mean that I don't mean it when I say that I am truly sorry. Judging someone is wrong no matter what. I know everyone does it, but it's still wrong. Keeping it inside is just as wrong as letting everyone know, when you judge them," she said. "And I should know the pain it causes, because it's happened to me as well. But it's still wrong and..."

He held up his hand, the corner of his lips tugging. "You talk too much, Ginny."

She stopped right away, grinning. "Sorry. I'll stop now."

The smile left his face as he seriously said, "You're right, though, everyone does do it without noticing it. And I do forgive you."

She smiled. "Thank you. Now you can have your cake and eat it too."

He shook his head, taking the plastic plate from her. "Tell me, is it any good?"

"It's lovely," she said, smiling. He raised his eyebrow and said, "Really?"

She laughed. "No, it's horrible. But it's the thought that counts."

He took a bite, licking the fork. "Mmm. Same as always."

"I'm glad we're talking now. It's been pretty damn hard working with someone who ignores you," she said.

He smirked. "Really? Not quite that hard for me."

"Draco!" she said, play-punching him.

He just laughed and took another bite of the cake. After a minute of silence, he put his plate down and extended his hand, "So, are we friends now?"

She decided to have some fun. She winced and said, "I wouldn't go that far..."

He scowled at her and then she said, "I kid! I kid!"

Draco smirked again, shaking her hand, his fingers cold around her warm ones. "You really are something."

"You're calling me Ginny now?" she said, smiling so her brown eyes shone.

Stroking his chin, he said, "What did you want me to call you? Weaslette?"

"Not quite."

"Little red Weasley?"

"Nope."

"How about... Ginny, then?" he said, pretending to think.

She smiled so her eyes sparkled. "I like that. Call me Ginny."

And so began the beginning of their friendship. Over the next few weeks, the pair learned to become polite friends, who worked together. But as the time passed, they began to joke and kid around as they grew closer. There were still some boundaries in their relationship. Draco never teased Ginny about Harry and Ginny never talked about his father to Draco.

It was awkward at times, but it still sufficed.

In early November, they were still working on their complex mission that had several stages involved in it. They were close to the end, which was catching Avery. He was one of the hardest Death Eaters to catch since the Auror Department was made.

He had been slipping their hands for several decades now and he had slipped away at the end of the War again.

Draco assured her that if they caught him, they would be two of the most well respected Aurors in the Ministry.

Ginny liked the sound of that. So that was why she waited with baited breath inside a rubbish bin outside Madam Pudifoot's in the winter cold, with Draco Malfoy squished beside her.

"Thank god you trust me enough now to do some actual work," she whispered to her partner as they watched the silent night. "I actually get to have some action and some fun!"

Draco just rolled his eyes at her. "If having fun means running outside in the freezing cold, then I'm glad I can sit here in this dirty, but warm rubbish bin."

There was silence and then he said, "Relax. I'm just joking."

"Ha ha," she muttered under her breath as she watched, "very funny."

Needless to say, they did not catch Avery that night. Or the night after. Or the night after.

"We'll never catch him!" cried Ginny a few days later, resting her head on Draco's desk.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," he said, rolling his eyes.

Ginny just looked up. There were circles under her eyes and her hair was messily tied back in a bun. She was wearing the same robes from yesterday, as she had spent the night working and hadn't had a chance to freshen up.

"You look horrible, by the way," he pointed out.

"You don't look too peachy yourself," she snapped back, resting her head against the cool wood of his desk. "But what are we going to do, Draco? We have less than a week to catch the damn guy, or Dawlish will have our..."

"Don't worry," he said, leaning back in his chair, running his hand through his hair. Where Ginny looked like crap, Draco didn't look as if he had been working all night. His hair was clean, his clothes fresh and he smelled of aftershave. The only noticeable difference was the light circles under his eyes.

She looked up and her eyes narrowed when she met his eyes. "You have a plan!"

He smirked. "I do."

"And when did you come up with this?" she demanded, losing her cool again as she often did these days.

"When you were pounding your head away," he said, shuffling through a few papers. "He's got relatives in Scotland. We'll ambush him there."

"Scotland?" she repeated. "For how long?"

"A few days at the most," he said, not even looking up. "It'll be a quick jaunt."

"It better be. I'm so tired..." She yawned for effect.

"Losing your beauty sleep?" he offered, grinning.

She glared at him. "In fact, I am. Not that I was beautiful in the first place, but you know, I need to maintain whatever was there."

He just laughed. "Go home and pack your bags. I'll go tell Dawlish. Pack lightly."

Ginny closed her eyes and went home. She threw whatever she could into her carry on bag. Unlike some girls, Ginny was naturally a light packer. She hated dragging several bags of luggage anyways and figured that she could just magically clean her dirty clothes anyways.

She quickly scribbled off a note to her Mum and Dad, explaining where she was going and then got dressed in a sweater and jeans and waited for Malfoy... er, Draco.

He had been to her home a few times before now, but whenever he came over; it made Ginny nervous. She was scared he would find a tampon... or worse a bra in the couch, which was where she had folded her laundry last.

She quickly took inventory of the place and smiled to herself when she knew there was nothing that could embarrass her.

Draco arrived within ten minutes, wearing the same clothes and with nothing in his hands.

"Wow, you really do pack light," Ginny noticed, wondering where his luggage was.

He laughed. "We still have to go back to my place to get my things. Is that all you're wearing?"

She looked down at herself, and raised her eyebrow. "Is that all? I'm wearing three layers, you git."

"We're going to be flying," he said, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh, shit," she said. "Seriously?"

"No, we're swimming there. Obviously we're flying. Get it together."

Sighing, she picked out her thick winter coat. She knew that the wind today was sharp and it was freezing cold. She decided to buckle up then.

Two minutes later, she stood in front of Draco, her eyes narrowed at him as he struggled not to laugh.

"Shut it," she said, her rosy cheeks reddening.

He pursed his lips, trying not to laugh. But the truth was, she looked funny. She was wearing a long, thick coat with gloves on her hands and a thick Gryffindor scarf around her neck. Her thick, curly red hair was half stuffed into a pink hat that clashed horribly with her hair.

"You look ridiculous," he told her. "I'm just being honest."

"And I'd rather look ridiculous than freeze my ass off," she said, smiling sweetly.

He laughed, shaking his head. "It might be difficult to Disapparate with all your layers."

She rolled her eyes. "You'll be sorry when I'm warm and toasty and you're cold, prince of iciness."

Draco clutched his heart. "That was harsh, Ginny. I'm deeply hurt by that."

She waved her hand as she picked up her bag. "Yeah, yeah, tell me something new."

"It's best we go together, I didn't remove the Apparition spells. Ready?" he asked her, coming closer to her and holding her.

She nodded, feeling warmer suddenly. She hadn't been to his house since the night of the first mission, two months ago. She had no idea what to expect.

"Ready," she answered.

"Mmm, you are toasty," he said, smirking, as he struggled to wrap his arms around her big coat.

She raised her eyebrows and her heart skipped a beat. Did he just say what she thought he said?

His smirk grew wider as he saw her expression. "Don't get too excited, Weaslette."

Ginny just closed her eyes and got ready for the feeling of being squeezed through a tube.

There was a pop and then they were gone, being squeezed through a tube as they Apparated to Malfoy Manor.

A/N- aww! They're friends now! Now they won't bicker...well they will, but just not as much. The next chapter, more of Blaise and their jaunt to Scotland. It won't be that detailed though...the whole Auror business of theirs is just a reason for them to meet from now on and it will not include too many details because I have such a hard time coming up with it. Anyways, please review! Thanks. :)