Hide Away

Re bothHide Away

Chapter 19-Stop Pretending

He sat himself down and leaned back in his chair, studying me. His eyes never left my face at all.

"What new story do you have to tell me now, Joanne?" he asked.

"What?" I asked him, confused.

"First you tell me your name is something else, that you're married to your boss, and now you're some type of private investigator?" he said laughing. "Give me a break."

I took a deep breath to calm myself before I punched his eyes out and then said, "I am a private investigator for the Scotland Yard, with my husband Neil. You will have to answer our questions."

"What if I don't want to?" he asked Draco, but his eyes were on me.

"We will have to report you to the Egyptian Police," said Draco seriously.

He smirked and I immediately thought of Draco. Of course Draco looked way hotter when he smirked. Man, I have it bad, I thought shaking my head to myself. I was comparing Draco with Evan now. Ew.

"Report me?" he asked, his dark eyes darkening.

"Yes, otherwise you won't be able to leave this boat," I said, mustering all the strength I had.

His eyes bored into mine and he said, "Very well."

"First of all, would you like a drink?" I asked him.

He smiled. "From your hands Ginny...whoops, I mean Joanne, I'll drink even poison."

I blinked, not knowing what to say.

I glanced at Draco and saw him looking at Evan, his mind clicking. I could see what he was thinking. Oh no, no way was I going to give Evan his drink.

"I'm really not in the mood to answer your questions, but perhaps if Joanne gives me a drink, then maybe I'll be up to it," he said, his lip curling into a sneer.

I felt like slapping him and would've done so if Draco hadn't said, "Go on, Joanne. Give the man his drink."

My impulse to slap Evan switched gears, and I threw Draco a murderous glare. I knew he was doing this on purpose, to annoy me because he knew how much I hated Evan.

Draco gave me a look and I frowned at him, but got up and did as I was told.

I started mixing the drink together when I heard Evan's voice, "Joanne, could you please turn around so I could see how much ginger ale you're putting in? I only like very little."

Knowing that he had me, I couldn't put the Veritaserum in now, I threw it behind the counter and turned around adding the rest of the ginger ale.

"Is that enough?" I asked, after pouring a bit.

"Yes, thank you. Now my hands hurt, so please put it in my mouth," he said, the sneer still on his face.

I gritted my teeth, glanced at Draco, and threw him a look. He was just looking at Evan, observing him. I felt like punching the both of them. Evan, for taking advantage of Draco and me, for letting Evan take advantage of me. The urge to slug one of them was so great, that I didn't know who was going to be first.

I gave him his drink, while he opened his mouth. I looked in the corner while I did heard his annoying voice again.

"Ginny...I mean Joanne, can you please sit on my lap and do it? I feel it is rather uncomfortable this way."

I felt my hand clench into a fist and I glared at Draco. His eyes were telling me to do what Evan was saying.

I knew if I didn't do what he wanted me to do, then he would surely ignore our questions altogether, but that didn't mean I had to be the guinea pig! I sure hoped I was getting extra pay for this.

That thought, and that thought alone, made me sit gingerly on Evan's lap.

"That's won't do Joanne," he said, and he made me sit more comfortably and put his arms around me.

I was ready to vomit and glanced pleadingly in Draco's direction. Save me, please.

"I hope you don't mind," he said to Draco.

Of course you mind! I silently yelled at Draco. This creature is touching your pretend wife! Especially after he knew what Evan had tried to do last night... Maybe that's why he was punishing me? For not listening to him?

Draco shook his head, his lips twitching. I knew it! He was making fun of me. Perhaps he thought since he was sitting right there, Evan wouldn't do anything... but what about me?! I still remembered last night as if it had happened seconds ago, and I didn't want him touching me!

I fed him his drink as quickly as I could; thankfully the glass was small.

I then got up quickly and took my seat beside Draco. I shivered and felt revolted.

"Now that you have had your drink fed to you by my wife, will you answer our questions?" asked Draco.

"Certainly," Evan said.

"Full name?"

"Evander Williams," he answered.

"Work?" inquired Draco.

"Wand maker at Evander's wand shop in Greece," he replied.

"Residence?" continued Draco, writing everything down.

"Britain," he said.

"Please tell me what you did yesterday."

"I ate breakfast in the dining hall and then took a walk around the boat," he said. "Then I went back to my cabin to do some reading and ate lunch. After that, I spied Ms. Joanne reading so I tried to talk to her but she fell into the Nile, and so I rescued her," he said, smiling. "Then I went back to my cabin to finish up my reading, and then it was time for dinner and the dance."

"I spent most of the time at dance with Joanne and we took a walk along the balcony after that," he said, his eye boring into mine again.

I stared right back this time. I knew what he was getting at and I thought him a sick and disgusting man for taking advantage of me like that and I wanted him to know, so I glared right back.

"Then?" prompted Draco.

"I went to bed and didn't wake until I heard a woman's screech. I got up to investigate, as my cabin was somewhat near the girl's and found her dead," he continued. "And that's it."

"Did you hear anything last night?" Draco asked him.

He shook his head.

Draco paused to think and said, "Anything else?"

"Nope," Evan answered.

"If you think of anything else, let us know," Draco said.

"Will do," said Evan and he sauntered out after winking at me.

There was silence and then I exploded at Draco.

"I hate you Draco! How could you do that to me?" I demanded. "You know how much he repulses me and what he did to me last night?"

He laughed and I grabbed a cushion from the back of my chair and whacked him with it. "How could you? What if he tried to do something again today? You would have just sat there, watching!" I whacked him again.

He dodged it and said, "No I wouldn't have. I knew that by doing what he wanted was the only way to get to ask him some questions and he wouldn't have done anything in front of me."

"And what if he did?" I demanded, standing up.

"Then I would have saved you like some knight in shining armour," he said, laughing again.

"I am not some damsel in distress!" I said.

He laughed again. "You read so many fairy tale books, I wouldn't be sure."

I glowered at him and he stood up in front of me.

"Calm down Ginny," he said, a smirk playing about his lips. "Do you think I liked seeing my 'wife' in that guy's lap?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "It sure looked like you were enjoying it."

He smiled and moved my bangs out of my eyes before I could do anything. "I was laughing at your expression."

"Sure you were," I retorted, but I smiled anyways. He was really close to me and I could smell his wonderful cologne. My heart was beating quickly and it seemed like he was going to kiss me.

He leaned closer and I got ready to close my eyes when...I heard a voice.

"Excusé-moi?" Came a voice near the doorway. I turned around and nearly fainted. It was her, Gabrielle Delacour. "May I come in?"

I glanced at Draco and saw his eyes glued to her. He nodded slightly, his eyes not moving.

She came in and sat down across from our chairs. I increased the distance between Draco and I, and sat down. Draco also sat down and took out his notebook, his eyes glued to her.

For some reason I wasn't that surprised. When Draco had been dancing with her last night, I had seen many young men staring at her, as if they couldn't look away.

Jealousy bubbled over inside of me. As I looked at her, I saw that she was stunning. Stunning was the wrong word, she was beautiful.

Being a woman, I could really see how gorgeous she really was because I knew how difficult it was to actually look good.

She was pale and had porcelain white skin that was flawless of blemishes, pimples or any other marks. Her figure was thin and tall, almost as tall as Draco, so they went well together. She had small hips and long legs. Her hands were beautiful as well, with long thin fingers that were French manicured to perfection. She had a round face and big brown eyes that were framed by long thick lashes and perfectly arched eyebrows. She had a small nose and pretty pink lips and perfect even white teeth. Her long light brown hair flowed past her shoulders, and was perfectly straight with no split ends.

She was wearing a pink salmon dress with short net sleeves and a neckline that plunged quite deep.

As soon as I saw her, I hated her. I knew it was wrong of me to judge her just by how beautiful she was, but I hated the magnetic hold she had on Draco.

Since Draco looked like he had temporarily lost his ability to speak, I decided to be the one to interrogate her.

"My name is Joanne Rowling and this is my husband Neil," I said, poking Draco a bit to try and wake him out of his trance. He continued to look frozen in time so I sighed and continued.

"We are private investigators from the Scotland Yard and are conducting this interview," I said. "First of all, would you like a drink?"

She smiled and I felt like slapping her. "No, thank you." She spoke English well, but had a slight French accent.

"Are you sure?" I asked. "It's on us."

She looked at Draco and smiled and shook her head. Draco continued to stare. I didn't know whom I felt like slapping more, her or him.

"All right then," I said, flustered. "Full name?"

"Gabrielle Delacour," she said.

My pen suddenly ran out of ink so I struggled with it. I was pressing hard with the pen that Gabri was pressed onto the paper. I shook the pen a bit more, this was the sole reason I hated muggle pens and pencils. I got Elle down and the first half of her last name, but for the last half, my pen died again. I sighed and decided that it was readable so left it like that.

"Occupation?" I continued.

"Actress," she said.

"Residence?"

"France."

"Please tell me what you did yesterday," I said, "starting from morning."

"In the morning I had a bath, got dressed and then went to the dining room to eat something. After that, I went to my cabin to write some letters to my mother and sister. Then I took a walk around the boat and then had a personal meeting," she said.

"With whom?" I asked, suspicious.

She smiled, with her lips closed. "It was a personal meeting."

I wrote that down, glancing up to see her winking at Draco. I then knew who her 'personal meeting' had been with.

"After your 'personal meeting'?" I prompted.

"I had lunch in the dining hall and then took a nap," she said. "Then, I started getting ready for the dance that was to be held and I spent the rest of the evening at the dance."

Yeah, in my husband's arms, I said to myself. Outside, I just smiled at her and said, "After the dance?"

"I went to bed and didn't leave my cabin for the entire night," she said.

"Did you hear anything during the night?" I asked.

"Nope," she said.

"Where exactly is your cabin?"

She told me and it was far from Ella's.

"Very well," I said, trying to think of anything I might have missed. "Neil, do you want to ask Ms. Delacour something?"

Draco looked alarmed that he was being addressed. He shook his head, his eyes fixed on her. I sighed exasperatedly and said, "That will be all Ms. Delacour. I might think of something later to ask you, though."

"Fine with me," she said, getting up.

I shook her hand and ushered her out the door, before she could do more to Draco while I was there.

As soon as she was gone, Draco went back to normal.

A few minutes of silence passed and then the captain re-entered.

"Sorry to bother you," he said.

"Not at all," said Draco.

"We aren't going to be stopping tomorrow evening, it will be earlier than that. Most probably we will stop tomorrow afternoon at around three or four," he said. "Do not worry if you cannot solve it by then."

He left and I stared after him. "Tomorrow afternoon? We can't solve it by then!"

"Yes we can," said Draco, getting up.

"Yes we can," I agreed, "if we plan not to eat or sleep for the next twenty four hours."

He laughed and then said, "Come on, let's go."

I followed him out and to our cabin.

As soon as we got there, I dumped my notes on the bed and said, "I'm hungry. What time is it?"

He glanced at his watch and said, "Twelve thirty."

My stomach grumbled loudly, since I hadn't eaten any breakfast either.

He laughed again, and ordered us some sandwiches. I liked eating in our cabin better than going to the dining hall, where everyone could look at us.

As soon as the food came, I grabbed one and gulped it down.

Draco took the tray to the bed and sat down before eating one. We didn't say anything for a few minutes. I realized Draco must have been hungry too, but hadn't said anything.

After I had eaten three sandwiches and was full, I got up to get a glass of water.

"Do you want some?" I asked him.

He took out his wand, said a spell, and the pitcher of water that had been in my hand changed into pumpkin juice.

"Pumpkin juice!" I said. "I haven't had any for a month!"

"I know," he said, smirking.

There was only one glass so we shared it, just like we had shared the apple. Remembering that incident made me smile.

"What happened?" he asked me.

I shook my head and took a sip of juice. I handed the goblet to him and our fingertips touched.

After we were done eating and drinking, we got to work on the case.

Working with Draco, I realized, was actually easy, because I liked things to be organized and so did he.

Draco suggested that we make a chart of events before Ella's death. It took us about half hour to finish it and when we were done, it looked like this:

3:00- met with mother in dining hall and had a fight

7:00 to 11:00- stayed at the dance

11:00- got into another fight with mother, telling her to leave her alone

1:00 to 2:00- murdered

1:30- a thud that sounded as if something heavy fell from her room

2:30- Ella was seen outside on the balcony staring at the ocean

I frowned at the last part. "This doesn't make any sense."

Draco nodded. "I know what you mean."

"How could she have been murdered from around 1 to 2 and then be seen outside?" I thought aloud. "Maybe the doctor made a mistake."

"Maybe Aisha's mother made a mistake," said Draco. "Maybe she saw someone else that looked like her?"

I thought about it and then said, "How about you go and ask the doctor to ask him about the time, and I'll ask Aisha's mother about the woman she saw outside."

He nodded and we both went our separate ways. I found Aisha's cabin from my notes and knocked on the door.

Aisha answered the door and smiled at me.

"Hello," I said. "Sorry to bother you, but I have a question for your mother."

"That's all right," she said. She went to get her mother and her mother came to the door.

"Sorry to bother you," I said to her, "but I had a question for you."

She stared at me and then said, "I can't understand you," in Turkish.

"Oops," I said. "Aisha, can you please translate?"

Aisha nodded, and I said, "Are you sure that the woman you saw outside, when you went to the bathroom, was actually Ella?"

Aisha repeated the question in Turkish to her mother.

"Of course I am sure it was her," her mother answered. Aisha got ready to translate but I stopped her, telling her I could understand.

"There is three women on this boat who have black hair," she said. "Aisha, me and the woman who died, Ella. I was obviously looking at her, and Aisha was sleeping soundly on the bed so it could only be Ella."

"Perhaps your eyes misled you," I said. "Perhaps since you were so sleepy you thought you saw her."

Aisha translated, and her mother shook her head. "No, I was fully awake because I splashed cold water on my face because I was very cold and sweating. So when I went back to bed, my eyes were fully open and I was fully awake."

"What about the time?" I asked her. "Maybe it was one thirty and you thought it was two thirty."

Aisha translated and her mother shook her head. "I checked the big clock on the wall that is powered by the boat, to see the time."

I nodded and thanked her for her help. I went back to the cabin to find Draco already there.

"Any luck?" I asked him.

"No," he said. "The doctor told me that he was not mistaken these matters, I suppose he meant people dying, are rather fixed and it can't be rounded even to a half hour."

I sighed, and sat down on the bed.

"Let's make a list of suspects," he suggested. I nodded and we got to work.

I wrote the first names down.

Marcel and Angus Aiden- parents of Ella. Motive: wanted Ella to come home.

"Is that a good enough reason to kill your own daughter?" I asked Draco.

He shrugged. "We gave them Veritaserum though. Cross their names off."

I crossed them off.

Next was her husband. Orlando Bloom- husband of Ella. Motive: wanted to get back with old girlfriend/fiancée?

I asked Draco what he thought. He thought for a minute and said, "It could have been a reason, but we gave him Veritaserum."

I nodded and crossed him off as well. I added Felicia and Arnold Grey next.

"They didn't take Veritaserum," I pointed out.

"They didn't, but they didn't kill her either," he said.

"How do you know?" I asked, confused.

"There are other ways to tell if someone is lying," he said seriously. "How many times they blink, if their mouth twitches, if their pupils dilate or not, etc."

"But those signs could be wrong," I said.

"It isn't likely," he said after a while. "Those are the signs and they always work. My father taught me how to tell if a person was lying or not, because of his work for the Dark Lord, I guess. It was the only useful thing I learned from him."

I looked at him and for the first time I had seen him after five years, he looked sad and regretful. The moment passed and then I said, "You're probably right. So we cross off Felicia and Arnold?"

He nodded and I added Aisha, her mother and her brothers onto the list. Occupied cabin beside Ella. Motive?

"What reason could they have had to kill Ella?" I asked Draco.

He shrugged. "We'll come back to that one. Who's next?"

"Mr. Black," I said. There was nothing about him, so I left it blank.

"Evan's next," I said, writing his name down. Draco smirked and I glared at him until he stopped.

I moved back on the bed until I was leaning on wall. He really didn't have a motive for killing Ella either, at least one we knew about.

I skipped him and wrote down Gabrielle's name. She was definitely suspicious, but I didn't say anything to Draco. She didn't have a motive either, so I finished the list up and gave it to Draco look at.

Marcel and Angus Aiden- parent's of Ella. Motive: wanted Ella to come home and when she didn't, they killed her.

Orlando Bloom- husband of Ella's. Motive: wanted to get back with his old girlfriend/fiancée

Felicia and Arnold Grey- share cabin beside Ella. Motive: None

Aisha Freida- shares cabin with her mother, on the other side of Ella's cabin. Motive:?

Mariam Freida- occupies cabin beside Ella's. Motive:?

Ahmad Ibrahim- Motive:?

Muhammad Ibrahim- Motive:?

Mr. Black- Motive:?

Evander Williams- Motive:?

Gabrielle Delacour- Motive :?

"What about Aisha's family?" I asked. "Do you know if they were lying?"

"Not really. I wasn't really looking for the signs when I was talking to them," he said. "Also, the people who didn't take the Veritaserum could have lied to us about their relationship with Ella. We should try and find out."

"How?" I wondered.

"First we should check all the cabins for the weapon," said Draco. "Then we'll tail the suspects."

"How?" I asked.

He smirked. "Ever heard of an Invisibility Cloak, Weasley?"

"You have one?"

"I actually have two so we can follow all the suspects around," he said.

I was impressed. "Wow, you are prepared. First Veritaserum, now invisibility cloaks."

He smirked again. "Let's go check everyone's cabin."

I got up and we went to speak to the captain. We told him that we wanted everyone to leave their rooms so we could do a thorough search of all the rooms for the weapon.

The captain understood and called everyone to the lounge to give an announcement about the boat stopping early, so that we have the rooms to ourselves.

We started at the front of the boat and Draco explained how to look around for the weapon. He brought his wand and mine as well, so we would say 'Accio weapon' and the weapon would come.

We did rooms right across from one another. Draco started in Ella and Orlando's room and I started with Mr. Black's cabin.

We searched the whole boat and found nothing. A few weapons showed up, like in Mr. Black's room several guns came towards me. But no dagger was found.

We met back in our room and took the Invisibility cloaks to follow the suspects.

I was assigned Aisha and Draco started off with Mr. Black.

By tailing Aisha, I found out that she was good friends with Ella, before the boat ride. In fact, her mother and Ella's mothers even knew one another and were friends as well.

I heard a conversation that Aisha had with her mother saying that she didn't like Ella's husband and thought him to have killed her.

I met back with Draco in the cabin and told him what I had learnt. He had no news, but was interested in mine.

Since I had almost followed Aisha's mother by following Aisha, I didn't have to do her again. Draco went off to follow her brothers, and I volunteered myself for Gabrielle.

Gabrielle was too good to be true. I think she knew I was following her, so she basically sat around the lounge and did nothing. A few times she went off to her cabin and slammed the door right in my face, so I couldn't open the door without her suspecting something.

One time, I followed her to the other side of the boat, where Evan's cabin was, but she quickly turned and went onto the balcony.

After following her for an hour, I grew tired so I went back to my cabin. By that time, Draco had finished following Aisha's brothers and Evan as well.

I had nothing to report but Draco did. He told me that Evan had barely moved from his cabin, as if he knew Draco was sitting there in his Invisibility Cloak. I told Draco that that Gabrielle had done almost the same thing.

He nodded and told me that Muhammad; Aisha's brother had been madly in love with Ella.

I was really surprised to hear this and then I remembered that he was younger than Ella.

I told this to Draco and he said, "Only by about a year."

I nodded and said, "I also thought of a reason for Aisha to have killed Ella. She says she was friends with her, so maybe she was jealous of her husband. That happens between friends sometimes."

Draco thought for a second and then said, "Maybe...it's likely. Actually it's possible."

I wrote it down and when I was done, the chart looked like this:

Marcel and Angus Aiden- parent's of Ella. Motive: wanted Ella to come home and when she didn't, they killed her.

Orlando Bloom- husband of Ella's. Motive: wanted to get back with his old girlfriend/fiancée

Felicia and Arnold Grey- share cabin beside Ella. Motive: None

Aisha Freida- shares cabin with her mother, on the other side of Ella's cabin. Friends with Ella. Motive: jealousy?

Mariam Freida- occupies cabin beside Ella's. Friends with Marcel. Motive: assisted daughter.

Ahmad Ibrahim- Motive:?

Muhammad Ibrahim- madly in love with Ella. Motive:?

Mr. Black- Motive: None

Evander Williams- Motive:?

Gabrielle Delacour- Motive:?

"If Muhammad did love Ella," I said, "then why would he kill her?"

He thought for a second and then said, "When I was listening to him, he sounded like a mad lover. Like, he would do anything to have her. He said that he was glad she was dead because now she wasn't Orlando's wife anymore. So he could have killed her on the base that he felt that if he couldn't have her, then no one could, and decided to kill her."

I didn't think it was possible, but I still wrote it down.

"Ok, here's what I think happened," I said. "Aisha saw that her friend was on the boat and was jealous of her because of her husband. So she decided she wants to kill her, so she sneaks in one night, and kills her."

"And Ella's husband just happens to be fast asleep that he didn't hear his wife die?" asked Draco, his one eyebrow up.

"I don't know!" I said, flopping down on the bed. "My head hurts. This is much too complicated."

"I have another theory as to who did it, but not the method it happened," said Draco. "What if it was the girl had broken up with Evan? The one who was in love with Evan but then cheated on him. Maybe she was jealous and killed her."

"There are no blond haired blue eyed girls on this boat, Draco," I mumbled. "But the idea was good."

"What confuses me," said Draco, "is how and why was Ella walking around the balcony after the time she was supposed to be dead. It doesn't make any sense."

"Of course it doesn't," I said. "This murder was planned and planned carefully at that."

"What if it was two people?" Draco asked me.

I thought about it. "It could be."

After a few minutes of silence, I had an idea. "I have it! No, not all of it, just part of it. What if the thud that Angus and Aisha heard was Orlando stuffed into a closet?"

Draco raised an eyebrow at me. I sat up eagerly and said, "He said he felt like he had slept the night in the closet right? And we're wondering how someone could have murdered Ella without Orlando noticing? So what if he was drugged up and threw into a closet and what people heard was him thrown in the closet?"

Draco thought about it, and his face lit up. "That could be it. I'm pretty sure about it."

I smiled, happy that I had figured something.

"What about why Ella was seen outside of her room when she was supposed to be dead?" he asked me, as if I suddenly had all the answers.

I shrugged and thought about it. The doctor had said that the time had been between one and two and not two minutes before or after. Aisha's mother claimed that she saw Ella outside at two thirty. But what if Aisha's mother was lying? She could be doing it to cover up for her daughter."

I rubbed my head and said, "I think that someone did this to confuse us."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean how Ella was seen outside after she was supposed be dead," I explained. "Either Aisha's mother is lying or someone else is trying to confuse us."

"They're doing a good job," said Draco.

I sighed and looked outside. Darkness had fallen outside, and the time had flown by so quickly that I kept on thinking it was still morning.

"What time is it?" I asked him.

He checked his watch. "Six thirty."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. I got up and answered it.

Felicia stood there, smiling. "Hi. Sorry if I'm interrupting anything..."

"No, no," I said, smiling back. "We were just talking."

"I just wanted to let you know that there is another dance tonight," she continued. "The captain felt bad that the trip was being cancelled and felt that everyone was very somber. So he has organized a formal dance for tonight. Are you coming?"

I glanced back at Draco and said, "I don't think so, Felicia."

"Why not? It'll be so much fun and I feel everyone can use a little bit of fun after what happened this morning."

"Um, we have to solve the case so I don't think we'll go," I told her. "Thank you for telling me though."

She smiled and walked away. I shut the door and Draco asked me, "What was she saying."

Picking up my notebook I said, "She was just telling me about another dance that was supposed to be held tonight, but I told her we're not coming." I picked up my pen and banged it on my leg to try and get it to work again.

"Why not?"

I glanced up. "Because we have work to do Draco."

"So, we need a break," he said. "We've been at this for almost nine hours now."

I stared at him incredulously. "You are Draco Malfoy right? You are suggesting that we take a break?"

He shrugged.

I was still suspicious. "Is this so you can dance with Gabrielle?"

He laughed. "No. I just can't think anymore."

"All right," I said. "As long as you don't ditch me for her."

He smirked. "I won't, as long as you don't ditch me for Evan."

"Ew, no way," I said, shuddering. "I've learnt my lesson."

He smirked. "Good."

"I'm going to take a shower," I told him, taking my stuff and going.

In the bathroom, I took off all my clothes and warmed the water. I then got into the shower and felt great when the hot water washed over my body.

Fifteen minutes later, I turned the water off and put on temporary clothes; a shirt and a pair of pants.

I came out of the bathroom and found Draco waiting.

"You're going to wear that?" he asked me, his one eyebrow up.

"No," I said. "When you go into the bathroom then I'm going to change."

He smirked and went into the bathroom.

After I heard the water turn on, I found a dress that I wanted to wear. Felicia had told me that the dance was formal and it was perfect for the occasion.

Yesterday the dress I had worn had made me feel like a different person. It made me feel powerful, sexy, and wanted. But I realized that it also made me feel dirty, wrong and different. It was because I had worn it to turn into a different person and I didn't like that person. I realized I was tired of the role I was playing.

I wanted to be myself and I wanted Draco to love me, for who I really was, not because of the beautiful, titled, rich wife I pretended to be.

When I kissed him and he kissed me back, I wanted him to kiss the woman who used to be a year behind him at Hogwarts and who was his assistant, not his wife.

I guess I was tired of acting like someone I wasn't. Maybe if I really was the rich wife of Draco Malfoy, I would feel different. But it felt wrong to pretend to be that person and to really be someone else.

I ironed the dress and pulled it on. It was beautiful and fit me perfectly. It was a similar shade of my hair, a deep and dark red. It had thin spaghetti straps and a neckline that didn't go too low. Fabric was gathered to create a ripple effect for the neckline. The bodice was fitted, but the waist the fabric flowed down to create a very small train at the back. It was simple and elegant.

After many days, I took my hair out of its ponytail and let it fall past my shoulders. Today I didn't straighten or curl it. I brushed it and put it a small clip there to keep it together. Today it was wavy and I saw that it had grown so that it went to my back, the tips almost touching my butt.

I applied very little makeup; some red lip-gloss and a bit of eyeliner to make my brown eyes stand out.

When I was done, I was rather pleased with my transformation. I leaned forward in the mirror to fix my bangs when I heard the bathroom door open.

I quickly pushed them over my ear and straightened up.

Standing before me, was Draco looking the most handsome and sexy I have ever seen him look.

He was wearing a black suit with a black shirt underneath. He hadn't put his shoes or socks on yet so I could see his feet underneath. It made me want to laugh when I saw his feet, I don't know why. Maybe because he looked more normal now.

His face was clean-shaven of the few bristles of hair there had been before. His skin looked so soft and clean I just wanted to kiss it. His hair, as usual was gelled to perfection so a few strands fell over his eyes.

He just stared at me for a minute and I felt like I was Gabrielle Delacour when Draco stared at her. I was surprised she never blushed or ever looked down, because that's what I did when he looked at me. But I suppose she has men staring at her longingly all the time.

"You look nice," he said, his beautiful grey eyes boring into mine.

"Thanks, you look nice too," I said, feeling the urge to giggle.

We just continued to stare at one another for a few minutes and then I said, "We should go now." Actually I had no problem with just spending the whole night staring at him.

He nodded and put on his socks and shoes. I also grabbed my shoes and sat on the bed to put them on.

After that, he said, "Let's go."

I took his arm and we left the cabin.

The dance was taking place in the dining hall again so we made our way there. I was careful to try and not to trip on my long dress and my big stilettos.

When we got there, we saw that dinner was being served. Everyone else was already there or just arriving, like us.

I saw Felicia and waved to her.

We sat down at a table and waited for dinner to be served. As soon as dinner was served, we began to eat.

There was laughter and talking around us, but we were both silent. It reminded me of Neville and Medea's engagement party.

Draco seemed to be thinking along the same lines. He smiled looking at the dance floor and said, "Remember at your friend's engagement party when we danced to that fast song?"

I smiled and nodded. "That was great."

"I don't suppose you want to do that today," he joked, his eyes twinkling.

I laughed. "No that's ok. I did some of that yesterday, but it felt strange."

A few minutes of silence passed and then he said, "Do you want a drink?"

"No thanks," I said, smirking at him. "You know what happened last time."

He smirked and took a sip of his drink.

When most people were done eating, the music started playing and people filed onto the dance floor.

This time, he didn't take that long to ask me to dance, like he did at Neville's party.

"Do you want to dance?" he asked me after a few minutes.

"Sure." I lifted up my dress and went over to the dance floor. Everyone was dressed a little bit more fancy than yesterday and looked very nice.

Draco gave me his hand and we started dancing. I was a bit nervous because I hadn't danced with him a long time and I was also scared I was going to trip.

My heart started beating quickly as his hand touched my back and he took my hand into his.

Thankfully it wasn't a slow song so I was comfortable enough. After that, came really a fast one so we sat that one out and just talked.

It was fun talking to him, I realised. We didn't talk about the case, because of the danger of people overhearing and we didn't talk about the office either because we thought people would find out then that we weren't married.

We talked about random things. He told me about his growing up, after his parents had died. I told him about my mother dying and me living on my own.

Then we talked about when we had 'dated' at Hogwarts and had a few laughs about it. I didn't remember much because right after that, Fred had died, so I had wanted to forget everything, but I realized Draco remembered almost everything. He told me silly things that we both had done and I laughed, just picturing the two of us.

After that a few slow songs came on so we kept on talking. A medium one came on after so we decided to dance again.

Having his hand on my back, or holding his hand now didn't make me as uncomfortable as before. My heart was still beating quickly, but now it wasn't because I was afraid of him or was nervous but because I was so much in love with him, that the thought of losing him made my heart beat quicken.

After that song, another slow one came on.

I really wanted to dance to a slow song with him, but didn't know what to do or say.

But after a few minutes, I realized I didn't need to say anything. We had both slowed down and started slow dancing. His arms were around me and I laid my head on his shoulder.

Soon though, the song ended and a medium one came on. We danced to that one and a few more after that.

At nine o'clock, I started getting hot and fanning myself with my hand so he suggested we go outside.

Outside on the balcony, it was beautiful and a light breeze blew a few strands of me hair around. My skirt ruffled and I leaned on the railing.

The Nile looked beautiful tonight. The water was dark and black while the moon shone in the sky, it's reflection shining in the water.

It was a few minutes before I realized we were both quiet. I looked at him out of the corner of my eyes and saw him taking his jacket off. He put it on the railing and loosened his tie.

"Don't put your jacket there," I told him, picking up. "It'll fall into the Nile, just like I did the other day."

He raised an eyebrow at me and I laughed. "Don't look at me like that. I couldn't do anything. Evan was so close to me, I had no choice then but to jump into the Nile."

Both eyebrows went up now. "You jumped in?"

"No," I said. "Evan was so close to me and I kind of just...fell over."

He laughed. "You never cease to amaze me, Weasley."

I took this as a compliment and I smiled.

"How's your cat?" he asked me. "What was her name?"

"Snowflake," I said. "Don't laugh."

Laughing, he said, "Only you could have named her that."

I smiled. "I don't know how she is. I miss her though. The day before we came here I sent her to Ron and Hermione's place."

"I never got over how Weasley and Granger got married," he said, smirking.

"Shut up," I said and he laughed again.

"Who did Potter marry again? Oh yeah, Lovegood." He smirked.

I rolled my eyes at him and said, "How's Pansy, Draco?"

He laughed. "I had forgotten that."

I laughed. "I hadn't. Remember those posters I hung up all over Hogwarts about you and some muggle actress?"

"Mary Kate Olsen," he said.

"Wow, you still remember?"

He shrugged and I said, "You were pretty scary back then, you know?"

"I'm not scary anymore?" he smirked.

"Kind of," I admitted. "I freaked out when I first saw you after five years, did you know?"

He laughed again. "Of course I know. You knocked over a whole bookshelf."

I laughed. "Whoops. But actually that wasn't because I was afraid of you, I was just surprised, that's all."

He didn't say anything for a while and then, "I feel like throwing something into the water."

I looked around for a rock, but he took my hand and took off the diamond ring. He then chucked it into the water, far from the boat.

I stared at what he did and then, "Draco! What did you just do?"

He smirked, looking proud of his work. "What does it look like you?"

"Was it real?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "Probably was. I really don't care."

"How much was it worth?"

He thought for a second. "A few thousand gallons, at least."

I stared at him incredulously and he smirked while seeing my face.

I sighed exasperatedly. "Whatever. It's your money."

He laughed and I just shook my head at him. I suddenly became aware that his hand was still in mine.

Before I could say anything, he spoke. "You're a really good dancer you know."

"No I'm not," I said, laughing. "And that was really random."

He shrugged. "I wanted to tell you for a while."

"I am not a good dancer, Draco," I said. "What are you talking about? I'm the one who had to read a self-help dancing guidebook before the dance in seventh year."

He laughed. "Maybe back then, but you're good now. Almost better then me. Almost."

"Oh, almost is it?" I said, smiling. "When have you seen me dance?"

"Maybe tonight," he said in a sarcastic voice. "Also that party and then that night at the club. I was watching you dance then."

"I was drunk then, remember? I don't dance like that all the time," I tried defending myself.

"Maybe not, but you're pretty good most of the time, when your not drunk. Even last night..." I interrupted him.

"Oh god, not last night," I said, slipping my hand out of his and putting my head into my hands.

"What about last night?" he asked. "I wasn't talking about that scene that I happened to witness with you and Evan, I was talking about you dancing."

"It doesn't matter. That wasn't me dancing yesterday," I said, tears coming out of my eyes.

"Who was it then?"

"Someone I was trying to be, someone I hoped to be so someone would notice me," I said, leaning my head on the railing.

"Why did you do that?"

"Because I wanted to impress them, to make them look at me but I realized it didn't feel right to me. I was trying to change who I was and that didn't make me happy," I said, biting my lip, the tears streaming down my face.

"Then why would you do something that doesn't make you happy?"

"I thought it would make someone else happy, but in the end I didn't care about what they thought because I felt like I was just cheating myself and my values."

He didn't say anything for a while so I dried my tears and said, "I'm sorry, you must think I'm crazy."

He smirked. "Yeah I do."

I burst out laughing. "You are crazy."

He shrugged and smiled sideways, so that one dimple showed. Somehow his hand found its way to mine again.

We were both silent after that, for a few minutes. So many thoughts were swimming around in my head so I said, "No one respects me ever. Not in the office and never at home either. Everyone in my family thought me a joke, and never took me seriously."

Draco was quiet for a minute. He was doing that a lot lately. "People won't respect you, if you don't respect yourself, Ginny."

I turned to look at him. "Who told you that?"

"My father used to say it to me all the time," he said, staring off into the distance. "That was our motto practically. We learned to respect ourselves and think highly of ourselves, so that others could do the same."

"Are you telling me to start following the Malfoy motto now?" I asked him, smiling. We had started walking down the railing towards our cabin and stopped right before the open doors.

"No," he said. "If you want to do something right, don't follow us. In fact don't follow anyone because you feel miserable and end up losing yourself. That's what happened to my parents Ginny. They followed the Dark Lord in his every step, and in the end, they didn't even know they were anymore and in his defeat was their defeat."

"Be yourself, whoever that is. Even if you feel strange by being different around other people, be yourself because you'll be happiest then. By being someone else, you're only lying to yourself," he said.

I sighed. "That's how I feel. I'm tired of pretending to be someone else."

He looked at me. There was hardly any distance between our bodies anymore.

"Then stop pretending," he said.

He then leaned down and kissed me. I was surprised, but I kissed him back, finally. I know we had kissed before when Evan was coming to spy on us, but it wasn't really us who had kissed. At least it wasn't me. It was someone I was pretending to be. But I was through pretending.

The kiss was sweet and meaningful. As he deepened the kiss, I realized that I was kissing my boss, Draco Malfoy, the guy I was madly in love with.

I wrapped my arms around him and felt his arms around me. His hands got tangled into my hair and I moaned.

He took the clip out of my hair and weaved his fingers in and out of my curls as he kissed me passionately.

I touched his gelled hair. It was so soft and silky, just as I had imagined it.

He pressed harder and he pried open my mouth with his tongue. His tongue found mine, and this time it wasn't disgusting as when Evan had tried to do it.

He then picked me up and took me inside our cabin. He laid me on the bed, without breaking the kiss.

I felt like I was dreaming, wait, scratch that. I was sure I was dreaming, but even in my wildest dreams I hadn't imagined such an intense kiss.

Finally we needed to come up for air, so he broke away.

I was breathing heavily and so was he. My chest was rising and then dropping.

He got up and locked both doors and then came back. He just sat over the bed, looking at me, so I grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him in for another kiss.

He was surprised, I could tell, but he responded by kissing me avidly back. His hands were everywhere on my body, up my arms, down my back, my shoulders and my neck.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and I felt like I was going to faint. He pressed his body onto mine and kissed me harder.

Again, we broke off when we needed air. I was heaving and so was he. I just wanted to lie there with him on top of me, but he wasn't finished yet.

Instead of his lips finding my lips, his lips found my neck and he kissed my neck. His lips then trailed kissed from my neck to my shoulders. He moved my dress strap out of the way and kissed my bare shoulders.

While he did this, I unbuttoned his shirt and touched his muscular arms and shoulders. I had seen him plenty of times without a shirt, but this was the first time I had touched his muscles.

He bit my neck and I moaned. I caught him smirking and I saw that the neck of my gown and slithered down so that my breasts were visible.

His lips found mine again, while his hands roamed around my body.

I closed my eyes and kissed him back. Images flashed through my mind. An image of Gabrielle came and stayed there.

I wondered how Draco had kissed her. I pushed the thought of my head and focused on him kissing me now.

But it wouldn't leave. An image of me writing her name down came into my mind's eye. The pen hadn't worked properly so all that was visible was Elle Dela, parts of her name.

I bolted upright and hit Draco on the jaw.

"I have it!" I screamed, jumping off the bed.

"What?" said Draco, looking confused. I didn't blame him, one second we had been kissing and the next I had jumped off the bed.

"Elle Dela!" I said. "Don't you see? Oh my god, it was right there in front of me the whole time."

"What are you talking about?" he asked me.

"Gabrielle! It's Gabrielle," I said. "She was the one...ooh! I knew something was wrong with her." It was all clicking now and I was scrambling around the room looking for the Invisibility Cloak.

I turned to go but he grabbed my hand. "What are you talking about Ginny?"

"The case, Draco! It was Gabrielle the whole time! She was the one. She used Polyjuice potion. But someone had to be helping her...it had to be Evan," I rambled.

"It can't have been Gabrielle," he said. "Ginny, you're confused and talking mad. Where are you going now?"

"To find out if I'm right. If I'm right then they'll be meeting right now," I said, trying to go, but his grasp was too strong.

"Do you have to go now?" he asked me.

"Yes! They'll be meeting right now. Oh I know it's her!" I said, struggling to escape. I put my hands on his shoulders and said, "Just trust me, ok? If you have any bit of trust for me, then let me go. I'll be back soon, I promise."

I then kissed him quickly and ran out the door, throwing my cloak on before he could say another word.