On Fire

so many lies

are taking hold

it's not your fault

there's many scars

I am on your side

it's taking me a long time

- Pete Yorn

Trust

Ginny woke up the next morning feeling more refreshed than she had the entire summer. As she thought about the past weeks, she grinned wryly. Who would have thought that the sweet, innocent Ginny Weasley would befriend Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini? Ever since that fateful train ride to Hogwart's, the three of them had become inseparable. Draco still held hands with her whenever Pansy was in sight. And when she and Blaise walked through the halls together, Blaise always had his arm casually draped across her shoulders. Blaise still smelled like rain and wind, while Draco still had that lingering scent of new leather...

Ginny flushed, wondering why it mattered to her when either of the boys touched her. But she couldn't help herself - every time they touched her, she felt more confident and comfortable with herself. The few times that she had hugged her family members had never instilled that kind of confidence in her. With the two Slytherins, Ginny felt like she was proud to be herself; with her family, she was merely proud of being a part of them. Ginny snorted as she pushed away the covers and hopped out of bed. She wasn't so sure that she would be proud of being a Weasley when her family heard about her new friends.

Surprisingly, Ron had not sent word to Mrs. Weasley about Ginny becoming friends with the two Slytherins. It seemed that Harry had told both Ron and Hermione exactly what Ginny had said to him their first night back. Ron steadfastly refused to initiate conversation with her, but at least he didn't avoid her. Hermione still looked at Ginny anxiously, but wisely kept her mouth shut. Harry also continued to watch her, looking extremely serious every time he saw Ginny with Blaise and Draco. Ginny just continued to do as she pleased and ignored her brother and his friends, having had more than enough of them.

When Ginny pushed open the doors to the Great Hall that morning, she was met with the usual muted whispering that always accompanied her entrance. The rest of the school was still unsure of what to make of her, and the whispers only grew louder when she sat down. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws still believed that she was trying to snag either Draco or Blaise as a boyfriend. The Slytherins just kept their mouths shut, content with sneering at Ginny superiorly whenever they passed her.

Ginny now made a point to sit facing the Slytherin table, so that she was able to look at Blaise or Draco whenever she felt lonely at the Gryffindor table. Everyone in her house avoided Ginny, much like they had in her first year. She sighed and began filling her plate with food, and watched the Slytherin table while she ate. Pansy was sitting next to Draco with her arms flung around his neck. Draco had managed to move away from her, and was catapulting food at Blaise with his spoon. Blaise's shots were woefully inaccurate, for they consistently hit Pansy in the face or her hair. Pansy began to whine at both of them, which only made them laugh out loud at her. She finally got up with a huff and sat next to Millicent Bulstrode, shooting Blaise and Draco dirty looks throughout the rest of the meal.

Ginny couldn't resist grinning at their antics; years with her brothers had shown her the humor in situations such as this. As though reading her mind, Blaise turned and looked straight at her, grinning. Ginny grinned back, sticking her tongue out at him. With eyes widened in playful horror, he began mouthing threats at her. Ginny couldn't make out all of what he said, but she thought she recognized, "pay back," "feed," and "lake." Mulling over these words, she suddenly realized that Blaise was threatening to feed her to the squid in the lake. Ginny just rolled her eyes and waved her hand at him dismissing his threats.

"Are you ok, Ginny?" Harry asked when he saw her motion.

"What? Oh, yes, I'm fine," Ginny said as pleasantly as she could. Harry had become annoyingly polite ever since that conversation, as though trying to be a "better friend." Ginny stared at her plate so that she could hide another roll of her eyes with her hair. She didn't want to become better friends with Harry - it was bad enough that she used to have a horrible crush on him. A few years ago, she would have fainted if he asked her that simple question; now, she just wanted to be rid of him.

Harry was oblivious to her sentiments, of course, so he blithely continued, "You know, there's a Hogsmeade weekend coming up."

"Mmm-hmm," Ginny muttered noncommittally as she stuffed her mouth with scrambled eggs.

"Err..." Harry said, searching for words. "I, uh, was wondering if you were going."

Ginny looked up sharply at this. "Yes, I was planning on going," she said carefully. And then the dreaded words came.

"So, erm, why don't we go... together?" Harry asked hesitantly, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

It was really quite funny how much Ginny dreaded those words. She couldn't stand the thought of going to Hogsmeade with Harry. Those Slytherins had affected her thinking more than she had imagined.

Ginny cleared her throat uncomfortably and stared down at her plate. "Well, Harry..." she began, "I was already planning on going with... Blaise and Draco." Actually, she hadn't asked them yet about their plan for Hogsmeade.

Harry shifted in his seat. "Well, I guess... maybe next time?" he asked hopefully.

Ginny sighed, knowing that she had to finish this before it started. She looked up at Harry and said, "Harry I'm sorry, but I don't fancy you anymore."

"Oh. Well, I never said anything about... that." Harry replied as his face turned even redder. "I just wanted to... spend time with you is all."

When he finally turned his eyes to Ginny's, she looked into them piercingly. He was lying, and they both knew it. For the sake of his red face and dignity, she nodded and replied, "I'm sorry for that assumption, then. I just wanted to make sure that we had that out in the open."

Harry nodded, but his heightened color had gradually sunk to pink. They both turned back to their breakfasts, ignoring each other.

When she finished her breakfast, Ginny rose from her seat composedly and walked to the door, waiting for Blaise and Draco. Draco was still dealing with Pansy, so Blaise caught up to her first and grinned before wrapping his arm around her. Ginny was laughing at him when she turned around to look for Draco. Her eyes momentarily fell on Harry; he was watching her with such wistfulness that she almost felt sorry for him.

Blaise interrupted her thoughts, "Why don't we leave Draco with Pansy?" he asked as he smirked at her. Ginny nodded eagerly, and they left the Great Hall. As they walked through the hall, Ginny looked up at Blaise, "Blaise, what are you doing for Hogsmeade weekend?" she asked.

"Well, I intend to go with you, if you'll have me," Blaise replied with another smirk.

Ginny poked him in the side with her elbow while asking, "And what about Draco?"

"Yes, and what about me?" asked a furious voice behind them. Ginny and Blaise stopped and turned to find Draco rubbing viciously at his cheek. Ginny looked at Draco questioningly, so he removed his hand to reveal a red lipstick smear. When she and Blaise began laughing, Draco stormed past them towards his class. Ginny had been laughing so hard that she was still stifling giggles as she sat down for her Charms class.

After dinner, Ginny sat with Draco and Blaise in an empty classroom. Draco was leaning against the cold stone wall, his arms crossed over his chest. Blaise and Ginny were sitting at two desks where Blaise was regaling her with stories from his classes that day.

"When it blew up, Snape gave both Longbottom and Potter detention tomorrow night!" Blaise finished with a laugh.

Ginny smiled but shook her head sadly. "That's too bad for Harry - that Snape always has it in for him."

Draco stopped staring into space, and snapped, "Still in love with Potter after all these years?"

"I've told you before, Draco, I'm over him," Ginny replied exasperatedly. "It's just... well, he had a hard day."

"What do you mean, a 'hard' day? Everyone has one; why is his any different?" Blaise asked.

Ginny fidgeted a little, and replied, "Well, I did turn him down for Hogsmeade this morning..."

Draco whooped with delight and hurriedly took a seat next to Ginny. "All right, spill. I want to hear everything Scarhead said."

Ginny sighed, and began, "Well, he asked me if I was going to Hogsmeade. I told him that I was going with you two..." She looked at Draco with a raised eyebrow.

Draco cleared his throat, looked at Blaise, and turned back to Ginny to reply, "Well, Father is going to get suspicious if he sees us together. I... uhm, have to go with Pansy."

Ginny turned to Blaise with confusion. "But why doesn't it matter if you go with me?"

"Well," Blaise began, after casting a sidelong glance at Draco. "Err, Ginevra, there's something we have to tell you."

Ginny sat waiting patiently, and asked with irritation, "What?"

Blaise stood up and thrust his hands in his pockets uncomfortably. He paced a little before stopping in front of Ginny, and replied, "Well, Draco and I told our parents that we were... uh, pretending to be your friend."

"What?" Ginny asked, shocked.

"Now, Ginevra," Blaise said with a placating voice, "We had to tell them that we were your friend so that we could spy on Potter."

Ginny rose with fury. "And all that shit about You-Know-Who kissing your ass - was that an act too?"

"Ginevra," Draco said, standing up. "You have to understand. We're the eldest sons of Death Eaters. Ever since we were babies, we were expected to become one of them. It's not like we can go to You-Know-Who and tell him to kiss our asses."

Blaise interrupted, "He's right, Ginevra. We aren't blessed with the kind of friends and family that you have. We can't just tell our families that we want to be your friends because we like you. They would kill us."

Ginny stood still, visibly wavering with indecision. She finally sat down and leaned her head on her hand. "So that's what you meant when you said you'd 'take care' of the Slytherins," she mumbled. In a louder voice, she exclaimed, "So that's why they keep giving me those damn looks! They know about this!"

Both boys sat down, and Blaise nervously replied, "Yes."

"But that means that you need inside information on Harry," Ginny mumbled to herself, completely ignoring them. "Something that no one but his friends would know..." She looked at Blaise, her eyes blazing. "Are you sure you're not playing tricks on me? Maybe you really are just spying on Harry through me."

Blaise and Draco looked at each other nervously. Blaise sighed, "I knew you were going to say that." He buried his head in his arms on the desk.

Ginny felt a light touch on her arm - it was Draco, who was trying to get her attention. "Listen, I know we seem really suspicious right now. But," he ran his hand through his hair nervously, "You have to believe us, Ginevra. At least believe me."

"Why should I believe you?" Ginny asked coldly.

"Do you think I would want to be seen with you if I were spying?" Draco asked incredulously. "You know how much I hated you and your brother before. Why would that change if I were spying on Potter?"

Ginny just looked at him skeptically. Draco sighed, "Yes I know, I am a good actor. But," he pleaded, "No one knows about how we spend time together every night." Another thought occurred to him, and he continued, "And if I were a spy, why wouldn't I just let Blaise hang out with you? Why am I always present as well?"

He looked at Ginny, who was sitting back with a thoughtful look on her face. Draco blurted out, "I know you think that I'm only around you because of Pansy. But I must be losing my mind," he said sarcastically, "because I'm starting to enjoy spending time with you, Ginevra."

Ginny gave him a sharp look, but lessened her harshness when she saw that Draco's eyes were a soft, shiny gray and he had a genuine grin on his face. She shook her head as though clearing it, "All right, I guess I believe you." Blaise looked up with hopeful eyes as she continued, "But it's going to take me a while to really trust both of you. And I don't know what to do about Harry..."

Blaise nodded eagerly, "We know Ginevra, but that doesn't matter now. All that matters is you're giving us a chance!" With that, he swept her up in a warm embrace.