Pride and Honor

The night air was colder than Ginny had anticipated. She wrapped the edges of her light cloak tighter around her, frowning slightly at the frayed bottom that hung a foot off the ground. The thread seemed to mock her as she walked, trailing behind her for anyone to see that it was a second-hand cloak for a second-rate girl. The emerald dress robe underneath spoke otherwise, but it was hidden as she picked up the delicate fabric so she could run from the castle. She didn't stop running until she reached the lake where she leaned up against the trunk of a tree, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she fought to catch her breath.

She had won. She, Ginny Weasley, the youngest Weasley and by far the most overshadowed, won the Bicentennial Pageant of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Not only had she become esteemed in the eyes of the Ministry and gained pride and honor to her name, she'd won five thousand galleons. Five thousand. She could buy herself some different school and dress robes as well as another cloak that didn't look so used. In fact, she could buy new ones instead of second hand!

Giddy laughter erupted from her. She had just proved to everyone that she wasn't a pathetic girl secretly pining after friends who would never truly befriend her like they did each other, and that there was more to her than being a lost puppy that nobody wanted forever following around Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and her older brother. Her laughter faded when she remembered Harry's face moments before. He acted as if he had never told a lie in his life, which she knew not to be true. Harry constantly lied to Professors and sometimes his friends if he thought that they would hold him back from doing something. She did the same thing, only now it was wrong and hurtful, especially since it took the attention away from him.

She scowled. He really wasn't concerned about her during their conversation at breakfast; he just wanted to make sure that she wasn't upstaging him! Wanting to know where she was going and who she was doing it with. Telling her that she was like family and how it was hard for him not to worry about her because of that.

Ginny paused. She thought back to what Harry had told her earlier, the way he had reached across the table and held her hand, at breakfast and at dinner when the winners were being announced. He saw her squirm in her chair in anticipation, and the nervous breath of air she released; he made sure she was okay. Why the sudden interest? No, it wasn't the sudden interest because he always acted like this when Ron and Hermione were not around. It was as if she was invisible when they were around, and not when they weren't.

Her breath caught in her throat at that concept. Bitter tears rose in her eyes, blurring her vision. It was an awful, awful thing of Harry to do if it were true, but there was no 'if' about it, it was true. All the times she felt invisible to their friendship, Harry noticed. He noticed and did not do a bloody damn thing about it. He let her feel that way, alone and lonely. She really didn't have other good friends because ever since her first year when she opened the Chamber of Secrets everyone seemed to back off as if they were a bit wary of her. Harry and Hermione didn't because they were used to defeating evil, and Ron was her brother.

Still, all that time when she felt like she was being ignored, she really wasn't. Harry Potter knew all along that she was there and unhappy, but did not make a move to include her in anything. She spent six years trying to befriend Harry and Hermione as they had befriended each other and Ron, but it was impossible. She knew that now. Boy, did she know that now.

"Being out on school grounds this late at night isn't safe, Weasley. You should know that as a school Prefect."

Ginny whipped around at the voice, hastily brushing the tears from her eyes as she did so. When she saw who the voice belonged to, she sighed and turned to face the lake once more. "What do you want, Malfoy?"

"I should take points from Gryffindor for this," Draco continued, strolling off the path around the lake, moving ever so close to her. His black cloak billowed in the chill breeze, swirling around his ankles and snapping out of the way as his feet moved forward.

Ginny turned her head to face him, her irises widening as she noticed how close he was to her. She could feel the heat radiating off his body through her thin cloak, warming her where he stood. "As I should do for you."

Draco nodded thoughtfully as his eyes moved from the scenery to lock onto the girl beside him. "All right, Weasley, since we both are against losing House points, why don't we call a draw?"

"I'm willing to bet all my winnings that you've never said those words before."

"And I'm willing to bet all of mine that you've never yelled at Potter like you did tonight." A flush rose in her cheeks that the darkness could not conceal. "You should have hung around, Weasley; you missed out on all the fun."

"Oh, sod off, Malfoy," she hissed as she took a few steps away from him. Immediately she missed the warmth that he provided, but she would rather deal with the chill than have him stand next to her. Unfortunately, she was not to have her way as Draco stepped forward, standing next to her once again.

"Not to worry, little Weasley, no one saw your tirade. I was referring to the second part of the Pageant."

Ginny turned to face him, her eyes searching the grey depths of his own. "What are you talking about, Malfoy? What second part of the Pageant?"

A slow smile covered his lips. "You mean to tell me that you thought that the Pageant was at Hogwarts and that would be the end of it? A Pageant that happens once every two hundred years to designate two winners who are the best in all of Britain, and you thought that would be it."

Confusion clouded her features, but growing frustration rang in her voice. "Spit it out, Malfoy."

Draco sighed, clearly unwilling to end this game, but gave in anyway. "Every two hundred years a Pageant is given to select the two best students in its given country," he explained. "Those two students are then entered into the International Pageant where they compete against other students from different schools. At the International level, points are awarded for each completed task much like the Triwizard Tournament, but in this Pageant the stakes are higher. No longer are you trying to win for your name and honor, you're trying to win it for your country."

Ginny's eyes gazed into Draco's searching for an ounce of untruth, but they remained perfectly hooded. Slowly her head shook in denial. "You lie."

At that, he laughed. "I lie? Why would I lie?"

"Why wouldn't you?" she shot back. "Really, Malfoy, when have you ever given me a chance to believe you?" His eyebrows rose at this. "Besides that, you never mentioned this before. Surely you would have said something about it so that the rest of the school wouldn't talk so much behind your back about you entering, unless of course, you didn't know about the International Pageant." She stopped speaking, her face relaxing from the anger she began to show as she realized what she said. "You didn't know."

Draco took a step back. For the first time in his life, nervousness rushed through his veins as someone read past his carefully constructed walls to the man that hid behind them. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Ginny stepped forward matching him each step that he took back. "You didn't know, and you were just pretending that you did to throw me off guard. You wanted the upper hand, to prove that while we both may be winners you're still superior."

"Sod off, Weasley."

"Admit it, Malfoy."

Draco stopped walking. Ginny, unprepared for his action, bumped right into him. She turned her face up towards him, her eyes locking with his. His jaw flexed as he kept his anger and discomfort in check, his grey eyes a mist of rampaging thoughts.

"I admit nothing," he ground out, taking a step away and turning his back from her.

Ginny opened her mouth to reply when a big black bird swooped past her. She yelped as she ducked and covered her head as it arced back towards her. Draco whipped around at her cry, his black cloak flying up around him, grey eyes flashing. His wand was already grasped tightly in his hand pointing at the offending animal when it turned towards him. In the darkness it was difficult to focus his eyes on the flying animal, so he raised his wand and prepared to mutter a hex when he saw a piece of parchment dangling from its leg. Recognizing the animal as his father's owl, Talon, he lowered his wand and held out his arm for the bird to land on.

Ginny watched in amazement as Draco untied the rolled parchment and released the owl. He glanced pointedly over at her as he slid his fingers under the black wax with his family crest pressed in it to open the letter. Realizing that she was still crouching, she straightened and walked towards him. Draco's face was furrowed in an undistinguishable emotion as he read the letter. Just as she was close enough to read the letter, he crumpled it up in his hand.

"My father is coming to Hogwarts," he informed her, his voice cool as ice.

She looked down at his hand, noticing that he continued to crush the parchment. No other emotion registered on him, not even deep in his eyes. It made her curious to see such controlled emotion, especially one that seemed to be explosive by the way the paper shredded under his fingers. Ginny looked up into his face and tried not to shudder as he stared back at her with an expression so eerily blank. "When?"

"Now. He wants me to meet him at the gates."

Ginny nodded. "Then you should go."

A harsh scoff left his lips. "Do you think that I'm just going to leave you here, or let you walk back to the castle by yourself? Did you not hear me when I said that it's dangerous to be on the grounds at this time of night? You're coming with me."

Draco seized her wrist and started off towards the gates of Hogwarts, dragging Ginny behind him. His strides were so long that she found herself stumbling over her own small, quick steps as she tried to keep up. She could feel his blood pounding from where he held onto her wrist. Something inside of that letter had made him react like this, she was sure of that. He said that his father was coming to Hogwarts at this very moment, and after tonight's events she could understand why Lucius Malfoy was.

"You didn't tell your father that you entered, did you?" she assumed quietly, afraid if she spoke any louder that whatever emotion that brewed under his surface would be released onto her.

"Now where did you get that bright idea?" he sarcastically asked.

"You didn't tell anybody that you entered for the same reason that I did," she stopped speaking when Draco abruptly halted and turned on her.

"Pray tell, what is this reason?"

Ginny raised her chin and matched the glare he sent her. "You were afraid that all they would see it was a beauty pageant, not one filled with pride and honor, something to be coveted and desired for reasons beyond the materialistic." When he didn't reply, she continued. "You kept it to yourself in case you didn't win, you didn't want to tarnish your name, didn't want to give more ammunition to those who would only tear you down at the first opportunity."

Draco's grip tightened around her wrist before he dropped it. "Congratulations! Do you want me to give you a cookie for that one?"

She rubbed her aching wrist as she replied, "No, I do not want a cookie. Tell me, do you think I enjoy being able to press your buttons like this?"

He threw up his hands. "Oh, I don't know, I think it's bloody damn possible!"

Ginny dropped her wrist and glared at the Head Boy. "Well, I don't, all right? Want to know why?"

Draco shook his head angrily as he turned on his heel and continued on his way to the gates. "Not really, but you're going to tell me anyway, aren't you?"

"Because pressing those buttons is only pressing my own," she growled as she brushed past him.

Draco grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop in front of him. Her chin was set into a determined line with her eyes staring over his shoulder, refusing to meet his own. Angrily, yet gently, his fingers touched the bottom of her chin and tilted it upwards forcing her to look at him.

"Tell me Ginny Weasley, what makes you think that you are anything like me?"

Ginny raised her hands to his chest and forcibly shoved him away from her. She couldn't tear her eyes away from his though, the flash of hurt that shone in them when she pushed him away refused to release her. Draco did nothing but stand in front of her, his arms limp against his sides, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he tried to catch his breath.

"I do hope I'm not interrupting anything," a voice drawled sinisterly, breaking the connection the two students shared as they turned to see who spoke. Professor Snape, the Potions teacher and Head of the Slytherin House, stood with his arms crossed, his eyes gazing pointedly at the young Gryffindor demanding an explanation.

"I went for a walk by the lake," she answered softly.

"Seems as if you got lost, doesn't it?" He cocked his head inquiringly. "Twenty points from Gryffindor. I would have thought a Prefect would know how dangerous it is to be out on the castle grounds at night."

Ginny's mouth dropped. "But Professor Snape, it isn't my fault! I was by the lake until Malfoy came. He got an owl from his father saying that he was coming to school and to meet him at the gates. Malfoy dragged me along with him!"

Professor Snape's eyes narrowed in distaste. "Ten more points from Gryffindor for lying about another student."

She stamped her foot in impatience. "I'm not lying! He has the note in his hand!" She turned towards Draco. "Show him."

Draco met her eyes and held them as he raised his arms from under his cloak, palms upwards showing his empty hands. A small smirk covered his lips as Professor Snape said that there wasn't anything there, but Ginny didn't hear him. Her eyes filled with hurt as her head shook in denial. He had the note; she had seen it with her own eyes. He was lying to the Professor, but there was no way to prove it without the note.

"Besides Miss Weasley, Draco couldn't be meeting his father at the gates because Lucius Malfoy is inside of my office at this very moment. He arrived by floo powder not ten minutes ago," Professor Snape disclosed, turning towards the young Slytherin. "He wishes to speak with you immediately."

"Thank you, Professor," Draco replied. "We should head back immediately so we do not keep my father waiting."

Snape nodded his agreement. "Come along Weasley. I will discuss the loss of House points with your Head of House and the Headmaster. I do not think that either one of them would be proud to know that one of the Pageant winners, and a school Prefect at that, lost thirty points in one night."

Ginny remained silent as she followed Professor Snape and Draco back to the castle. It would do no good to try to defend herself again, as Snape would probably take more points away from her for arguing. Besides, she didn't think she would be able to form a coherent sentence Malfoy made her so angry. He just stood there smiling as Snape took points from her knowing full well that it was his entire fault. Not once did he speak up to defend her, but she supposed that he really wouldn't anyway. After all, he was still a Malfoy at heart, no matter how many glimpses of a vulnerable man she'd seen hidden in his eyes.

When the three reached the Entry Hall of Hogwarts, Ginny shot Draco a glare before turning to head up the staircase towards the Gryffindor Common Room. Not even two steps later, his voice called out to her, making her stop in her path. Slowly she turned around as he spoke.

"Oh Weasley, don't forget your winnings." Draco pointed to a bag that rested on the table.

Her eyes closed to slits as she stomped down the staircase to retrieve her money. He watched her with lazy eyes feeling triumphant in making her angry, yet a tinge of regret filled him as well. As Ginny slid the bag from the table into her arms, she sarcastically smirked at him.

"Hope the meeting goes well with your father," her voice dripped with feigned concern. "I would hate to be in your shoes when he finds out that you entered yourself into a little beauty pageant. Doesn't do too well for the family name, now does it?" A mocking smile covered her face for only a moment before it faded back into the angry scowl, then her back was turned and she was walking up the stairs once more.

When she was out of sight, Draco turned to face the Potions professor. No words needed to pass between them as they both understood what was to happen. Together they walked down the stairs to the dungeons, and ultimately reaching their goal of Snape's office. Draco knew that his father would not be happy about being made to wait on him, nor would that positively affect the conversation that he was about to have. Ginny was right; his father would view this as a silly little beauty pageant and be none too proud that his only son had entered into it.

The Pageant was more than just looks, and Draco had to prove that to his father. It was just another thing to add to the list of things that needed to be proven to Lucius Malfoy, the list that started with that he was his own person capable of making his own choices followed closely by he was only human and he was doing the best that he knew how. Overall though, he knew that his father would not be satisfied with the outcome of the conversation. He never was.

When he entered Professor Snape's office he saw his father pacing in front of the desk, his arms crossed at his chest and his face in a firm line. To any observer his eyes were expressionless as he glanced at his son, but those expressionless eyes spoke in angry volumes. The vulnerable little boy inside of him yearned to look away, yet the young man his father created did not turn his gaze away. To do so would show weakness, and no matter what, Draco did not want his father to see any weakness coming from him.

Lucius Malfoy stopped a foot in front of his son, silently commanding him to raise his gaze to keep eye contact. "Explain yourself, Son."

Draco cleared his expression, forcing any unguarded emotions that lingered in the back of his eyes behind the concrete wall of his defenses. He knew that this moment had to happen, yet with his father standing in front of him all the strength that he gathered over the week disappeared. "I entered myself into the Pageant," he replied, a slight crack to his voice that he prayed his father did not hear.

"You entered yourself into the Pageant," Lucius repeated, turning from his son to close the door of Snape's office. The slam of it hitting home echoed throughout the room making Draco wince. While his voice held no traces of anger, the door slam and the blaze in his icy grey eyes told otherwise. "A bloody beauty pageant."

"It wasn't a beauty pageant," Draco's voice was soft in his response, and went unheard as his father continued on over him.

"You dragged the Malfoy name through a bloody beauty pageant, not only embarrassing yourself, but your family as well! I told you to bring pride and honor to the family name, not dishonor it with your vanity! Can you not do anything right? Must I always stand behind you to make sure that you do not waste away the Malfoy respectability?"

Draco shifted his weight nervously as his father neared him once more. "I apologize-"

"No," Lucius interjected. "You cannot apologize for the humiliation you caused all Malfoys, dead and alive."

"Father, it was not my intention to cause humiliation," young Malfoy meekly said. "This was the Bicentennial Pageant of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I entered it to bring more pride and honor to the family name, not destroy it."

Lucius paused at this new information. "The Bicentennial Pageant of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" he asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as his son nodded in response. "Well then, this brings new light to the situation."

"Indeed, Father," Draco started, but stopped when his father shot him a quelling look. Instead, he watched Lucius Malfoy pace Professor Snape's office deep in thought. Silence stretched throughout the room bringing Draco's already fried nervous to more alertness. He wanted to know what was going on in his father's mind; he needed to know what he was thinking about.

"And you won this Pageant, yes?" Lucius questioned finally.

Draco nodded. "I did, yes." He paused. "I did, but another did as well."

One perfect eyebrow rose. "Pray tell, who do you share this honor with?"

Instantaneously, he knew he spoke when he shouldn't have. Lucius Malfoy would not be pleased to know that an honor, such that the Pageant awarded, was shared with a Weasley. "Ginny Weasley," he whispered.

"A Weasley? You are sharing this with a Weasley? Was that the girl who you were holding hands with and bringing to meet me at the gate?"

A light flush crept up Draco's neck, but his face remained in a fixed, calm expression. "I was not holding her hand. It was her wrist. How did you know I was out there with her?"

"How I knew that you were out there is none of your concern. What should be your concern is the fact that you're sharing this honor with a Weasley. Tell me, Draco, do you enjoy sharing the honor that this Pageant provided with a Mudblood lover? Do you think I enjoy watching your pathetic attempts at gaining pride and honor for this family? You gained nothing from this Pageant. And if there is any desire inside of that worthless body of yours to make up what you lost from entering into this Pageant, your only chance is the International Pageant. Until you win that, you do not exist as a true Malfoy because a true Malfoy would have made sure that he did not share the honor that this Pageant provided with a Weasley."

Lucius crossed his arms in front of his chest and pointedly glanced at the closed door. The conversation was over, and Draco was dismissed. He did not say a word to his father as he walked past him and opened the door. He did not slam the door behind him, nor turn around for one last biting remark because while his father said that he was no longer a true Malfoy, he did not enjoy allowing his father to see that he'd gotten the best of his son.

Professor Snape turned from where he stood in the hall when Draco entered. The young Slytherin's face was completely passive, which worried the older man. Any conversation that was held with Lucius Malfoy either had you crying about your faults to him, or cursing his name for being so frustrating in his superiority.

"Thank you for the use of your office, Professor. Now, if you would excuse me, it has been a long night and all I want is to go to sleep."

Professor Snape nodded his agreement. "I'll see you tomorrow in class."

He watched the Head Boy walk off towards the Slytherin dormitory before turning to enter his office. The elder Malfoy was not in his office, the green tinted flames in the fireplace signaling his departure moments before.

Earlier, when the fire in his office burned a brilliant green and out stepped Lucius Malfoy he was surprised, if not a bit concerned. Over the recent years of Voldemort's rise to power, the elder Malfoy and his wife, Narcissa, tended to ignore their only son while he was at Hogwarts. This abandonment of sorts did not go unseen by Draco, who turned to him as a source of positive influence. Whether or not it was an intentional turn, he did so nonetheless, spending more time in the Potions dungeon with his Head of House under the assumptions of having an unfilled desire to brew different potions.

As the fire returned to its normal color he thought over the series of events that had transpired that evening. Snape knew that matters were not held in the same manner in the Malfoy household as they were in others, but he would have thought that at least one of the Malfoys would've been happy about Draco winning the Pageant. It was, after all, a significant honor that was held until the next one two hundred years later.

Pity rose inside of him for young Malfoy. For as long as he had known the boy he was always trying to prove something to his father. Not even winning a momentous pageant such as this helped him achieve this feat.

Professor Snape just hoped that Draco didn't spend the rest of his life trying to prove whatever it was to his father because he didn't think that his life would be long enough to accomplish it.