Tel' Qualohtarie

Chapter Five

Ginny was getting ready to go down to breakfast the next morning when a big eagle owl landed next to her. She recognised it as the one Draco had been trying to coax down a couple of weeks ago. She took the letter from his leg and he quickly flew away. Unfolding it she read,

~ I have business in London today. Come after dinner and we'll work on the runes. DM ~

He certainly doesn't mince words, she thought wryly, tucking the letter in her pocket. She sort of felt at a loss, she hadn't had a whole day free for a while now. Well, I suppose I could start with some breakfast.

~&~

Ginny was rather disappointed to have to go see Draco after dinner; she had had such a wonderful day. After breakfast, she and Luna had gone swimming in the lake with the giant squid and Zacharias had taken her to lunch in Hogsmeade. She decided that she really did like him, despite his sarcasm and penchant for infuriating Ron. They had spent the entire afternoon together, talking and laughing and just enjoying the beautiful summer day. The pair was heading inside for dinner when he kissed her. It had been so sweet and he had blushed afterward, making her smile as they sat down to eat.

And now, she was walking to the grey window, thinking about her day and dreading going to the Manor. Draco somehow always managed to make her feel like nothing was ever good enough or simple enough. It was like his life was on an extremely complicated, perfectly timed schedule and she messed it up all the time. She couldn't even begin to imagine spending a day like today with Draco. Ethan or Tonks, definitely, but she was never really certain about where she stood with Draco and it made her nervous. He had been fairly civil to her ever since her induction into the Grey Knights, but not warm or welcoming. But he hadn't been mean or insulting to her either. Sarcastic, superior, indifferent, and bad-tempered maybe, but Ginny felt that that was just a part of who he was. He was Draco Malfoy after all. Maybe Luna was right. Maybe he wasn't so bad.

She quickly cast the spell and was standing in the foyer in front of the staircase where he was sitting with his head in his hands. He had been waiting for her. "Hello," she said.

"Hello," he replied quietly, almost sadly, before turning to climb the right-hand staircase. She had never been in this part of the house before. He led her through the maze of passages silently, finally coming to another, smaller, stone stairway. It spiralled up and she could see the stars beginning to pop into the sky through the windows. They emerged onto an enchanted observatory. Plants nestled in every spot unoccupied by telescopes or models or benches. There was no ceiling and only a waist-high iron railing, but a charm had been put in place to keep them from being exposed to the elements. Ginny loved this house. She looked over and saw far below her the grounds illuminated by the full moon. The trees cast dancing shadows and in the distance, a wolf howled. Shivers ran up her spine and she worriedly glanced up at Draco, who laughed at her expression.

His laughter seemed to break the tension and she smiled, "Where do we start?"

"Here," he walked to the middle of the space and sat down on a big pile of cushions. Leaning over, he spread out a parchment and motioned for her to join him. She did so cautiously and he began explaining the runes to her. She had taken Ancient Runes, receiving an 'O' on her O.W.L.s and once she began to remember things it was fairly easy for her. Draco handed her the parchment, "Hold it up to the moonlight."

She did and saw silvery runes appear that hadn't shown up before. "By the light of the full moon," she read and glanced over curiously. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," he shrugged. "It was meant to show you some of the restrictions you can place on Elven runes. You can create runes that can only be seen under a certain phase of the moon or during a certain time of the year. You can make it where only a certain person can see them. With the right kind of magic, you can do just about anything with them." He lay back on the pillows and asked, "How did you do on your Astronomy O.W.L.s?"

"Only an 'E'," she replied, laying down on the cushions herself.

"Only an 'E'?" he asked sarcastically. "Damn Granger's rubbed off on you, I see."

"Not at all. Seven over-achieving older brothers have rubbed off," she said.

"I thought you only had six brothers."

"Well, technically yes. But my mum's practically adopted Harry so he counts as seven," Ginny replied thoughtfully. "How would you know or care how many brothers I've got anyway?"

"You're a Grey Knight, we're connected whether we want to be or not," she could feel him shrug next to her. "You're a seventh son of a seventh son so I assumed you could only have six brothers."

She snorted, "One problem with that theory- I'm not a son."

"Oh, whatever," he replied, annoyed. "You know it doesn't have to be a son."

"So what are we doing now?" she laughed softly, glancing over at him. The moonlight reflected his pale blonde hair and grey eyes and Ginny thought for the first time that he was rather handsome, in a classical, aristocratic sort of way. Draco turned his head to look at her, as though he could feel her eyes on him and she quickly returned her attention to the stars, feeling a blush creep over her cheeks. Ginny mentally shook herself and said, "So?"

"Well, you received an 'E' in Astronomy, so I don't think we need to go over a lot," he replied and she risked a quick glance to see he wasn't still looking at her. "The stars are the same whether you're Grey or not."

"I suppose." They lay there in silence for a long time, Ginny trying to work up the courage to ask him something she had wanted to ask since they'd begun their training. Finally, she drew a deep breath and blurted out, "Can I ask you something personal?"

He studied her and she stared at the stars intently until she knew he had looked away. "You can ask all you want. Whether you'll get an answer or not depends."

"On what?" she felt a little braver. The Gryffindor in her was finally showing itself.

"The question."

She thought about that for a moment and asked quietly, "Are you going to become a Death Eater?"

Draco was quiet for a long time and she thought he wasn't going to reply when he sighed, "I don't know."

"You don't know?" there was a hint of disbelief in her voice.

"No, I don't know. It's very likely I'll never have to make the choice."

"But doesn't Voldemort expect it of you? With your father and everything..."

"I don't really give a damn what the Dark Lord expects of me."

Ginny sat up and stared at him in surprise. He stared right back, impassively. "Don't look so surprised. I don't have the Dark Mark yet, so I don't have to care."

She shook herself. "I'm sorry, I just- this isn't what I expected. Everyone expects you to be just like your evil overlord father and become a minion of Voldemort."

Draco burst out laughing, "If only my father could hear you now. He'd be so pleased his face would crack! Evil overlord and minion! Merlin."

She stared at him like he'd grown another head and after a moment, he managed to control himself. "But, your magical energy is like that of your parents and if they were Dark than you will automatically be drawn to the Dark. I don't understand."

"You talk about magic like it's a simple tool for you to use. Like it's something that's been given to you."

"Well, it has, hasn't it?" she was thoroughly confused.

"No," he admonished her. "Magic is natural, like the trees and the stars. It's not good or evil, only the purpose for which you use it can be classified like that. It's a force all it's own that you create. Your magic is created when you are born, it's not something that your parents pass on to you like your hair or your name. Therefore, you make your own choices free of bias. You know this, or at least, you should."

She gave him a little half smile and asked, "When did you get so sage, Malfoy?"

"Oh I've always been this way," he waved his hand airily.

"You still haven't answered my question."

"Yes, I did. I said I don't know."

"That's not a real answer," she argued.

"Well, it doesn't really matter if I do or not," he said, suddenly cross.

"Of course it does!"

"Why?" he retorted, folding his arms and glaring up at her.

"Well- well- because!" she sputtered out, at a loss for a real reason.

He snorted, "Good reason, Weasley. Once this is all over, no one will ever believe I wasn't a Death Eater if I really become one or not." He sat up to face her, their faces only inches apart, ranting angrily, "The Malfoy family name has been ruined for what? My father is dead and my mother- for what? My entire life turned upside down. For a weak, bad-tempered mudblood that may have had the right idea at one time but is now completely obsessed with Potter and taking over the world, just like everyone else in the damn universe, who hasn't defeated Potter once and who's terrified of our batty old Headmaster, that's what! Now tell me if you think I have any reason to join him?"

"No," she whispered, a little frightened by the unchecked temper in his eyes. Her reply seemed to calm him, but not completely. Echoes of her earlier conversation with Luna rang in her head and she could find no other reply except, "It's getting late, you know."

"Yes, I think you've learned enough tonight," he said, standing and offering her his hand. "We'll be up here again tomorrow, so come after dinner again." She nodded and he led her back down to the front doors in silence.

She stepped forward and pulled the doors open, muttering the spell. Just before she stepped through, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and Draco removed his hand, running it through his hair. "You may think it's a hard task that's been set to Potter, being the person who everybody expects to save the world. But let me tell you, it's a hell of a lot harder being the one everybody expects to destroy it."

Ginny had known him, really known him, for weeks now and she was only just realising that he wasn't the person she had always thought him. She stared into his eyes for a moment, then said quietly, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Ginny stepped through the doors and was back at Hogwarts.

~&~

She dreamed strange dreams all night long. In one, she was looking at herself with Morick behind her, his hands on her shoulders. Next to her, Harry stood with Dumbledore in the same way and on the other side someone stood with Voldemort. They had blonde hair, but no face, and their hair kept changing length and shade so she couldn't tell who it was. In another, she was flying without a broom and Ethan and Tonks were waving to her from the observatory at the Manor. And in a third, she was back in what she thought was the Chamber of Secrets, only it was Draco who saved her, not Harry and in the middle the Chamber turned into a prison cell. It went like that all night, weird, disconnected snatches of dreams.

When she woke fully, it was very early. The morning stars were just beginning to fade and the sun hadn't yet risen, but Ginny got out of bed anyway. She decided to take a walk to clear her head and found her feet tracing the familiar path to the grey window. Ginny didn't know why, but she had to go see Malfoy. There were so many questions running through her head. Where was his mother? Was he really against the Death Eaters or just indifferent- is that how he managed to know so much about what was going on? Where did Ethan Rosier fit into the Draco Malfoy equation? He seemed to know him well. What had really happened to his family and why? And most importantly, why in the world did she care about any of this?

She arrived at Malfoy Manor shortly thereafter and crept quietly up the stairs. She had no idea where she was going and wandered around a bit. She came across several large and exquisitely decorated bedrooms, all empty, a couple of beautifully appointed bathrooms, and some rooms with various purposes that she wasn't really interested right now. Everything in this house, if you could call it that, was rich and beautiful, though most of it was dusty and in need of a good airing out, and Ginny felt that she could spend hours here just looking at things. Looking at the clock, Ginny found that she already had. Slowly, she climbed the stairs to the next floor and opened the first door quietly. She peeked in to find another bedroom, only this one was occupied.

Ethan and Tonks were sleeping curled up in each other's rather naked arms, the white cotton sheets leaving little to the imagination. Clothing was strewn across the room and the dim morning light illuminated their contented expressions. Ginny gazed curiously at them for a moment before turning away and heading to the next door further along at the end of the hall. For some reason, she didn't really think of them as a Death Eater and an Auror. Ginny only saw them as Ethan and Tonks, Grey Knights, friends, and now- lovers, though she wasn't quite sure why they were at Malfoy Manor. Probably because they couldn't meet anywhere else. She was beginning to see everyone and everything differently. Her perception was changing and things that had once seemed so cut and dry, so black and white were now blurred, greyed, uncertain. Some things that had once seemed so important were trivial, and that had once seemed true, proved false. Ginny didn't know why or how this was happening and she wasn't sure she liked it.

She came to the next door and opened it to find it was occupied as well. It was far larger than any bedroom she had seen so far and she quickly took in the overstuffed armchairs grouped around the fireplace, the high row of windows on the opposite wall, and the polished mahogany woods of the armoire, desk, and bedposts. There were doors on either wall, presumably leading to other bedrooms or bathrooms, and the floor was covered in dark blue carpeting that sank under her feet as she stepped inside the room. The heavy deep blue draperies of the bed were half-open, revealing a sleeping Draco Malfoy. He was sprawled across the bed with his grey leather book in one hand and a quill in the other. There were small drips of ink staining his green and white striped pyjamas where he had fallen asleep writing. Ginny stepped closer to him, quietly leaning against the bedpost. One candle above his bed was still barely lit, though the others had sputtered and died long ago. The soft flickering of the dying light made his long, blonde braid shine and his pale eyelashes leave shadows on his cheeks. Seeing him like this, Ginny thought he was beautiful. There was no condescending sneer or malicious gaze to mar the clean angular lines of his face. There was no arrogant posture or superior airs. There was only a boy, just like any other teenage boy, sleeping. Peacefully.

Ginny smiled to herself. The only time in your life when you're not causing some sort of trouble. As unobtrusively as she could, Ginny slipped the quill and book from his hands and pulled the covers up around his shoulders. Without really knowing why, she leaned forward and placed a soft, gentle kiss to his forehead. He stirred slightly and Ginny stepped back quickly, not wishing to wake him. Draco settled back into sleep as she left his things on the nightstand next to his bed. A loose piece of paper and a photograph fluttered to the floor and Ginny picked them up, glancing quickly at the paper to see if it belonged in the book. It was torn from a larger book and she couldn't read it in the dim light, but it looked to be a poem. Her curiosity got the better of her and Ginny folded both of them carefully, tucking them into her sleeve, and slipped quietly from the room. She was headed back down stairs when she caught Tonks closing the door to Ethan's room.

The older woman turned to find Ginny standing there like a ghost in her white flannel nightgown and gasped in surprise, knocking over a small table with a noise that seemed amplified in the stillness of the morning. Her hand flew to her mouth and she leaned forward to set the table to rights as she whispered, "Ginny? What- what are you doing here? Did Draco tell you that- I- well, you see- it's just that- I know that we-."

Ginny stopped her by placing a finger to her lips as she smiled, "Shhh. I found out on my own by accident, but your secret's safe with me." Tonks gave her a searching look that seemed to be measuring her trustworthiness and finally nodded, satisfied. She kissed Ginny briefly on the cheek and headed down the stairs with only one final glance in the direction of Ethan's door.

After a moment of quiet contemplation, Ginny descended the stairs and left Malfoy Manor. When she returned to her bedroom, everyone else was still sleeping so she climbed back into her own bed gratefully. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she had a sneaking suspicion that her questions wouldn't be answered today, if they ever got answered at all. She kept feeling that things in her world were changing and she was changing right along with them, though she didn't know if that was a good thing or bad thing. Feeling the corner of the paper rubbing against her skin, she remembered the poem and the photo. Lighting the candle beside her bed, Ginny pulled them from her sleeve. The photo looked older, but was of Draco, his arms wrapped around a girl with shiny, curly blonde hair and big blue eyes. They were both smiling and waved up to her from the garden they stood in. Draco kissed the girl's temple and a pang of something resembling jealousy tore through her. She shook her head, recognising how completely irrational she was being, and slipped the photo under her pillow. Unfolding the paper, she read-

I am a question to the world

Not an answer to be heard

Or a moment that's held in your arms

And what do you think you'd ever say

I won't listen anyway

You don't know me

And I'll never be what you want; Made of Pain.

And what do you think you'd understand

I'm a boy - No, I'm a man

You can't take me and throw me away

And how can you learn what's never shown

Yeah you stand here on your own

They don't know me

'Cause I'm not here

And I want a moment to be real

Wanna touch things I don't feel

Wanna hold on and feel I belong

And how can the world want me to change

They're the ones that stay the same

They don't know me

'Cause I'm not here

And you see the things they never see

All you wanted I could be

Now you know me and I'm not afraid

And I want to tell you who I am

Can you help me be a man?

They can't break me

As long as I know who I am

They can't tell me who to be

'Cause I'm not what they see

Yeah the world is still sleepin'

While I keep on dreamin' for me

And their words are just whispers and lies

That I'll never believe

And I want a moment to be real

Wanna touch things I don't feel

Wanna hold on and feel I belong

And how can they say I'll never change

They're the ones that stay the same

I'm the one now

'Cause I'm still here

It was obviously a song, and probably not complete, but the last few lines were underlined with dark, bold strokes and Ginny read through it once more before slipping it beneath her pillow with the photo. She fell asleep with its words resounding in her head and felt that perhaps she had finally figured out a little bit of the puzzle that was Draco Malfoy. Perhaps.

~&~

When Ginny arrived at the Manor the next afternoon, none of the house-elves were about and she shouted, "Winky? Neesa? Malfoy?" It was odd, usually they just appeared.

There was no answer and she thought she remembered the way to the training room, so Ginny tentatively began to climb the left staircase. When she reached the top with no incident, she grew a bit more brave and continued. She was walking down a dusty passage when she felt the floor give way under her feet. The boards became a long slide and Ginny hit her head hard on the floor as she slid down, blacking out momentarily.

She was falling. And she landed on something very hard. Ginny opened her eyes and promptly began to panic. She was perched rather precariously on a stone parapet about three feet in diameter. A single, circular stone parapet, probably of a blocked off chimney, with nothing remotely close that she could jump to and no way to climb down. Ginny hazarded a glance down and immediately felt nauseous. She looked around her again and reckoned she was on the highest part of the mansion roof, maybe a million feet up. Okay, so that was an exaggeration, but it might as well have been a million feet for all the good it did her. Ginny wasn't normally afraid of heights, but there was a bit of difference between being safely situated on a broom or a thestral or a dragon and being unsafely situated on a stone with nothing to do but drop. So, she did the only logical thing to do at the moment, she began yelling for help.

After about fifteen minutes of Ginny screaming her lungs out, help arrived. But it turned out to not really be any sort of help. A house-elf that Ginny had never seen before appeared on the roof closest to her, though that was still too far away. "Miss, what is you doing up there?" he asked, looking very confused.

"Who are you?" she asked rudely.

"I is Iane. Who is you?"

"Well Iane, I'm Ginny. And I can assure you that I have no desire to remain here," she replied. "Now, if you could just help me get down-."

"Iane cannot do that, Miss. There is barriers up that even house-elves can't gets through."

Ginny bit her tongue and tried to keep her patience. "Do you know where Malfoy is?"

"Oh, yes," the elf said happily. "Iane will go gets the Master for you." He snapped his fingers and disappeared with a crack.

Ginny sighed, "I'm never going to get down now."

She sat there for another half-hour before Draco came flying up on his broom. Thankfully, it was summer and not raining, so it wasn't as unpleasant as it could have been. "What in the name of Merlin are you doing up here, Weasley? You're not even supposed to be here until after dinner."

"Oh, I thought it'd be a nice day to get myself trapped on the roof of your mansion. You know, catch a few of those non-existent rays of sunshine; maybe get a tan..." she replied sarcastically. "What do you think I'm doing up here? I forgot about the time. The floor turned into a big slide, I hit my head, and the next thing I know I'm stuck up here. Get me down."

"I can't."

"What do you mean YOU CAN'T?!"

"I can't. There's barriers up that won't let anything pass from the outside in," he replied succinctly, the wind whipping his silvery blonde ponytail around in his face.

She began to swear until her brain fully registered what he had said. She gave him a look of utter disbelief, "No. No, you're mad. I won't do it."

"Then you won't get down. It's your fault you're in this mess and you're lucky Iane was in the garden and heard you screaming."

"My fault? How is this my fault? Whose mansion is this? If it's anyone's fault, it's yours."

"Oh, and who specifically told you not to go wandering around without me or one of the house-elves?" he gave her a rather pointed look. "If you want down, you'll have to jump. Now, you can jump and I'll catch you, or alternatively, I can leave and you'll jump to your death. You choose."

"I can't believe this. I can jump to my death or I can stay up here and die of starvation and exposure. So, unless I jump to you and you manage to catch me, I die."

"That's kind of the point of the whole thing."

"Well, what a stupid thing to have in your house," Ginny replied angrily.

"What a stupid thing to go wandering about a mansion full of traps and Dark magic when you've been told and agreed not go anywhere by yourself," he retorted just as angry. "I should leave your scrawny little Weasley self up here for a day or two and see if you can remember how to keep yourself out of trouble and keep me from having to save you from my house. I knew this would happen, I specifically asked you to say you wouldn't go anywhere alone, but I guess your word doesn't count for much."

Ginny laughed, "Ha! You telling me that I need to learn how to keep my promises. You're no man of honour; you're a filthy, stuck-up, bootlicking Slytherin. Not to mention a Malfoy! Why in the world would you have that sort of thing in your house anyway if you weren't a Dark wizard?"

He glared at her as he pushed his hair back from his face. "I'm not filthy, I'm no bootlicker, and I never make promises I can't or won't keep. My name is Malfoy and I'm damn proud of it! Perhaps if your family had anything to be proud of you could understand things like honour and dignity and tradition and discipline," he sneered at her in contempt.

She made no reply and he continued, "I think I'll leave you up here for a bit to think that last one over. You're that headstrong, you think you're always right, but you don't know anything. You need to learn when and how to take orders, little girl, or you're not going to make it out of this war alive. The only thing that can make people trust you without trial is your word and it's reputation. If you damage that and don't keep your promises, you might as well jump now and save them the trouble of killing you. And believe me when I tell you, the Light, the so-called good guys, will have less qualms about getting rid of you than Voldemort."

With that, he turned and flew away. Ginny peered over the edge and caught a glimpse of him going inside. "Damn you, Malfoy!" she muttered, sitting back. There was nothing for her to do now except wait for him to come back.

~&~

She was tired, hungry, and right now she hated Draco Lucius Malfoy more than she had previously thought possible. Around sunset he came flying back up and asked, "Are you ready to get down now?"

Ginny shook her head. "I can't do it. I just can't."

"Of course you can," he replied in annoyance. "Just jump, I'll catch you."

"Yeah, sure. I'm going to place my life in the hands of a Malfoy, who can't manage to catch the Snitch on a good day when he's not playing against Harry, much less a person."

Draco only glared at her and turned to leave again. "Wait! Wait Malfoy! Wait, I'm sorry," she shouted. He paused and turned around, though he made no move to come closer. "Look, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Can you- can you just help me?"

He flew in closer, until he was only about nine or ten feet away. "That's as close as I can get. You've got to do the rest." He sat there arrogantly, watching her carefully.

She glanced over the edge nervously and licked her lips. "I can't."

"Yes, you can. You have to."

She looked back up at him, the worry evident in her eyes. He radiated calm; his eyes clear and full of confidence. "You promise you'll catch me? You won't let me fall?"

"I won't let you fall. I promise," he answered earnestly. And for some unknown reason, she almost believed him. She stared into his steely grey eyes again and nodded, looking back down to the ground.

"Merlin," she breathed. "I can't do this." Ginny glanced up at Draco again and he simply nodded at her.

"You can. Trust me."

"Why would I do something stupid like that?"

"Because you have no other option. I can leave you up here for a little longer if you'd like," he replied.

"No! No," she said more calmly, holding a hand up. "Wait- give me a minute."

He nodded, "You can do this."

She asked him again, searching his face for something, anything, reassuring, "You promise you won't let me fall?"

"I promise."

His calm and confidence was slowly becoming her own and she nodded back at him nervously. She shifted from her kneeling position to a crouch. She closed her eyes and braced herself. Ginny couldn't believe she was about to do this. She was really going to trust him to catch her. She knew he could, she had only been trying to rile him when she said those things earlier. She just didn't know if he would. But, she had no other option. It was this or death. Well, at least if I do end up smashed on the ground, it'll be better than having him push me out of a window, she thought wryly, remembering the night of her induction into the Grey Knights.

That memory released a hundred others and Ginny opened her eyes to find Draco staring straight at her, his resolve steady. She steeled herself and blew out a long breath. She licked her lips, closed her eyes, and jumped, praying to whatever gods there were that he would catch her.

She was free falling for only a moment before she felt strong arms encircling her and pulling her close. She opened her eyes to find herself only inches from Draco, her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist. She was so shaky and relieved that she buried her face in his shoulder and whispered, "Thank you."

"I never make promises I can't or won't keep," he reminded her, steadying them as he slowly descended, one arm still around her waist while the other gripped the broom handle. They touched down gently and he stood her up next to the broom, making sure she was balanced before dismounting himself. His hands spanned her waist and things were coming back into focus when he leaned down. "Are you alright?"

She nodded and looked up into his eyes, startled by his closeness and the intense look he was giving her. His eyes flickered with uncertainty for a split second before he pulled her closer and pressed his lips to hers, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist.

Without thinking about it, Ginny kissed him back, throwing her arms around his neck and leaning into his warmth. No one had ever kissed her like this before. It was sweet and demanding and all she could think was that he tasted like toffees as his tongue swept inside her mouth. Everything went out of focus once more as she willingly joined in again. After what seemed like a moment that was far too short, Draco gave her one final kiss and leaned his forehead against hers. She tried to hide from herself the fact that she was disappointed that he had stopped and that she had just snogged a Malfoy.

She knew her cheeks were flushed and after the pair had managed to catch their breath he said quietly, "If you don't expect too much from me, you might not be let down."

She pulled back the slightest bit and nodded, a million memories of this feeling flooding her senses. It was only in that moment that she realised she felt safe with him, that she knew him, that they had done this before. "You should probably get back, it's almost time for dinner." She considered this and nodded again.

"Are you just going to nod at me from now on?" he teased her with a small smirk.

She nodded and laughed, noticing the way his eyes twinkled. Suddenly, the door behind them opened and they broke apart almost guiltily. Ethan stood there panting with a worried look that quickly turned into a mischievous grin. "Hello, Ginny. Am I interrupting anything?"

Her cheeks flushed again and before she could reply, Draco said calmly, "No, she was on her way home."

"It's almost time for dinner," Ethan said, his hint not at all subtle.

"Yes, that's why she was leaving," Draco retorted, unwilling to take the bait.

"There's plenty of food here, the house-elves have already-," he began again.

Ginny interrupted, "I really should go. Ron will be upset."

Ethan shrugged, "Goodnight, Ginny."

"Goodnight," she answered, walking past him and opening the doors in time with her spell. She glanced back only once to see Ethan whispering seriously to Draco, whose eyes were fixed on her.

"Wait, we're coming with you," Draco called, just as she was about to step through. The men ran up the steps and joined her as they stepped through the doorway.

The trio landed on the bench of the grey window and Ethan left immediately, Draco making as though to follow when she grabbed his sleeve. "What's going on?"

He stared at her solemnly before replying, "Ethan's been found out." Her eyes widened in horror and she unconsciously stepped closer to him.

"What's going to happen to him?"

"I can't tell you, I'll have to be his Secret Keeper."

She bit her lip, staring in the direction Ethan had gone. Focusing on Draco, she absently tucked a stray hair behind his ear and said simply, "Be careful." He cocked his head with an unreadable expression and she drew back, turning to head to her dormitory. She wanted to look back, but didn't dare. Ginny was too afraid of what she might see. It had only just hit her that he had actually kissed her and she kissed back and enjoyed it. It had only just hit her that Ethan had been found out and was now in very great danger. And Draco might be put in that same danger. And Tonks. It had only just hit her that her relationship with Draco had been taken to a strange and what she had previously thought impossible new level. She didn't love him; at least she didn't think she loved him. But no one had ever kissed her like that or made her feel like that before. In fact, he made her feel all kinds of things she'd never felt before all the time. One minute she hated him beyond reason and the next she wanted nothing more than to stay in his arms forever. It was simply too confusing for her brain to figure out right now. She needed a bath.