After Hogwarts

Chapter Thirteen:

A Fork in the Road:

Ginny and Willow left extra early for work, so that Ginny had time to stop by the paper and talk to Miranda. She needed to get the ring to Percy, but didn't fancy telling him face to face what had happened the night before. Ginny didn't think Miranda would mind relaying the events to Percy. It looked like the two of them had become friends anyway.

Ginny brought two hot chocolates from the vending machine to Miranda's office. Miranda was in her usual morning form, which meant she was hovering over her crystal ball. It wasn't until Ginny put the hot cocoa right next to Miranda's hand that Miranda even noticed anyone had come in her office.

"Hot chocolate first thing in the morning," Miranda grabbed the mug, " that must mean that Ginny Weasley is here."

"Well aren't you the detective," Ginny teased as she sat down.

"So what's up?" Miranda asked. Ginny took the serpent pinkly ring from her pocket and placed it on Miranda's desk.

"Oh heavens," Miranda said, then looking at the artifact for several minutes. "Why are you bringing it to me and not Percy?" Ginny thought about her question for a while before she answered. She wasn't sure how much she should tell Miranda. It wasn't that she didn't trust Miranda, but she didn't want to get Draco in trouble; after all, he used magic on muggles without proper licensing.

"I need you to keep what I am about to tell you confidential," Ginny started. "This is very off the record." Miranda's curiosity was peaked, sat forward in her chair.

"No problem," Miranda assured her. "What happened?" Ginny started slowly telling the previous night's events. As Ginny started, the words began to flow and before she knew it, she had been talking for almost an hour.

"And that's how I got this ring," Ginny finished. She didn't tell Miranda about going out with Draco afterwards. She wanted to keep that private.

"Oh heavens Ginny, are you okay?" Miranda walked over to Ginny and hugged her. "You could have been seriously hurt or even killed."

"I would have been if it wasn't for Draco showing up,' Ginny said. Miranda looked skeptical.

"Are you sure you can trust him. I mean he has been following you," Miranda pointed out.

"Yes, he was following me, but he saved me," Ginny reaffirmed. "He didn't have to, but he did." Ginny couldn't explain why, but she did trust Draco.

"But do you know what he is up to?" Miranda asked.

"After I was attacked, he wouldn't let me talk about work. He said we'd talk today," Ginny said.

"You have to be careful Ginny," Miranda warned as she walked back to her chair. "This is Draco Malfoy we're talking about. His father was very dangerous and we know his mother is involved with all this."

"Yeah, but..." Ginny started, what could she say? Miranda's concerns were valid.

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," Miranda reminded her.

"Look, I don't plan on telling him everything," Ginny reassured Miranda. "But, I think that Draco might be able to help us."

"Ginny..." Miranda shook her head, doubtingly.

"Look Miranda," Ginny cut her off, "you always said that I have the instincts of a reporter. And a good reporter trusts her gut. My gut says to trust him. I don't expect you to trust him, but I do expect you to trust me." Miranda leaned back in her chair and put her hands behind her head.

"You use my own words against me," Miranda laughed, but was very aware of the seriousness of the situation.

"You taught me well," Ginny grinned.

"So what do you want to do?" Miranda asked. Ginny wasn't sure what she wanted to do. A part of her even realized that trusting Draco could be dangerous, after all, Ginny was investigating his mother.

"I'm not sure," Ginny honestly answered. "I suppose I'll have to take it as it comes today."

"What do you want me to do?" Miranda asked.

"I want you to give Percy the artifact and not mention that Draco helped me," Ginny answered. "Percy would not understand."

"Yeah, Percy hates the Death Eaters," Miranda agreed. "Needless to say, he would not be empathetic towards Draco. He would probably would charge him with misuse of magic on muggles."

"I can't let that happen Miranda," Ginny was firm. Miranda bit her lip as she thought. She didn't want to lie to Percy, but she knew she couldn't betray Ginny. For whatever reason, Ginny seemed to trust Draco.

"You know that he's going to be angry that you went back to the pawnshop, don't you?" Miranda asked.

"I will accept the consequences of my actions, but I am not willing to let Draco get hurt for saving me," Ginny pressed. "Will you help me?"

"Okay Ginny, I will help you," Miranda unhappily agreed. "I'll give Percy the artifact. I am going to tell him that you were attacked, but that you used magic to defeat the muggles. I will leave Draco's name out of this...for now."

"Thank you Miranda," Ginny said.

"Don't make me regret this," Miranda warned.

"I won't," Ginny reassured her, turning to leave.

"I do have one question," Miranda said, causing Ginny to stop. "How good were the memory charms that Draco cast on the muggles?"

"I believe very good," Ginny answered. In all that had happened last night, she never really thought about how good Draco was at casting spells, but reflecting back, it seemed to come to him with ease. "Actually he was quite talented. His spells were strong, focused and seemed easy for him." Miranda narrowed her eyes as Ginny spoke. She felt that something was off, like there was more to this story.

"Ginny," Miranda softly asked. "Is there something more going on with you and Draco?"

"NO!" Ginny defensively answered, almost too defensively as far as Miranda was concerned. "Not at all, it's not like that. Not one bit."

"It just seems like there's something else going on here," Miranda pressed.

"Not like that at all. It's just you get a new perspective on somebody when they save your life."

"I guess so," Miranda conceded, but wasn't convinced.

"I guess I should be going now," Ginny lifted up Willow and with her free hand she waved goodbye to her friend. She wanted to get out of Miranda's office. She was not comfortable with what Miranda was implying. There was nothing going on with her and Draco other than a tentative friendship. How could Miranda even hint at such a thing! If she only knew! Ginny's heart belonged with someone else and it had for years and years even if her affection was unrequited. Willow then interrupted Ginny's thoughts when she nipped Ginny's hand.

The sun was out and it was a lovely day when Ginny and Willow got to the Malfoy estate. Ginny walked to her favorite Cherry tree and sat down, then letting Willow off her leash so the rabbit could hop around.

Ginny lay down in the grass and stared up into the sky watching the clouds. Ginny normally used the time before Narcissa left her house to relax a bit and to think, but not this morning. She knew that at some point Draco was going to show up and they were going to have to talk.

"Good morning Ginny," Draco appeared behind her with a thermos in his hand, startling Ginny.

"Good morning Draco," Ginny sat up, not looking forward to the conversation they were destined to have. She wasn't sure how much she should reveal to Draco and she wasn't sure how much he already knew.

"I brought us some coffee. Want a cup?" he smiled, holding up the thermos. "My mother still is in bed, so she won't be going anywhere for a while."

"Yeah, I'll have a cup," Ginny replied.

"Here you go," Draco opened the thermos, poured her a cup, and handed it to her.

"Thanks Draco," she smiled as Draco then poured himself a cup and sat next to her.

"So how are you feeling today?" he inquired.

"I'm okay," she honestly answered. "Thanks again for last night."

"Stop thanking me or I'm going to begin to think that you like me," he impishly grinned. "Or at least that you don't despise me."

"I don't despise you," Ginny said quietly.

"Then you do think I'm a babe?" he teased.

"Hardly," she laughed.

"So..." he wasn't sure what to say.

"Yeah..." either was she, so they both sat in silence for a while as they sat and drank their coffee. Willow was unaware of their awkwardness as she hopped around munching on the grass.

"Look Draco, we need to talk," Ginny finally broke the silence.

"Yeah, I know," he replied as he poured himself another cup of coffee.

"I need to know, how long have you been following me?" Ginny asked.

"It's not that I went out of my way to follow you," Draco began. He then further explained that his mother had been acting oddly. She normally was a very private person and she had little or no tolerance for muggles. He found it really strange when she started spending a lot of time in muggle London, shortly before she told him that she was pregnant. He had plenty of time on his hands because he didn't have a job being that no one would hire the son of a Death Eater, so he decided to follow her and see what she was up to.

"It was after you brought my mother to the hospital that I noticed you," Draco told her. "And then it seemed that you were always around."

"Does she know?" Ginny asked.

"I don't think so," Draco said. "You actually are very good at being discreet."

"Oh yeah, I'm so good that you figured it out," Ginny sighed.

"I had an advantage," Draco said. "I too was following her and that's why I found you out."

"Do you know why I've been following her?" Ginny asked.

"I haven't really thought too much about why you were following my mother," Draco said, "I just found it interesting, so I began to follow you."

"And what did you discover by following me?" Ginny asked. She didn't want to reveal more than what she had to.

"Not too much until last night," Draco said.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked becoming very uneasy.

"Ginny..." Draco started. "I don't believe the muggles attacking you last night was a random thing."

"What purpose would they have to attack me?" Ginny asked as she tried to let on that there was more to her getting attacked than he knew.

"I think you've probably heard the rumors," Draco said. "There have several rumors circulating about muggles showing up in places that they shouldn't and knowing things that they shouldn't."

"I haven't read anything like that," Ginny didn't lie. She hadn't read anything like that.

"Ginny," Draco started. "Don't play word games with me. Of course you haven't read anything, there is nothing to read. I said I heard rumors." Ginny looked over at Willow munching on a bit of grass; she wanted to avoid eye contact with Draco.

"So what does that have to do with me?" Ginny asked.

"I'm not sure," he began. "When this all started, I didn't even think there was a connection. But, after last night, I think I was wrong. And I think it may have something to do with that ring you took off the muggle." Ginny felt the blood drain from her face.

"The ring?" her voice squeaked, she had forgotten that he saw her take the ring.

"Yeah, the ring that the muggle who seemed to be in charge wore," Draco said. "I'm guessing that the ring is important. As shaken as you were last night, you sure made sure to get it from him and tried not to let me know."

"How much of what the muggles said to me did you hear?" Ginny asked. She needed to know how much Draco knew.

"I heard enough to know that the muggle with the ring was the leader and the other two were following orders," Draco stated.

"Why do..." Ginny tried to speak.

"And I heard enough to know that there is some old man that they report to," Draco cut her off.

"What old..." Ginny tried again.

"And the most disturbing thing I heard was that those muggles seemed to be very aware of magic and of people like us," he concluded. Draco was finally giving Ginny a chance to speak and she couldn't find any words, so Ginny stood up with Willow's leash.

"Willow come here," Ginny called. The little bunny hopped right over so Ginny could put the leash on.

"Ginny, you can't avoid me or my questions," Draco reminded her.

"I don't know what to tell you," Ginny honestly answered.

"I guess what I need to know is how is my mother involved and is she in any danger," Draco seemed sincere. Ginny didn't have time to answer Draco because Narcissa was leaving the house.

"If you're coming with me, let's go," Ginny commanded as she lifted Willow and hid from Narcissa's sight.

"Fine," Draco followed Ginny. "But this conversation is far from over."

Both Ginny and Draco followed Narcissa quietly. As they made their way to muggle London, Ginny occasionally made casual conversation trying to avoid more serious subjects.

Narcissa didn't go to her usual shops; rather she walked for a very long time. This made it difficult for Ginny to escape having to answer Draco's questions. They finally stopped when she arrived at a large house clear across town. Ginny and Draco watched from a distance as Narcissa walked to the front door and rang the bell. It looked like a servant opened the door and let Narcissa inside.

"Do you know who lives there?" Ginny asked Draco once Narcissa was inside.

"I think you need to answer some of my questions before I answer any more of yours," Draco sounded like he was getting a bit irritated.

"Come on Draco," Ginny put her hands on her hips. "This is important."

"Then you better start talking," Draco exaggeratedly put his hands on his hips mocking Ginny.

"Fine," Ginny said ignored his teasing. "What do you want to know?"

"I want to know what's up with the ring you took and I want to know how this relates to my mother," he answered. Ginny ran her fingers through her hair as she began to pace. She felt like she was standing in front of a fork in the road and didn't know which path to choose.

"Fine," Ginny took a deep breath and sighed. "But you can't repeat any of what I'm going to tell you. You've got to promise."

"Ginny I realize that my involvement puts you in an awkward position," Draco said. "I'm not asking you to betray confidences... although I am fairly certain that the Ministry is involved."

"Why do you think that?" Ginny asked.

"Well I am not authorized to use magic on muggles and yet I have not received any reprimand from the Ministry. You know that they know when magic has been used, especially on muggles and yet nothing has happened to me, to me, the son of Lucius Malfoy. You'd think they'd jump at the chance to catch me breaking the law and yet here I am, untouched. I find that very unusual," Draco answered.

"Well, it just so happens that I have a special licensees to perform magic on muggles," Ginny explained, "and I took responsibility for the magic used last night. I left your name out of it."

"Why did you do that and why do you magic licensees anyway? You don't work for the Ministry," as Draco spoke; Ginny began biting bit her lower lip as Draco asked.

"I didn't want to get you in trouble for helping me, but I can't tell you any more," Ginny stated.

"Look Ginny, you are not the only one taking a risk," Draco said.

"How are you at risk?" Ginny was puzzled.

"I know that my mother is somehow involved and possibly in danger. I also don't have any guarantees that you aren't trying to set her up - or me for that matter. After all, my father is locked up for his involvement with You-Know-You. Some might even consider me to be dangerous with my family's history. And let's face facts, there has been no love lost between your family and mine," Ginny thought she saw a flicker of hurt in Draco's eyes as he spoke, but when she looked closer, it was gone.

"I wouldn't do that to you," Ginny responded defensively. "I'm not like that!"

"And I wouldn't do it to you either," Draco said. "But we both have to be willing to trust each other, a least a little bit, if we are going to be able to help each other."

"I guess you have a point," Ginny skeptically agreed. She wanted to trust Draco and knew that she could use his help, but Miranda's warnings were haunting her. Logically she knew that Draco had access to information concerning Narcissa that she just didn't have. But on the other hand, Narcissa was his mother and how could Ginny expect Draco to betray his own mother. What should she do? Which path should she choose? She just didn't know the answer.

"Look Ginny, I know my mother isn't a saint. She has done some questionable things. In fact, both she and my father have made questionable choices and I suppose my sense of right and wrong may be somewhat skewed as a result of having them as my parents, but at the end of the day, she's my mother and she's all I have left. If she's in trouble, then I want to help her," Draco said.

"Draco, all I can tell you that I have a job to do," Ginny paused for a few minutes while she thought over what Draco was proposing. Ginny knew Narcissa was involved, but she wasn't certain that she was responsible. Perhaps she could use Draco's help without asking him to betray his mother.

"So why can't we help each other?" Draco interrupted her thoughts.

"Because I can't promise that your mother is innocent," Ginny replied. "And that could propose a real conflict of interest."

"I already told you that I know my mother is no saint," Draco reminded her. "But she is pregnant and I have to do what I can to keep her safe." Ginny didn't answer, but saw the sadness in his eyes when spoke. Ginny understood his desire to protect his mother; she knew that she'd feel the same way if the situation were reversed.

"I suppose I was crazy to think that you'd trust me, Draco Malfoy, son of a Death Eater," Draco lowered his voice and looked to the ground as he spoke.

"If we did work together, everything we find has to stay between us," Ginny quietly said. She was torn as to what to do. Her logic told her not to trust him, but her instincts told her otherwise. She wanted to trust Draco.

"I'm not going to stab you in the back," Draco reassured her.

"If it looks like your mother is responsible this may get hard for you," Ginny warned.

"I'm not stupid Ginny," Draco said. "I'm just going to hope for the best until I know otherwise."

Ginny finally decided which path she would walk done as she replied, "Fine." Right or wrong, she made her decision; she was going to trust him.

"Fine then," he subtly smiled.

"Don't make me regret this Draco," she warned him.

"I think I'm going to surprise you Ginny and I am learning that you are constantly surprising me," Draco now was smiling from ear to ear. It made him feel good to have someone trust in him again.

"Then we have a deal," Ginny stated, offering her hand to Draco.

"It's a deal," Draco agreed as he shook her hand. "So, will you now please tell me about the ring?"

"Sure, but it's a long story," Ginny began. She started from the beginning when she and Miranda came across the old muggle outside the portkey to The Commons. She then went into a fair amount of detail about the artifacts and the awareness that they give muggles.

Once Narcissa she left the house, they followed her together as Ginny told him about the legend of the Cursed Serpent and how the statue would produce these artifacts when magic was performed by a coven of wizards. Draco didn't say much while Ginny spoke. He just walked and listened.

"How is my mother involved?" Draco finally asked once Ginny was done telling him the history of the artifacts.

"I saw your mother give an artifact to a muggle woman," Ginny answered.

"Why would my mother have one of these artifacts?" Draco asked himself out loud. He really didn't want her to be involved, but he had this sinking feeling that she was.

"I don't know, but that's why I've been following her," Ginny truthfully answered, careful not to divulge her suspicions.

For the rest of the day Ginny and Draco followed discreetly behind Narcissa. They spent much of the day devising a game plan. Draco was going snoop around his house and see if he could come up with any leads. He was also going to try to listen in to Narcissa's conversations that she had with any houseguests that visited and he would pay closer attention to whom actually visited her. Ginny told Draco that she was going to talk with her boss Miranda and her other contacts, to see if they had any new information. Ginny was comfortable with Draco knowing about Miranda. He already knew that Ginny worked for The Daily Prophet, but Ginny wasn't ready to reveal Percy as her Ministry contact.

Narcissa finally went home after sunset. Willow was tired and stretched out by Ginny's feet as Ginny and Draco stood by the portkey and continued to talk. Ginny was telling Draco about what happened to her inside the pawnshop two days before.

"I saw you go inside Ginny," Draco confirmed as he reached in his pocket and pulled out a few pieces of candy. He ate one himself and offered one to Ginny, but she shook her head no. He then bent down and put one by Willow, but she was already fast asleep. He then popped the other piece in his mouth.

"Then you saw that there was no pawnshop when I went back yesterday," Ginny pointed out.

"And my mother led you there," Draco sounded funny because his mouth was still full of candy "Hash anysing like that appened befoawr?"

"No, but I have noticed something strange," Ginny laughed at his funny speech.

"Donoughlafatme," Draco spit while he tried to talk with his mouth full of candy.

"Stop it!" Ginny chuckled. "Just finish eating your candy..." She then went on to tell Draco about how both leads from Narcissa happened on a full moon. Draco agreed that was odd. She asked him if he noticed any out of the ordinary behavior around the full moon.

"My mother has been acting strange all the time since she got pregnant!" Draco laughed, his speech much clearer now that he had finished his candy. "Seriously, she has been very secretive and hasn't been hanging around her usual circle of friends. It's hard to know the specifics because we don't talk much."

"But you live in the same house," Ginny said.

"Even during the best of times my parents never talked to me often other than keep your grades up, remember you're a pure blood, be the best, blah, blah, blah. And now that my father is gone, it's much worse," Draco said.

"That's so sad," Ginny felt badly for Draco. When they were in school, he was so cocky, obnoxious and even cruel. . She was beginning to sense that he grew up in a very lonely environment and that much of Draco's behavior growing up was a front to cover up his loneliness.

"Don't get me wrong, I love my family," Draco said matter of fact. "It's just the way it is."

Ginny suddenly became very grateful for her family. They may have bickered among themselves, but the Weasley house was always full of love and affection. She was never lonely, not in the sense that Draco was, while growing up.

"Well I guess I should be getting Willow home," Ginny bent down and lifted the little gray bunny. "She is absolutely knackered."

"So I guess you're not up for grabbing a pint with me?" Draco smiled.

"Maybe another night," Ginny smiled back.

"Then I'll see you by the Cherry tree tomorrow," Draco said and started walking up the road to his house.

"See you then," Ginny said before she went through the portkey back to muggle London and onward home.