Author's note: I'm not a Draco/Ginny supporter at all, so writing this was quite a challenge--a fun one, too be sure--but a challenge all the same. Just thought you should know before reading! And obviously, all characters belong to JK Rowling, who is brilliant.

Draco/Ginny

He told her that he was done and finished with the Death Eaters. He had promised her many times that he no longer served Voldemort and was truly faithful to the Order. Ginny Weasley remembered all too well the night that Draco Malfoy had come crawling to the Burrow with his face slashed with cuts and his heart ripped to pieces. That night, he had apologized to all the Weasleys—told her father that what he had done was wrong and he wanted a new beginning. He wanted what Dumbledore had promised him before Snape killed him… wanted the protection that the Order could provide. He was just sorry that it took him so long to decide and that his mother's life had been taken from him before he could see the dangers of working with the Death Eaters.

Ginny had believed him right away. It didn't take a genius to see the betrayal, hurt, and sorrow floating behind Draco's haunted eyes. While the rest of her large family, plus Harry and Hermione, stood staring at Draco suspiciously with untrustworthy scowls on their faces, Ginny had dropped to her knees next to Draco and put her hand on his arm. And then he had cried. Just her touch had sent him over the edge. Slowly, one by one, they had melted, sorry to see the distraught mess that the youngest Malfoy had become. Ginny had taken it upon herself to clean his wounds, mend the cuts on his face, and make him feel safe again. Why she felt so strongly that Draco should feel warmth again, she was unsure. But there was something that he had lost along the way, and Ginny wanted nothing more than to be the one to find it for him.

To this day, Harry was still skeptical. Two years later, even with Ginny out of Hogwarts and engaged to Draco, Harry still didn't trust him. Ginny could understand—they had been enemies for so long. Plus, Ginny knew that Harry was still jealous that Draco had stolen Ginny's heart only a short time after he had eased away from her. It couldn't be easy on him.

But Ginny had never doubted her fiancé. Ever. From the moment that he cried, to their first kiss on the dock near the Burrow on a warm summer evening, to the day he proposed to her in front of her family—she never doubted him. She trusted that he was good; that he would never lie to her.

But for the past few months, she suddenly found herself filled with the doubts that had never arisen before. She realized only a few weeks ago that Draco stayed out later and later each night—where did he go? Why wasn't he here, in their cramped-but-cozy apartment? What was so important that it would keep him away from the dinners that Ginny attempted to cook him each night?

It was thoughts like these that were flitting around Ginny's brain as she lay in bed one night in October. Moonlight flirted across Ginny's pillow and caused her bright red hair to have an ethereal glow. It was cold for October, and the soft but constant ticking of the clock in the hall told her that it was too late for Draco not to be home yet. She rolled over, tangling her sheets around her feet, to see Draco's empty side of the bed, cold and untouched. Finally, she heard the door open on the other side of the apartment and heard her fiancé set down his wand.

Quickly, Ginny clambered out of bed and snatched her robe off the chair. She made her way into the kitchen where Draco was pouring himself a glass of orange juice.

"Hey stranger," Ginny said from the kitchen doorway.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Draco said, smiling at her. He took a sip of his juice.

"I could be asking you the same thing. What kept you?" Ginny asked him.

Draco set his glass down in the sink. "The usual… you know," he said. As he walked past her, he put a hand under her cheek and kissed her forehead.

"You're so mysterious…" Ginny taunted. "Busy at the Order? How's Harry?"

Draco stiffened. "Fine, why?"

"Just curious, I haven't seen him for awhile—calm down," Ginny laid her hand on his shoulder and brought his hand to her waist. "I missed you at dinner. It gets too quiet when you're not here."

"Sorry. We're busy. The Order's having a hard time tracking down all the remaining Death Eaters—there were a lot of them," Draco said softly. "But let's not talk about it now."

He moved to kiss her, but Ginny continued the conversation, "Is it hard for you? Seeing your old friends carried to Azkaban?" She brushed his blonde hair out of his eyes.

"No!" he said instinctively, but he dropped his hands off her waist and then turned away from her. "Well, yes. Sometimes…"

"It's okay, Draco," Ginny said quickly, putting supportive hands on his shoulders. "I understand."

"I know you do," he looked over at her and smiled. "You're the only one who does."

"I'm going back to bed," Ginny said, gently giving the back of his neck a kiss. "Will I see you there?"

"In a second. I've got… I'm supposed to talk to someone over floo for a second," he explained. Ginny nodded, and left him alone. Part of her was livid with curiosity about whom Draco could have to talk to at this hour, but a larger part knew it was none of her business.

But as she seated herself on the bed and started to pull back the covers, she heard the strong pulse of Draco's voice from the living room. Letting her curiosity get the best of her, she crept back through the hallway and leaned into the living room, where she could see Draco's back hunched over the fire.

"I understand, sir," he was saying in hushed tones. "I just wish that you'd let me decide when—"

"No, Malfoy, you're not ready," said a familiar voice from the flames. Ginny bit her lip and watched the strange green silhouette of her fiancé carefully. "Just take my word and do as you're told."

"I'm old enough to decide for myself, you know. I'm not a student anymore."

"I don't care. This isn't something to be taken lightly—please. For your mother's sake, if not your own," the voice said, and then the green light vanished.

"Goddamn it, Snape!" Draco yelled and he whipped around, looking for something to throw at the dwindling fire that no longer contained the old Potion master's head. But instead, his eyes fell on Ginny. "Ginny! What—did you hear what he said?" he asked urgently.

"I… no…" she spluttered. "Draco… are you in some kind of trouble? Why is Snape contacting you…!"

"That's none of your business!" he exclaimed. "You will forget you ever heard that conversation, do you understand me? Forget it!"

"Snape is still a Death Eater—turn him in! Are you protecting him? Draco… you said you weren't one of them!"

"I'm… I'm not, Ginny. You don't get it… It's not like that!" he yelled.

"Then by all means, help me get it, because this doesn't look okay," Ginny demanded.

"I'm a spy, alright!"

"For Voldemort? Draco!"

"For the Order. Like Snape is," he explained heavily. "I'm not supposed to tell anyone… but you… you should know."

Ginny suddenly felt overwhelmed. Catching old Death Eaters with Harry was one thing, but slithering through the Death Eater's midst was just dangerous. Draco must have read the fallen look on her face, for he said, "I understand if you don't want to marry me under these conditions. But I have to do this. I have to. To make up for all the horrible things I've done, if not for anything else."

Ginny took a step towards him and nodded. "I will always be here for you. Always. And I will always love you—and there is nothing that you could do right or wrong to change that."

Draco exhaled and smiled. "Thank you. I promise I will never let you down."

"You never could."