"Ginny, this is not a good idea," Hannah bit her lower lip, "what if you get caught?"

"Hannah," Seamus's voice pierced the silence, "Gin knows what she's doing." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, resting his head on her shoulder, "Don't you, babe?"

The controversial redhead smiled softly, shrugging Seamus off as she went back to getting dressed. "Voldemort isn't in power yet, it won't hurt if I go to this party to do some research. Besides, we've gone over the guest list a hundred times and scoped the place out, nothing should go wrong." Ginny wasn't sure who she was trying to convince: Hannah or herself. "And even if something does go wrong, I can handle myself. I've been well taught, I'm an Auror. As Seamus said, I know what I'm doing."

"Okay," Hannah responded cautiously, "but at least let me help you with your hair."

"Oh thank Merlin," she huffed with a smile, "I thought you'd never offer."

--

"The resistance has no idea what's going to happen, Draco, relax." Blaise carefully eyed his best friend, making sure every aspect of Draco's attire was perfectly done. "And even if they did, they can't stop it from - what the hell?" He bent down to the blonde's knee, surveying what looked like a stray piece of fur. "Fucker," he mumbled as he pulled it off, flicking it away. "As I was saying," Blaise stood up, his eyes facing a confused Draco. "It-well, there was," he blabbered, "nevermind."

"When you decide to come out of the closet, Blaise, let me know."

"Sod off, Malfoy, I'm not gay."

"Whatever you say, mate."

"Can we get back to the topic at hand?" Draco nodded and Blaise proceeded. "Ginevra Molly Weasley, twenty two, member of the resistance and the old Ministry, high ranking in both. Dated Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, and Oliver Wood; currently dating Seamus Finnigan. Her best friends are Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, and she's close with Hannah Abbott and Penelope Clearwater. Pureblood, gifted in the area of charms, knows more healing spells than most of her peers combined." Blaise went over the rest of the list in his head, trying to see if there was anything else he was supposed to remind Draco of. "She was a Holyhead Harpy for three years before Marcus Flint had one of the Falcon beaters hit a bludger to her knee." That had been all over the Prophet for days, but only because both beaters had been told to do the same thing and Ginny wound up with a bludger to the knee and to the ribs - a close encounter with death forced her off the team.

"Supposedly, she's wearing Slytherin colors this evening. According to Graham Pritchard, Marietta Edgecomb bought an emerald colored dress from Madam Malkin's a couple weeks ago in Ginny's size. This isn't for sure, but it was said that she would try to fit in. Of course, being one of the few females and the only redhead, fitting in might be an issue. But, moving on."

Draco knew all of this and nodded as Blaise continued, reminding himself of all the little conversational tidbits he'd tried to come up with during the days he spent memorizing this information. "I know that something was said to have happened between her and Theodore Nott last Christmas, but I also heard that it was just talk. What was it and was it true?"

Rifling through his memory bank, Blaise tried to recall what he'd heard. "Speculation about Ginny and Marcus by Oliver. He overheard Marcus talking to Theodore about why she hadn't returned to quidditch regardless of being given a clean bill of health by St. Mungo's. Apparently Flint thought she was the best chaser he'd ever encountered, mostly for competitive reasons, also because he had a sick pleasure of watching her writhe on the floor in pain. Something lewd and indecent was said and Oliver overheard, felt the need to confront Ginny at the Three Broomsticks and a break-up ensued."

For a moment, Draco wondered how much research had been done on Ginny, but at the same time he didn't care. "Good to know. How do I look?" He turned away from the mirror and faced Blaise.

"If I were gay, I'd take a run at you."

"Says the straight man who tried to crawl into my bed three weeks ago. Oh yeah, you're totally not gay, Zabini."

"I was drunk, Malfoy, I take no responsibility for my actions." He smirked. "Besides, I thought you were Astoria. Anyone would tell you that the blonde hair - regardless of the style - is a definite throw off. She's got a better body than you anyways, more-"

"Okay, enough visuals. Been there, done that, bought a souvenir. Astoria is like the model broomstick at Quality Quidditch Supplies; you take her for a ride and then realize there's a better version a few aisles over. She's nothing special."

Blaise snorted and shook his head. "You're right, mate. Let's get downstairs, the party is about to start."

--

Ginny looked at herself in the mirror, making sure she liked what she saw. "You look gorgeous, Gin, stop worrying so much." Seamus's voice interrupted her thoughts, but she didn't acknowledge him. Regardless of everything he said, she had to look at this from a Pureblood point of view. She would be surrounded by potential enemies tonight, men and women who looked at her and judged her by the style of her dress and the necklace hanging next to her exposed breasts.

"Seamus, it's crucial that I look worthy of these people. If one thing is out of place, I am automatically shunned and have absolutely no way into their world." She felt disheveled but looked immaculate, she couldn't seem to find anything that needed to be fixed. Her hair looked absolutely brilliant with Hannah's help. A silver butterfly pin held up the curls quite nicely, letting a few wisps of hair hang loosely in front of her left eye.

She couldn't help but admire the dress that had been picked out for her, from it's ardent green coloring to the way it fit on her body. It was a sleeveless wonder, why it stayed on her chest while pushing her boobs up at out was beyond her, Ginny was sure gravity was on her side this evening. Not to mention the way it expanded at the waist, offering loose waves to move towards the floor. She duly noted that she looked like the princess from Cinderella, a muggle fairytale her father had once read her - except her dress was of a different color and heels were made of silver satin, not glass.

"You look like a Slytherin vision, my dear," Seamus placed his hands on her hips and kissed her on the forehead. "If they don't like you, if they find something wrong, then that's because they're looking too hard. You're an engaging person, Gin, they'll love you."

Only if she wasn't herself.

"Well, they better." Ginny smiled as broadly as she could, pushing herself up a little higher to reach Seamus's lips, placing a kiss on them. "This is it, love, wish me luck."

"Good luck," he whispered.

Ginny took a step back and closed her eyes, carefully envisioning the gates of the Malfoy Manor as her body felt the familiar pull of apparation.

--

In a room with a hundred other people, it wasn't hard for Draco and Ginny to spot one another.

Ginny was one of twenty females and the only one with red hair, not to mention the only one who wasn't wearing black, blue, or purple. Draco had opted out of the typical black suit and was decked out in white, the only one in the room vain enough to think he could pull it off.

They noticed each other, but didn't let it show. Ginny mingled with men like Atticus Avery and Malcolm Baddock, dancing with debonair ex-Slytherins Graham Pritchard and Miles Bletchley. Draco made light conversation with Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode, making sure to take Daphne Greengrass - or her sister, Astoria - onto the dance floor when Ginny ventured onto it. For two people who didn't give a damn about each other, they were sure trying hard to impress the other.

Unfortunately, Ginny was at a disadvantage.

"Do you think she cares that no one in the room gives a flying fuck that she's here? Other than those in on the plan, that is," Blaise mused, stroking his chin in a faux intelligent looking move.

"No," Draco cleared his throat, "I think she's completely at ease, even though Avery's hand is threateningly close to her ass." He shook his head. Atticus was at least fifty, maybe even sixty. For wizards, that wasn't that old, but Ginny was thirty years young than him, it just wasn't right. "Oh, wait, there it goes. Now it's on her ass."

Blaise was choking on a mix of his drink and laughter. "She does seem at ease," but it didn't stop him from laughing. "Is she smiling up at him?"

"Dear Merlin," he shook his head, "what is she doing?"

"I don't know," Blaise finally controlled his laughter, "but I think somebody better save her before Avery starts groping and trying to take her to some dark corner." He shouldered Draco, "I think this is your cue."

Draco agreed and wound his way through the crowd towards Ginny. He watched Avery's arm curl around Ginny's waist and wondered if she was too daft to notice or was just trying to stop tension from breaking out. Regardless, he swooped in as Avery was getting ready to turn her around. "Good evening, Atticus," he greeted with a cold smile, "I see you've met Miss Weasley."

Atticus Avery gave Draco a good once over, measuring and weighing his options. Finally, he let his hand drop and formed the same smile on his lips that his opponent had on his. "Indeed I have," he examined his cuticles, "I didn't realize she was otherwise occupied." Draco nodded, making a mental note to call Atticus on his crap later - everyone knew Ginny was off-limits this evening to anyone but him.

"Ginevra Weasley," Draco turned his attentions towards the redhead who's stood aside and watched the scene unfold, wistfully curious about why Seamus never fought for her attention the way these two men did - and neither of them cared about her. "You look particularly captivating these evening," he grabbed her hand and placed a soft kiss on her palm, "the dress is stunning."

Eyeing him carefully, she withdrew her hand with a small, cautious smile. "You look quite dashing yourself, Mister Malfoy. But if you don't mind, I promised Nicholas Montague a dance and I believe he's coming to collect." Ginny gathered her courage - and her dress - and walked towards the approaching ex-Slytherin.

"Shall we?" He asked, offering her a charming smile and an arm. She curtsied politely and placed her arm into the crook of his elbow, allowing him to whisk her towards the dance floor.

Draco stood, jaw threatening to drop and mortification touching his features. People were clearly ignoring the rules in which they were supposed to follow, which was lead Ginny towards him no matter what the cost. Apparently they were far more interested in their ability to attract her attention that they were forgetting this was about luring her into their intricate dark web of lies and deceit. "Motherfu-"

"Serves you right," Atticus interrupted, taking a swig of whatever alcohol happened to be in his glass. "I realize Voldemort said it was your job to get the girl, but when it comes down to it, you're not the kind of man she'll be attracted to." He waved his glass in Nicholas's direction, "Montague, he's a good guy, for the most part. He's the right kind of Slytherin and charm to woo her, something in which Voldemort clearly wasn't planning on. Who would have thought?"

That was all it took to infuriate Draco. He'd spent weeks preparing for this, hours getting ready, and minutes making sure that everything he said was perfect and calculated - Ginny wouldn't know what hit her. But as she spun around that floor on Nicholas Montague's arm, her eyes bright with laughter and her lips lined with words, Draco was simply frustrated. "Fuck you, Avery."

Making his way onto the dance floor, Draco pushed through a few couples and ignored the conversations a few men tried to strike with him. He had a goal, damn it, and there was no way he was going to come short of that because some of his own allies thought they could do better. "Excuse me," he bowed before Nicholas and Ginny, "do you mind if I cut in?"

"No, not at all," Nicholas placed a kiss on Ginny's cheek and backed away, leading himself off the floor. As he passed Atticus Avery on his way off, he smirked and nodded his head, "Plan B initiated, boss."

Author's Note: It makes me sad that people don't review, but I like this story too much to stop. Eventually, more people will review - maybe. :) I hope you liked the chapter, didn't take as long to write as the other two. I actually think this one moves a lot faster than any other chapter so far - but hey, there's only three so far, maybe it's just me. Review, loves.