Chapter 4 –

It was several months after his run in with Moody in the entrance hall before Draco had any real contact with his Sprite. He was not sure when she had become his Sprite but he thought it must have been sometime in between the World Cup and his experience with Moody's insanity. The former, when he had been nearly as worried about her running away in the dark as he had been for his mother, had been the starting point. The latter had simply solidified her place in his mind. As he had been lying on the floor after McGonagall transfigured him back he had caught a glimpse of her in the crowd. At first he had thought that the look of sheer loathing on her face had been directed at him for the cruel things he had said to her brother.

In retrospect he realized that he had probably gone too far with his words, especially as anything said about her parents reflected on her as well. It just always seemed that he got carried away when it came to taunting her brother. Getting Weasley riled up was, he would admit, one of his favorite pastimes, but he usually he found himself taking things further than he intended to. She had clearly been right in her quiet reprimand in the Hospital Ward last year. He knew it was his mouth that got him into trouble more often than not. He knew he needed to take her advice and choose what he said and who he said it to more carefully.

However, it was not towards him that her burning glare had been directed but Moody. He wondered if that feeling of protectiveness that he still could not really explain was reflected in her feelings towards him as well. Since then, she had always been his whenever she came to his mind.

Because he had already acknowledged to himself that he felt something towards her, he was not entirely caught off guard when sharp pangs of jealousy shot through him as she walked in to the Yule Ball with Longbottom. It was certainly the first time in his life that he had ever felt that particular emotion in Longbottom's direction but it was unmistakable. Unfortunately, it was clearly evident not only to himself but to Blaise as well. At least his friend waited until Draco's "date," Pansy, had walked away.

Having grown up together in the same social circles, Draco and Pansy had been good enough friends since they were small. They had gotten along well up until the past year. It was at that point that the girl had, in Draco's opinion, lost her mind and decided that she was completely in love with him, much to his chagrin and Blaise's amusement. Since then, she was a general nuisance in his life on a good day. Do something to upset her little world and she suddenly became a raving, insatiable harpy until he found a way to placate her. Therefore, when Pansy had informed him that they would be going to the Ball together he had simply not cared enough to argue the fact. It simply was not worth the trouble.

Once she was out of hearing range Blaise stepped closer, eying Draco's put out expression. "Something's eating at you, Drake, and it's clearly more than the bother of your lovely escort," his friend observed quietly, rolling his eyes at the mention of Pansy and her garish pink gown. "I haven't seen a scowl quite like that one in a long time. Hadn't noticed it earlier this evening either. Not until a certain red-headed third year walked in on Longbottom's arm. Interesting, isn't she?"

Draco looked at Blaise sharply, trying to both gage his friend's reaction to his interest in a Weasley of all people and to attempt to determine what he might do with the new information. Blaise's teasing smirk was reassuring enough that he was only amused rather than shocked, but he was still curious as to what the other boy thought about the matter.

"Interesting? Why do you say that? You can't possibly be interested in the girl," Draco attempted to feign disinterest in the subject. But he was also slightly wary from the look on Blaise's face that his friend might be interested in Sprite, himself.

At the look of nervous concern on the blonde's face that he was clearly trying to hide, Blaise's expression turned from smirking to a warm grin fairly quickly.

"While she's fascinating, not to mention growing up to be beautiful, we both know I'd never take something that was yours. Really Drake, I may be a selfish prat at times but you know that you're one of the only people outside of mother whom I'd never knowingly do anything to hurt," the last phrase was spoken in an undertone. There were only a few people, mainly their parents and a few friends, who realized what close friends the two Slytherins were; practically brothers in their own minds.

At the reassurance, Draco's face cleared somewhat, only a hint of the earlier jealousy remained. It took someone who knew him as well as Blaise to even see it. It was not until a few minutes later as he saw Pansy making her way back towards them that he heard Blaise add quietly from beside him, "However, if you ever do decide that you don't care if she's yours or not, you better have made up your mind for sure. I don't want there to be problems between us but if you say you don't care, I'm taking that as a go-ahead."

Draco glanced at his friend sharply just as Pansy sauntered up, babbling on about some drivel that only she cared about. Blaise's face showed no hint of threat or challenge, but it was clear to Draco from the vast experience they had shared that Blaise was serious. Not only that, but he was also interested enough in Sprite for him to offer a warning to Draco, something he would never have bothered to do over a passing fancy. As always seemed to be the case whenever she was concerned, Draco was not at all sure how he should fell about the whole situation.

Between the growing excitement as the Triwizard Tournament drew nearer to its end and the general concern felt throughout her group of friends about Harry being a participant, Ginevra had been somewhat distracted from her usual observation of her Lightning Boy. She had found herself fairly annoyed by the way that Parkinson cow had been hanging all over him during the ball last Christmas. She was pretty sure, however, that it was a combination of the fact that she disliked the girl and that she was simpering around Draco. Either way, she had done her best to enjoy the night with Neville. She overlooked when he stepped on her feet, and attempted to ignore the fact that both Draco and his friend Zabini seemed to watch her quite regularly throughout the evening. On the few occasions that she allowed herself to meet their gazes, she offered up a tentative smile, as long as the cow was not attaching herself like a fungus to Draco's person at that moment.

Since then, other than similar half smiles and nods in the hallways at times, Ginevra had not really seen much of her Lightning Boy throughout the rest of the school year. However, since the end of the Triwizard Tournament and the news that Voldemort had returned in the flesh there had been little time for attention towards anything else besides Order business. Even as an underage witch, not yet a member of the Order, she had been working so hard cleaning that awful house that even at night she was too tired to do much other than sleep, let alone think about her Lightning Boy. But today, he had suddenly been drawn to the forefront of her mind and she was having a difficult time concentrating on much else at all. The reason for his abrupt reappearance in her thoughts was finding his face staring back at her from the Black family tapestry in the drawing room at Grimmauld Place.

Ginevra had known that the Malfoys and Sirius were related. It was common for anyone from a pure-blood family to at least have a basic understanding of the connections between the various prominent houses. But the thought that she might come across something related to him in this house had simply not occurred to her until then. It was unsettling to realize, as she looked over the bottom portion of the tapestry, how very closely related Draco was to someone like Bellatrix Lestrange, who was such a staunch follower of Voldemort, not to mention completely insane.

She knew, both from rumor and from information given to her from Tom at the end of her time with him, that Draco's father had been a Death Eater. It seemed, however, as if he was more interested in protecting his son than following the orders of a dark, somewhat deranged Tom Riddle, even while under the power of the diary. Frightening questions occurred to her quite suddenly. What would Tom's return mean for Draco and his family? Would they return to serve him? Would they even have a choice in the matter? It had been several years since she had been truly afraid of Tom himself; time spent with him in the diary and the Chamber had cured her of that. She was still afraid of what he could do to those she cared about. While her family was clearly not safe – no one was until Tom was defeated again – if she was honest with herself she was probably more scared of what could happen to Draco and those around him who could be on the front row in Tom's presence with hardly anyone to cover their backs. At this realization Ginevra was suddenly quite anxious for the beginning of the school year to arrive so she could see for herself that the Lightning Boy was still alright.

AN: Introducing Blaise! We will be seeing more of him in the future. He is one of my favorite characters that is left somewhat under-developed in the books. It just gives me that much more room to work with him.