Chapter Four: Plans

"Niamh is going with Chip," Ginny said, sitting cross-legged on her scarlet cushion, "and Luna's going along with them. You and Chip get along all right, don't you?" Ginny was never clear on how Slytherin House politics worked.

"Yeah, I guess," Draco replied. Chip Thackery had been annoyed that Draco had been reinstated as a prefect, since he was already the male seventh-year prefect in Slytherin, but when Draco hadn't attempted to supplant him in his leadership within the House, Chip got over it quickly.

"So we can all go together? Unless there's another group you'd rather join."

"As long as we aren't all glued together, it's fine with me. I'd like us to have some time on our own," Draco said.

Ginny smiled brightly. "Yeah, I think we can do that."

"Of course, the village will be crawling with teachers and completely infested by Aurors," Draco said. "I don't know how alone we'll be able to be."

"We'll figure something out. I think we'll be able to find somewhere that's not 'infested,'" Ginny said.

Draco twitched a smile. "As long as we don't get caught."

"Yeah, I know—you're a prefect and everything."

"So . . . what did Niamh and Luna think when you told them I was coming along? That we're going together?"

Ginny shrugged. "Luna just looked dreamy, like usual, and Niamh mentioned that she was bringing Thackery. That was about it. I thought Luna was going with someone, too, but it must have been a mistaken impression, 'cause she didn't mention anything about it."

"I haven't seen her with anyone in particular. She mostly hangs out by herself or with other girls, and she's pretty strange—d'you think she's, you know, gay?" Draco asked, lowering his voice.

Ginny broke into giggles and shook her head. She opened her mouth to reply, and she just laughed more. "If she is, she doesn't only swing one way," Ginny finally said. "She and my brother—Ron—had a thing for a while. It didn't last, but over Easter, he said something about getting back together with her again." Ginny giggled again. "He probably would have been fascinated with that possibility, though. You should see the magazines I found when I did his laundry last summer. I left them all laying out on his bed, open to different pictures. Some of it was a little nasty, I thought. Anyway, he either got rid of them or he hid them somewhere other than in his dirty laundry. He was really embarrassed." She flopped back, laughing.

Draco smirked. He wished he'd had some of that reading material during that long year when he was living with his mother in Sweden.

"How was Divination today?" Draco asked, changing the subject from Luna and turning his mind away from wank materials.

"It was okay, but Duffy was in a snit. Only about half of us had done the assigned essay, and there were three guys missing. She didn't take it out on us, exactly, but she was in a bad mood."

"I didn't think that Duffy could do anything but giggle and simper," Draco said.

"She's usually in a really good mood, but she wasn't today. Actually, I think that she's trying to make it a real course, you know—more than Trelawney did—and give real assignments and stuff, but people took it thinking it'd be the same old tripe and they could get away with not doing anything, just coast through making stuff up till the exam, then do a little cramming and cross their fingers for the practical portion."

"Yeah, I know that Pat didn't go. He came down and sat with me after you left for class. He said he didn't go because he hadn't finished the essay."

"You know, Duffy's really pretty nice. I think that if people asked for an extension of a deadline, she'd give it to them."

"She's just so . . . Hufflepuff," Draco said. "Sorry, don't mean to sound like that, but really. She is such a cheery little lightweight."

"You just don't like Divination."

"I don't. It should be outlawed," Draco grumped. "When it's inaccurate, it's stupid, or even exploitive, and when it's accurate, it just causes problems. It's a disaster any way it goes."

Ginny laughed. "Then let's start our Charms assignment."

After Charms, they moved on to Transfiguration. As the room grew darker, Draco closed his book and reached over to close Ginny's.

"I think it's time we pack up for the day," he said.

Ginny nodded. "Herbology was kind of fun this afternoon," she said as she opened her book bag.

"Yeah, especially since she let us leave so early," Draco said. "I'm getting tired of going to classes. I'll be glad when NEWTs are over."

"Me, too . . . but I still don't know what I'm going to do. I haven't any idea at all, and that makes me nervous."

"I wrote back to Mr MacAirt. When I meet with him, would you like me to mention you? Would you like to see if there's something in one of his businesses that you might like to do?"

"He's a very important man, Draco. I can't waste his time when I don't have any idea of what I might do. I don't know a thing about business."

"He seems pretty intuitive. He might talk with you and come up with an idea for you."

Ginny shook her head. "I don't think so."

"I do," Draco said. "In fact, since he's meeting me here, why don't you come along just so that I can introduce you? Then it would be easier to ask about talking to him yourself."

"Just the idea of talking to him when I haven't a clue makes me nervous. I don't know . . ."

Draco grinned. "He's even better looking than his son!" he teased in a sing-song voice.

Ginny laughed. "That would be even scarier! But okay, I'll let you introduce us." She leaned over, placing her hand on his cushion next to his leg, and kissed him. "Thanks, Draco."

Draco put his hand behind her head and drew her closer. By mutual unspoken agreement, they had been avoiding any kissing or touching until they were finished with their revision, that way it would be easier to keep from doing anything that they shouldn't be caught doing. Right now, as Draco's tongue explored Ginny's mouth and one of his hands drifted to her breast, it was very difficult for him to restrain himself from pushing Ginny back onto her cushion and going further. He reminded himself of Headmistress McGonagall's warning, though, and gently pulled away.

"That's one reason I can't wait for NEWTs to be over," Ginny said with a sigh. "I want us to spend real time alone together, not just like this."

"Mm, me, too," Draco said, leaning forward and kissing her softly once more. "I have a flat, you know. It's at my parents' place in Leeds—they're not there, of course, after the firebomb attack by that loony, but the house has been repaired, and my flat wasn't damaged at all . . . well, it did smell a bit funny from the smoke and the potion, but that's probably gone by now. It's just a small flat, the ground floor—the basement, really—only four rooms, but it's quite well equipped . . ."

"It sounds wonderful," Ginny said. "I don't know where I'll live after school. I'll probably go back to the Burrow for a while . . . Ron has a flat in Diagon Alley near the twins' shop, but he doesn't like it. He thought it was great at first, right in the centre of everything, but it's too noisy, too small, and the Charmed plumbing is really bad, so the drains always smell nasty. Over Easter, he was talking about getting a different place this summer, maybe something we could share. I don't know, though. I'd have to see the place, and I'm not sure whether I could live with him or not. He's kind of a slob, and I think he might expect me to pick up after him all the time."

"Maybe if you work for Mr MacAirt, you could get your own flat . . . or maybe we could get one together. Eventually. If you wanted. We could talk about it."

"I think that might be a good idea," Ginny said, smiling. "We'll need to think about it . . . see how things go."

Draco nodded. He hoped that they could be really alone before NEWTs, but he would have to think about how to manage that. Being caught not only meant losing his prefect's badge and some privileges, it meant exposing Ginny to embarrassment. Himself, too, though that was not his paramount concern. In addition, he really wanted to have their first time together in some more romantic—or at least more comfortable—place than some abandoned classroom or damp, secluded nook in the dungeons. That might be fine for some couples, but not for him and Ginny, not for their first real sex and not just snogging. For making love. Draco smiled.

"Yeah, we'll have to see how things go," he said.


Next: "He's My Date, Ron." Ginny and Draco go into Hogsmeade together. The run into someone they didn't expect.

BTW, if Irish names occasionally baffle you when you see them written and you're having trouble with "Niamh," remember that "mh" is pronounced like a "v," so Niamh rhymes more-or-less with Reeve. :-)