Tell me I'm clever,
Tell me I'm kind,
Tell me I'm talented,
Tell me I'm cute,
Tell me I'm sensitive,
Graceful and wise,
Tell me I'm perfect-
But tell me the truth.

What the hell was he going to do? He'd only meant to rescue Ginny. He was going to bring her up here to clean up, then sneak her out and send her back to her family. Now everything had changed. His father knew about her. Lucius would notice if Ginny suddenly disappeared. He'd get suspicious and he'd start asking questions. Eventually, he'd figure out who Ginny was and that Draco had helped her escape. Draco would be dead and then Lucius would hunt down Ginny. What a huge problem this had all become. How had he let this get so out of hand? But it was his problem, and he would solve it.

Draco heard the bathroom door open and turned to see Ginny in the doorway. Her hair was damp and her face was clean and she had some color back in her cheeks. Her small form was enveloped in one of his fluffy white robes. He cleared his throat.

"The house elves brought some food." He motioned to the table in front of him. "I thought you might be hungry." She nodded and came to sit across from him. She avoided his eyes as she filled a small plate with food and began to eat. He watched her. There was a small cut on her lower lip and when she licked it, it opened up again and began to bleed.

"Your lip." He said, leaning forward and touching a napkin to it. "It's bleeding." He explained when she looked up at him in surprise. She took the napkin from him and moved out of his reach. Slowly, he sat back and regarded her.

"What do you really want Malfoy?" She asked, removing the napkin and placing both hands in her lap.

He shook his head. "Nothing. I want nothing."

"Then why did you save me?" She asked incredulously. Draco stood abruptly and started pacing. Was she kidding? Was she so stuck on the animosity they had shared at Hogwarts that she couldn't believe he could do something simply because it was the right thing to do? Did she really think he did things only if there was some reward for him? Well maybe once he would have, but he had changed. Hadn't he?

"Would you rather I'd left you down there?" He asked, turning to glare at her.

"No, but I…" She looked down at her hands. "I just don't understand why you would. I mean, you were so mean to me at school, and you, you were supposed to murder Dumbledore…"

"But I didn't." He muttered fiercely. She looked up, startled.

"I know, but, well, you're a Malfoy." She finished lamely.

"Yeah, and since my surname is Malfoy, that means I must have some ulterior motive in rescuing you. Maybe I just wanted a comfortable place to rape you or hell, maybe I'll just keep you here as my personal sex slave." He knew his voice was rising in anger but he did nothing to control it. "Has anything I've done to you said lunatic Death Eater rapist?"

Ginny shook her head. He could see tears forming in her eyes and suddenly he felt guilty for yelling. "I'm sorry." He said a little more gently. "I'm sorry. It's not you I'm mad at, it's this. This whole situation." She looked about to cry.

"I just want to go home Malfoy." Her voice was so sad and innocent. She seemed like nothing more than a child sitting there in that oversized robe, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Well, that's the problem, isn't it?" He said softly. "You can't." She stared at him with a mix of terror and confusion. "At least not yet. My dad knows about you now. He'd notice you missing. He'd start asking questions. He'd find out I helped you and he'd kill me, then he'd come find you and kill you too, probably your whole family." She gasped. "I can't let that happen." He finished. She sat there silently for a few moments and he wondered what she was thinking.

"Your dad leads the Death Eaters now, doesn't he? Now that Voldemort is gone." He hadn't been expecting that, but he nodded, it was the truth. "I have to tell the Order." She muttered.

"So that's why you were in Knockturn Alley. You were hunting down Death Eaters." She nodded. "Well, you found them." He smiled wryly. She was silent again, but now she was studying him, appraising him. He stared defiantly back.

"What about you?" She asked and she sounded a bit unsure of herself. "Are you a Death Eater?" Draco laughed. "What?" She asked, her voice rising. "What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry. It's just that, after all I've done and said, you still have to ask." He looked at her but she was still baffled. "No, I'm not a Death Eater. I don't hate muggles or muggleborns, at least not anymore, and I've never killed anyone. I've done things I'm not proud of. But I'm no Death Eater." He sat again and stared at her across the table. "At school I was an arse. I had been raised to hate muggles and 'mudbloods'." The word tasted bitter on his tongue.

"And blood-traitors." She reminded him.

"Yes, those too." He smiled bitterly. "I guess at the time, I really thought it was right. But by sixth year, by the time all that stuff happened with Snape and Dumbledore, I knew it was wrong, I had changed my ways."

"That's why you didn't kill Dumbledore." Ginny muttered. He nodded.

"Snape did it to protect me from my father, and more importantly, Voldemort."

"So if you've changed, if you're so good now, why doesn't your father kick you out, or…kill you?" Ginny seemed to shiver as she said it.

"I put up a good front." Draco sighed. "Or rather, an evil one."

"Those men in the dungeons, they thought you raped me. You've done it before." It wasn't a question.

"I said I've done things I'm not proud of." Draco muttered. "But those women were whores and Death Eaters." He paused and glanced up at her. "Not innocent women." She closed her eyes and turned away from him. "I'm sorry for what I've done. Doesn't that count for something?" Slowly, she nodded and turned to look at him.

"What do we do now?" She asked quietly.

"You stay here. Pretend to be my mistress until we can come up a plan. But you have to stay away from my father."

"Why?"

"Didn't you see the way he looked at you today?" He shuddered just thinking about it. She nodded. "Well, let's just say that the guards downstairs aren't the only ones in this house who would enjoy your company." Now it was Ginny's turn to shiver. They sat in silence for awhile. Finally, Ginny spoke.

"Um, Malfoy?" He looked up at her. "Do you have something I can wear? My clothes are pretty much ruined and I feel kind of… bare…sitting here in your robe." Draco nodded and tried to hide the small grin which had formed on his face. He went into his bedroom and pulled a pair of his sweatpants out of his bureau. She'd have to roll them a few times but they'd be okay for now. He took out a t-shirt and sweatshirt and laid them out on the bed, then walked back out to the other room.

"Clothes are on the bed." He muttered.

"Thanks." She said and crossed to the bedroom. "Oh and Malfoy," She called from the doorway. "I still don't trust you." Then she closed the door. Draco smiled to himself. He expected nothing less from the fiery redhead.

A/N: In which Ginny finally gets a few answers... Poem in this chapter is Tell Me by Shel Silverstein. Leave comments!