Everything belongs to JK. I merely do her bidding through my own plots and stories.

This story includes events from DH excluding the epilogue.

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Chapter Seven - Birthday Choices

A/N: I have changed the name of the company to MNZ Ventures. All previous chapters have been amended as well.

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This may have been a worse decision than running in the first place.

Every hallway she turned down, every room she entered - held some sort of memory of Blaise. She heard his laughter more, here at Malfoy Manor, than she ever had in those seven days at the beach cottage. It had only been a handful of hours but already Ginny felt herself slowly suffocating here.

There were reminders of the parties they had thrown and the galas they had attended, all in the ballroom on the first floor. The library - just walking by the aged wooden double doors had been a tease. Ginny had felt a pull towards the expansive room with its row upon rows of shelves, the hidden room at the back and the darkened corners. She had a sensation of deja-vu as Draco led her towards the main staircase, his melodic words drowning out as she paused to stare at a large portrait whose occupant was staring directly at her.

Sir Cornelius Malfoy's portrait was actually a doorway into a windowless parlor where rumor has it he entertained his mistresses during his time as Lord of the Manor in the early nineteenth century. A small but adequately equipped room where she and Blaise had often snuck of to when an event or a boring meal had turned dry. Her cheeks heated up but she was all ears as Draco came to stand beside her, his concerned gaze looking to where she was staring. He had been kind, wordlessly attributing her spaciness for shock, and gently held her elbow as he maneuvered them up the stairs and to a bedroom just across the hall from his own. It was not the usual quarters that he had often housed her and Blaise in when they stayed over but Ginny reasoned that Draco probably just wanted to keep her close right now.

He had hugged her briefly, his spicy and heady scent clouding her mind momentarily, and kissed her forehead, wishing her sweet dreams before he walked ten yards to the Master suite. And Ginny had been sitting on the plush but stiff chaise lounge chair ever since. The moon had risen to take the place of the sun and still she was sitting, her back as straight as a board and her eyes staring unblinkingly ahead.

She could not get around the sudden change, the shock of moving ahead and making progress for her case - for her innocence. Draco promised that they would figure it all out but the doubts plagued her mind, the what if's lingering and whispering in her ear. Everything had shifted so suddenly, her world turning upside down so quickly - Ginny was still reeling from the shock, how could anyone expect her to be completely coherent?

The scared eleven year old little girl made her appearance as Ginny pulled her legs against her chest and pressed her forehead to her knees. She felt like her mind was cracking in two and everything she thought she knew was becoming secrets and lies. Blaise was gone - dead and long gone - and there was no one there to clean up her mess but her. A horrible mess that she had not created but was responsible for clearing up. She shook with silent sobs, her eyes dry as she squeezes the pale lids shut.

How can she ever repair the damage that has been done to her reputation? Moreover, how can she find the strength to fight the good fight when she can't even forgive herself for whatever role she had in Blaise's death?

D/G

Her birthday fell exactly one month from the day that she started at MNZ Ventures. That August had started out with record temperatures but Ginny didn't let that deter the anxiousness she felt for the impending party her new "co-workers" were planning for her special day.

The past thirty days had been a roller coaster of daily surprises and constant surveillance. Her trainer and temporary mentor, De'mond, was a strict instructor and he kept at her, and the other six trainees, until she got her every task right. Ginny had quickly learned that her new "job" was much more than what she was lead to believe and as such, the company as a whole was a completely different business than what she expected. But as how every change in life should be handled, she had welcomed the challenge with enthusiasm.

It had become rapidly apparent that Ginny was more adept at the training methods and techniques than De'mond himself and throughout the required first month of training he usually let her demonstrate fighting positions and spell work. In that time she too often looked up from a lecture or a physical practice session to find Draco or Blaise, or both, standing in the doorway watching her. She heated under their inscrutable stares, their eyes trailing the beads of sweat down the mountains of her breasts or gazing at the lines of her body. Ginny never admitted to anyone, let alone Pansy who had made it her personal mission to weasel personal information out of her, that she harbored a very sheltered desire for both men - with their penetrating stares and lithe bodies they were easily the most sought after bachelors in Britain.

But she had bigger things to worry about than her romantic life - she was beginning the search for her own home while juggling this new, sleek employment. Stressing over a surprise birthday party was just icing on the cake. And while Pansy had repeatedly mentioned celebrating the completion of her training and not her birthday, Ginny decided either way it would be best for her to leave unnoticed and stay tucked in for the night.

After she went to George and Luna's for a simple dinner and bottle of wine, that is.

Ginny should have seen it coming but she cluelessly walked right into their trap anyways. Of course Pansy had conspired with Luna to organize a party. And of course Ginny didn't question her best friend when she suggested they have their customary birthday meal at home instead of going out. All the signs had been there for her to see but she was still completely shocked when the front door to George's flat opened to reveal her brother, her best friend, and her new co-workers waiting for her arrival.

"Happy birthday!" They all shouted at once, her pulse quickening and her breathing shortening as her wide eyes took in the pinkened cheeks of several who were well into celebrating already.

"Don't be mad!" Luna rushed to say as she wrapped her arms around a stock still Ginny. "We know you hate your birthday," the blonde whispered in her ear rapidly "but we all love you and wanted to celebrate." Luna pulled back, her dainty hands gripping Ginny's upper arms as she dazzled a knowing smile. "Even if we have to do it for you."

Anxiously glancing over her best friend's shoulder Ginny saw the eager, if not slightly drunk, faces of everyone else. Theo was holding a smug looking Pansy on his lap while Draco and Blaise stood close together, whispering rapidly as their eyes ogled her. Though when she noticed the crystals glass in their hands, full of a shimmering amber liquid, she dismissed the justified notion that they were actually checking her out. What was more of a challenge to two defiant Slytherins than the female Weasley - especially when they were drinking?

"You really didn't have to," Ginny pushed her words together as she turned back to Luna, her eyes narrowed into slits and her lips pressed thin to wordlessly convey her unease.

"Pssh posh," Pansy countered flippantly, jumping up from Theo's lap and striding across the room. "If we can't celebrate your birthday can we at least have a party?" The question was not stated nearly as such and Ginny felt the butterflies in her stomach bolt up through her chest as the dark haired witch smirked devilishly.

"Come on," Pansy urged as she slipped her hand around Ginny's elbow and forced her to walk farther into the room. "Let's not keep your guests waiting - come see everyone."

Ginny pleadingly stared at Draco and Blaise, silently begging them to intercede as Pansy walked her through the living room to the spacious kitchen. Both men chuckled lightly at her irrational panic and happily watched her go, their gazes drawing down the shape of her body until the pair moved out of sight.

Only half a dozen or so employees from MNZ were accounted for and Ginny let out a small breath when she recognized Colin, Neville, Seamus, and the Patil twins hanging back from the business dressed witches and wizards. Immediately she wiggled away from Pansy's grasp and nearly ran over to her old friends.

"Here she is -" Colin announced dramatically, his lips turning up in a smile as their quiet conversations stopped. "We can quit worrying that we were lured here as food for the snakes."

The other four laughed easily and Ginny grinned, tucking herself into their little circle. "I wouldn't have blamed you if you hadn't come for that reason alone. I would have thought the same thing too if Pansy Parkinson invited me anywhere."

"Bu' sha's ya co-worka nah," Seamus commented in his thick accent. "Surela ya twa eh chummee nah."

"I wouldn't say that exactly," Ginny laughed in response, casually glancing over her shoulder to where Pansy was straightening several dishes of finger foods before darting over to the oven as a timer beeped. "But she's not so bad," she finished, turning back to the group with a small smile.

She asked everyone how they were doing and besides the most recent event, Dean Thomas had finally proposed to Padma two days before, they all stated that their jobs were the same and everything else was uneventful. Colin was loudly reiterating a story about his last trip to New Zealand, something about the natives not liking his shiny camera, when Neville nudged Ginny's shoulder and ducked his head close to her face.

"I think you have some admirers," he said with an amused chuckle, nodding to their left as Ginny followed his gaze.

Draco was leaned against the doorway that led into the dining room and Blaise was propped up against the edge of the adjacent counter, his arms crossed over his chest so the muscles coiled tightly. Sensing her attention on them Blaise grinned widely at her and almost imperceptibly jerked his head sideways. Draco spun around and disappeared into the darkness of the unoccupied room and Blaise let his arms drop as he rotated to stand facing her, his feet moving backwards as he kept eye contact with her until he too gave way to the shadows.

A tangled ball of nerves was lodged in her gut and Ginny was clearly frozen to the spot. She didn't know what to do - the wizard's slight advances had become more apparent in the days following her hiring, and she had little doubt that they still harbored any resentment towards her from their youth, but did she feel the same way? Was she interested in pursuing some sort of - relationship or agreement with the two wizards?

One foot stepped in front of her without her realizing it and Ginny startled when her body rocked forward, the weight shift waking up her foggy consciousness. Getting involved with Draco and, or Blaise was clearly not a good idea, especially since they were now her bosses, but the possibility of learning the nature and extent of their interests in her was too tempting to pass up. After all, they could just be wanting a few minutes alone to discuss her position within the company and what her job would now be.

Yes - that was what they wanted to talk to her about - the completion of her training and what she would do now. How stupid she was to assume they meant to arouse a sexual chemistry between them.

Glancing sideways to hesitantly smile at the group of friends who were still listening to Colin ramble, Ginny caught Neville's gaze and squeezed his forearm. He returned the expression and nodded encouragingly, giving her the final push she needed.

Turning back to the darkened archway, Ginny walked through the kitchen and towards the dining room where Draco and Blaise were waiting to talk business. Assuming anything else would only bring back her wad of anxiety and Ginny was already having enough trouble swallowing the idea of being alone in the same room as two deliciously sexy, and completely forbidden, wizards without thinking about how they were most likely going to pounce on her as soon as she entered the room.

Yes - all they wanted to talk to her about was business.

D/G

Ginny awoke in a familiar bed. The pillows were plush, the mattress was soft, and the sheets felt warm everywhere she kicked her legs underneath the thick layers. She rolled over and inhaled the heady generic scent of expensive laundry detergent and though the smell was not the same as the brand she used, it brought a feeling of comfort and somehow she subconsciously knew she was at Draco's.

The emptiness of a large bed was something that she had not gotten completely comfortable with but she was used to it by now, whether or not she truly believed the white lie that Blaise was just gone for a mission that she had been telling herself every morning until she was forced to come back to reality. The first flashes of memories wetted her eyes but the tears were blinked away as she stared across the bed to the opposite wall.

So many times she and Blaise had stayed in this room. She always remarked that the room was perfectly colored for them - a deep red adorning the walls while a chrome silver accented the decorations and bed ware. A little piece of both of them that made the guest bedroom feel a bit more homey.

Ginny bolted upright.

This wasn't right. She wasn't staying in this suite. Nor had she fallen asleep in this bed. She distinctly remembered blankly staring at the neutral cream bed spread in the other bedroom and wondering if Narcissa had stayed in that room since she had left her permanent residence at the Manor.

But how then had she ended up on the opposite end of the east wing?

Without lifting the covers she knew all of her clothing was still in place. Even the silk slippers she had been wearing were still covering her feet.

It made no sense. She had no history of sleepwalking - even though that would have made sense after everything she had been through - and she most definitely would have woken up if Draco, or anyone for that matter, had picked her up and carried her several hundred meters.

Ginny fluidly slipped out from underneath the blankets, her eyebrows raising as she noticed her wand on the nightstand next to the bed. There wasn't time for her to dawdle and think about how this could have happened. Grabbing the familiar piece of maple wood, she wordlessly straightened the bed to look like she had not slept there and muffled her footsteps before she quickly crossed the room and reached for the doorknob.

The clock on the nightstand had read 6:17 but Ginny hoped luck would be on her side and Draco hadn't woken up yet. He tended to be up early for work and she knew today would be treated no different with her presence in the Manor. A long, plush runner carpeted the hardwood floors of the long hallway but still she carefully tiptoed and stopped before every corner in the chance that she would run into someone.

Two short minutes felt like an hour as she made her way back towards her intended bedroom, not a soul in sight and nary a noise - until she reached the ending of the hallway where the Master suite resided. Loud, bass thumping music was pouring through the cracks of Draco's door and Ginny took a second to pause, placing the music as something he liked to listen to when he was preparing for something big, before tentatively stepping into the middle of the hallway. She took three steps and was halfway to her own door when suddenly the music stopped. Her heart leaped into her throat and her body went completely still.

Ginny could hear Draco shuffling around, his footsteps growing louder until she knew he was standing in front of his door, about to walk out. Not a leaving another second to chance, she bolted for her bedroom and rushed through the doorway. The lock had just clicked into place when she heard Draco open his bedroom door. Her heart was pounding so loudly in her ears she had to press the side of her face against the wooden frame to strain to hear him walk past her door, her eyes squeezed shut as she silently prayed he didn't stop to check on her.

Draco kept moving and Ginny slid down the wall as soon as the coast was clear. With her hands holding her head, her brain pounding from an oncoming headache, she let her shoulders slump forward as, for the first time in too many days, tears sprung to her eyes - not from grief or despair but from a sadness she had not felt in many months.

Ginny wasn't sure who she was anymore and with everything that was happening to her, she couldn't say for certain that she was the person everyone thought she was. A piece of her sanity had died with Blaise and now, slowly but surely, the rest of it seemed to be going as well.

D/G

The plaster wall was cold against her back, a fact that did not register in her brain as all of her attention was focused on the two men in front of her, both angled and pressing against her body so that she could not move.

But why would Ginny want to do that? Even though she was frozen in shock, she felt every muscle, every inch of toned skin pressed up against her. Draco and Blaise seemed to wear the same cologne, or complimenting scents, and that smell alone was clouding her judgment as their respective hip bones jutting against her stomach kept her in place. Their words were synchronized too and she fought to focus on their voices as they finished each other's sentences.

"We've had one month to appraise you -" Blaise began.

"And so far - there is room for improvement." Draco lightly ran a finger down her jawline and she involuntarily shivered. He smirked when he noticed her slight grimace for exposing her emotions.

"We would like to see you -"

"Do more - fight - spar more. Your body -"

"Is perfection and to see it in motion is -"

"Breath-taking." Blaise leaned in close enough for his own breath to warm the shell of her ear and Ginny ground her teeth while clenching her hands to keep from reaching up and pulling him closer.

"But during that time, we have also taken an interest in you," Draco said.

"A very personal interest -"

"And now it is up to you to decide."

Ginny gazed from one pair of eyes to the other. Were they completely serious? They wanted her? She wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming because this certainly felt like something similar to what she had woken up from just a few nights ago. Sure she had noticed their 'interest' in her over the past few weeks but she didn't think it would present itself in such a blunt fashion.

"Decide?" She repeated lamely.

Identical smirks bloomed and Blaise brushed the tip of his nose next to her ear, just streaming down the side of her face.

"Yes, love - decide what you want to do."

"To do?" Her inability to completely comprehend what they were implying left her repeating their words as a question, her voice sounding vapid and daft to own her ears.

But there was nothing left to question as Blaise lightly pressed the tips of his fingers against her jawbone, deftly turning her face to him as his lips descended upon hers. Ginny forgot everything else as her mind tried to process everything that was happening. His kiss was measured while still maintaining a bit of force as his tongue slipped inside her mouth as she gasped softly.

Before she could begin to respond, her body knowing a physical chemistry at once, before Ginny could even think about what implications could come from this - Blaise pulled back, stepping away completely so that she could no longer feel his warmth. The taste of something sweet, like candy, was left in her mouth and her nostrils could only smell his signature scents of ripe mangos and musky man. Ginny dazedly found his crinkled gaze, her eyes blinking slowly, and her lips parted to stutter out a few words when Draco stepped in front of her and suddenly pressed his body against hers.

Ginny was forced to turn her attention on the blonde wizard before her and his penetrating stare left her brain frazzled as he lightly cupped the side of her face. She had never seen Draco Malfoy up close and now she had a long moment to study the face of the man who had once sent her fuming from any room he walked in to. Ginny would never have guessed that underneath all of his hard exterior was someone eager to be loved but that was what she saw in the depths of his gaze as he looked at her like she was the only person in the world.

When his head tilted and his neck slowly craned, she did nothing to stop his forward movement and nearly sighed with relief the moment his lips touched hers.

Of the two, Ginny knew Blaise was the wizard who was soft and caring, only putting up a serious front when he needed to. Draco was as predictable now as he had been at Hogwarts, albeit his motives and actions had dramatically changed since the war, and he was still as snarky and stubborn as ever. But as she compared their kisses - the way their full but entirely different lips moved over her own, Ginny was surprised to realize that their personalities betrayed their touch on a woman.

Draco backed away as suddenly as Blaise had and again she was left breathless and dazed as the two men stared at her, smirks on their faces to match their gloating expressions. Ginny saw Draco's, then Blaise's, lips move but it took a moment for their voices to fade into her fuzzy hearing as she glanced between the two.

" - it is up to you."

She let a long minute pass while their eyebrows rose higher and their faces became more and more expectant.

"Wh-what?" Ginny finally stuttered.

"He said -" Draco reiterated, his voice going falsely high as he attempted to sarcastically reprimand her with his tone. "That the decision is yours."

"About what?" Ginny asked, her speech slow as she waited for them to spell it out for her. No way was she going to make a fool of herself by misinterpreting what they were proposing.

"Us." Blaise replied simply, an eager grin turning up his perfect lips.

"Huh?" She ineloquently retorted.

Blaise chuckled at her adorable confusion and Draco shook his head humorously.

"Of course - if you don't want to choose -" Draco took a step closer so that the edges of his clothing brushed her chest and Blaise copied his movements, Ginny sufficiently trapped up against the wall once more. "You can always have us both."

She swore they could hear her gulp by the way their eyes glinted with mischief and Ginny fought to control herself as their presences surrounded her. Completely speechless, her eyes widened and her mouth feel open, their drugging kisses leaving them plump.

"We're not adverse to each other in that way - if that's what you're thinking," Blaise commented with a smirk.

Ginny wasn't really thinking anything at that moment. Her brain was struggling to process what they had said - and the brief kissing - and each and every detail of what had happened since she had walked out of the kitchen. Their proposal, the decision they were giving her, was swirling in the forefront of her thoughts and as if to prove what he had just insinuated, Blaise grabbed the back of Draco's neck and pulled their faces together.

Her surprised gaze focused on the lips that moved as if they intimately knew the other, a pale hand reaching up to splay against a creamy column of mocha skin as she watched the two men. It only took a moment for their tongues to become involved and Ginny felt her nether regions pulse with desire as Draco and Blaise sucked face as if they couldn't get enough of each other. Then as suddenly as their kisses to her had ended, they pulled apart with deep grins and a shared knowing look.

Ginny shrunk back instinctively when they turned back to her. The hand that had caressed Blaise's neck fluttered across her cheek and Draco's smile softened as Blaise wrapped his long fingers around her palm.

"It is up to you," Draco repeated gently. "It is your door to open if you so choose to."

"And if not - if you decide not to accept our offer at all - there will be no repercussions for your job or your final placement," Blaise stated, capturing her attention as he nodded slowly, his gaze compelling her to believe him.

Ginny nodded quickly to convey that she understood. It was a hell of an idea to consider but she agreed that their business and personal lives should not interfere. Apparently both wizards took that to mean they had to keep any affairs under wraps and Ginny couldn't find it in herself to mind that two gorgeous men wanted her, under any circumstances.

"Think about it," Draco said and they stepped away, their tall shadows moving out of sight as they soundlessly walked out of the room. She heard the hinges of a swinging door creak and she sagged against the wall, relief and disappointment flooding her now that she was alone.

This new life she had started sure was turning out to be full of changes and surprises.