Bad Day
"Well, it's about time for me to go to bed, Ginny," said Draco, standing up from his chair and stretching.
"Wait!" cried Ginny. "I have something to ask you."
Draco sat back down and looked at her expectantly.
"Um, well you know how I am a member of the Order? I was given an assignment at the very beginning of this year and I've been having a lot of trouble figuring out how to complete it." Ginny paused, fighting for the right words. "I know that you don't want to help You-Know-Who, but would you consider helping the Order? I mean, it's just that we no longer have a spy who can infiltrate the Death Eaters and give us information on their plans and the whereabouts of You-Know-Who. We used to have Snape but then he betrayed us and now we try to keep him as far away from us as possible. And I was going to wait and ask you to do it as a favor to me, but I don't want to force you into doing something that you don't want to do. And technically that's the whole reason that I got that detention with you at the beginning of the year in the first place; I wanted to lay the foundations for something more so that you'd be more open to the idea. But like I said, I don't want to force you into anything. But you're such a good poker player so I think you'd be really good at hiding your true intentions from your father and You-Know-Who, and—"
"Ginny! You're rambling."
Ginny gulped. "What do you think?"
"You're using this relationship as a means to an end?" Draco asked.
"No!" Ginny yelped. "I mean, I guess I was at the beginning, but I've always found you so alluring, and now I really care about you so that's why I decided to tell you the truth." She stared at him with eyes that were threatening to tear up. "I don't want to play these games anymore, Draco. I don't want to have to owe you a favor, or you to have to owe me a favor. I'm here because I really like you and I was hoping that maybe you liked me too and that you'd be willing to join the fight against You-Know-Who."
Draco shifted in his seat. "I don't know how I feel about this."
"I know it's dangerous, but we can protect you! You know, charms and stuff."
Draco snorted. "The Dark Lord would detect a protective charm the instant I walked into a room. It's absurd to think that anyone could be protected from him."
"But could you just think about it?" Ginny pleaded. "We really need your help! I really need your help."
Draco looked at her pleading face, and wanted to, but could not bring himself to say yes. "I'm trying to save you from getting into You-Know-Who's hands and you want me to willingly walk into a room, mentally take notes on everything I hear, and report back to the Order so that they can make their plans more wisely?"
"Yes!" cried Ginny. "I know it's a lot to ask of you, but if we could just get the one up on him, just once, and take out some of the Death Eaters, then Harry will have a better chance of defeating him. We need you."
Her eyes were glistening now, and Draco couldn't handle being a disappointment to Ginny, although she had already admitted that the beginning of their relationship had been a farce. But he understood. It had worked in his favor too. But he had a right to be mad, didn't he? "I can't promise you anything, Ginny. But I will sleep on it and let you know how I feel in the morning." He kissed her cheek and walked swiftly out of the room of requirement.
Ginny couldn't help it. She let the tears come. Not only because she felt like a failure to the Order, but because she was becoming a failure to her friends, and she could tell that even Draco was angry with her for using a relationship to get close enough to him to ask for this favor. She felt like she had done the right thing in telling him the truth though. She didn't want to be one of those people who manipulated people into doing whatever it was she wanted them to do. Except in Harry's case. Because in his case it was necessary. She couldn't let You-Know-Who get his hands on Harry.
Ginny awoke the next morning on the same chair in the room of requirement. The fire was still blazing happily and the petit fours had been replaced by breakfast sandwiches. Her face felt puffy from crying herself to sleep and she still felt extremely disappointed in herself. To make everything worse, she saw an unopened letter sitting next to the tray of sandwiches. She had one guess about the sender. Lupin. Sighing, she reached for it.
Ginny-I didn't hear any more from you last night. We need information and we need it soon. Known Death Eaters have been more riled up than usual lately and we believe that they're going to be making a move in the near future. We need to know their target. Get us that information.
Similarly to the other letter, this one ripped itself to shreds before catching fire. Ginny stared at the ashes, trying to figure out what she was going to do if Draco didn't agree to find and convey the information. Trying not to think about how everyone in the school was now angry with her, she grabbed a sandwich and slipped out of the room of requirement to head for Herbology.
On her way back from Herbology, Ginny was suddenly tripped and sprawled out onto the floor of the entrance hall.
"Boyfriend troubles?" sneered an all-too-familiar voice.
"Not as big as yours are, Pansy," said Ginny, getting to her feet.
"Obviously you don't know that Draco came to my room for consolation last night," gloated Pansy, "If you get my drift."
"Oh shove off you lying bitch!" Ginny pushed her way past Pansy and headed for the library, hoping that there she would get a little peace and quiet, and sincerely hoping that Pansy was lying about her night.
On the way to the library, Ginny was again assaulted, this time by Peeves. "Oh his eyes are a grey as a dark stormy night; his hair is as white as a ferret. I wish he'd be mine, he's incredibly fine: the boy turned Death Eater at Hogwarts."
Ginny turned hot pink, recognizing Peeves' tune from one of her earlier love notes to Harry Potter. "It's very rude to accuse people of being Death Eaters, Peeves," she shouted to the poltergeist hovering above her.
"But it's not an accusation when it's true!" he sang back at her. "Check his wrist!" He zoomed off towards a men's bathroom after dumping a bucket of cold water over Ginny's head.
Ginny was seething when she finally reached the library, cold, wet, and angry about the comments that she was getting not only from the Slytherins, but also from the castle ghosts. She headed straight for her favorite table in the back where she lit a small magical fire in a jar, (a trick she had learned from Hermione), and began performing spells to dry her hair.
Completing that, she opened her Defense against the Dark Arts textbook and began trying to write an essay about the six most widely used curses by Death Eaters and how to counteract them. Of course, the most widely used curse was the Cruciatus Curse, closely followed by Avada Kedavra, both of which had no counter curse, which seemed to Ginny to be completely un-useful.
As Ginny was writing, she couldn't help but think of Peeves' comment about the Dark Mark being on Draco's wrist. Ginny had never consciously looked at his wrist and could neither confirm nor deny this theory. It made sense that Draco would have it. His father was one of the most influential Death Eaters and his mother was just as evil, and it sounded like You-Know-Who was a regular visitor at the Malfoy mansion. Malfoy was seventeen. Of course he'd have the Dark Mark. But for whatever reason, Ginny didn't think that he actually had it. She resolved to find out. Pansy's comment also played on her mind. She had thought that Draco and she were exclusive, but that had never technically been stated. But Draco hated Pansy, didn't he? He would never willingly show up at her door begging for forgiveness and sex. That didn't sound like him. She resolved to find that out too.
While stewing in her thoughts and trying to write about curses, a plan was formulating in her mind. A plan that would simultaneously help the Order and make Harry hate her, while also not forcing Draco to do anything that he didn't want to do. Well, mostly.