A/N: As promised. ;) We actually get to see some of Draco in this one.
Over the next few weeks Ginny and Draco spent their time meeting in semi-conspicuous locations to secure their master plan. They made sure never to reveal their meetings to anyone. No one was to know where they were going. No one was to know they were even meeting. They had to make sure they were seen alone together, but it had to look as if they didn't want to be seen; all to get the rumors started, seeing as how Harry kept his mouth shut tight about his encounter on the train. No doubt his ego was shaken a bit by that, but he would never admit to it.
Ginny would slip out of the common room and Draco would then make a grand exit and slip out after her. They would meet up again at the lake, or in the library, or sneak off to an empty classroom; always when there was one or two people to bear witness, so their "secret" meetings would merely remain rumor. What would the word of a handful of students mean in a school the size of Hogwarts? Nothing. They would need to do something in front of a large crowd for things to no longer be a rumor, but right then, all they needed were rumors. Rumors are what could make or break a person, and rumors of more than one romantic rendezvous with a Malfoy are the mother of all reputation-boosting rumors.
"So, when are we going to go public with this little romance of ours?" Ginny asked one evening.
They were lounging around in Draco's room, waiting out the hours until dinner would end and most students would flock back to the common room before bed. Then, Ginny was going to make a "sneaky" exit from Draco's room and immediately head for the stairs to her dorm as if she were invisible, though everyone nearby would be casting suspicious glances in her direction. People were easy to predict and therefore even easier to manipulate.
"Well," he began, placing his book on the desk, "after tonight I think we'll have raised enough suspicion, don't you?"
"Why else would I be asking? I didn't think we'd have to spend this much time just starting rumors about us. After the first week I figured someone would have confronted us."
His smirk fell into place and he shook his head, "These things take time. The longer the rumor goes unconfirmed, the more hype it builds."
"Yes, but it gets tiring. All of this sneaking around."
"Technically we aren't sneaking, we are pretending to sneak." His smirk grew.
She rolled her eyes and sat up from her position on the carpet, by the fire, and turned to look at him, "You know what I mean."
"Honestly, Ginny, I don't know why you're in such a hurry to end the rumors. This is the easy part. After we've come out of the broom closet, per se, then we'll have to be seen together everywhere. We will have to fool them all while being in the public's eye. Instead of pretending some of the time, we will have to pretend every time we aren't alone. People will throng to us, interrogate us on every detail of our relationship – how this all started, why we didn't tell anyone, and any other mindless question they can think of. Compared to the act we'll have to put on until Christmas, this stage of the plan is cake."
She narrowed her eyes at him slightly, "I fully understand what you're saying, Draco, but you don't have to be so arrogant about it."
"I am far from arrogant, Weasley." He scoffed.
She jumped to her feet and shot him an incredulous look, "You are the definition of arrogant, Malfoy. Now, I'm leaving; I'm so sick of having to stay cooped up in here with you all the time. We're moving to Stage Two tomorrow, whether you like it or not. If we don't go public tomorrow then I'm calling off the whole plan and denouncing all of the rumors." She was practically shouting at him as she marched straight to the door, scooped up her belongings, and stormed into the common room, nearly plowing down a group of first years who got in her way.
She went to bed all in a huff, feeling as if storm clouds were hovering above her head. She couldn't sleep, but drew the curtains around her bed anyway. She didn't want to be bothered, but she knew she was bound to get questioned by her roommates. By now, nearly all of Slytherin would have heard about her little tiff with their precious God.
Nearly a month ago when the rumors started, all of her roommates began talking to her like she was some sort of idol. If she was good enough to transfer houses, if she was pretty enough to snag the attention of the most wanted man in school next to Harry Potter, whom she already dated, then they reasoned she must be worth befriending. They were social leeches, as Draco called them, and would attach themselves to whoever they saw with connections, with a reputation they could use to better their own. The part Ginny found almost humorous is the fact that what her roommates were doing to her is exactly what she was using Draco for. She was leeching off the Slytherin God; her friends were in turn leeching off of her.
A cycle. That's what Draco would call it. The never-ending cycle of socialites and social-climbers. Am I any better than they are? No…definitely not. In fact, I'm probably worse.
"Ginny?" Someone called in a hushed tone, "Ginny, are you awake?"
Silence followed.
"Let her be, Adeline." Demanded another, sharper, voice in a whisper, "Just talk to her tomorrow."
"But, Bella, you heard what my brother said. She was in a right state, knocked them all to the floor coming out of the Head Boy's room. I want to know what happened in there!" Adeline's voice was still quiet, but she was already backing down and her padded footsteps moved away from Ginny's bed.
Not many people stood up to Bella; she was gorgeous and intimidating, the ideal Slytherin girl. "I don't care. It's getting late, go to bed. I don't want to be up all night listening to your whining."
Ginny smiled to herself, she was really growing quite fond of Bella, the only one who didn't seem to care about gossip and reputation.
A/N: There ya go. Review?