Ginny never did send a letter to Harry regarding his and Lavender's alleged relationship. After sleeping on it, as Luna had advised her, she knew it would be a bad idea. It wasn't her right to be upset anymore, Harry could see whoever he wanted, he was single, she was engaged, and she'd been the one to officially end the strange imitation of a relationship they had kept up and Ginny was well aware that "it still hurts me, though" wasn't a good excuse. Not when none of this was his fault, not when he was probably hurting just as much as she was if not more, they had both been blindsided.

The stares didn't help anything. She felt like she was on trial half the time. Sitting in the library or eating in the Great Hall, she could always feel the stares on her back. Plenty of the students still thought she was some awful person who had been shagging Draco Malfoy behind Harry's back and snapped his heart in two. Others were whispering about Lavender Brown and Harry, the general consensus being that Lavender was a fame chaser, which gave Ginny a sick sense of satisfaction every time she heard it. Where nobody had cared before, they suddenly cared a whole lot now.

Harry and Lavender appeared in Witch Weekly again the following week, then there was no news on him or from him for awhile, then there they were again on the couple some weeks later, heads ducked as though they were trying not to be seen as they sipped butterbeer together and even in the silent, short scene that the photograph portrayed, Ginny felt a flare of annoying and disgust in her chest as she watched Lavender's face light up at something Harry said, obnoxiously leaning over to place her fingers over his in a flirtatious gesture.

She must have been staring for a good few minutes, she realized, when Colin leaned over and nudged her to get her attention. Head snapping up, she blinked, an embarrassed flush crossing her face. "Sorry, what was that?"

"I asked where you're staying for the holidays. Will you be going home to your parents house or to Mal –uh, Draco's?" He repeated, still uncomfortable with the idea of referring to Draco Malfoy by anything but his surname, he still stumbled, though Ginny had told him time and time again that just because they were friends didn't mean that Colin had to become best friends with Draco as well. It was a concept he didn't seem to understand, always trying to be kind in asking her how things were between them rather than ignoring the new relationship entirely, as she had originally expected him to do. But aside from those first couple of weeks when he had seemed to take her splitting with Harry as some sort of personal offense, he now didn't even ask about Harry, probably assuming it made her uncomfortable.

"Oh. Um, Lavender mentioned something about the Malfoy's having some big Christmas party each year. So I suppose I'll probably be expected to attend that."

He gave her a strange look and she realized almost immediately that she should have acted as though she was well aware of Draco and his family's holiday plans and made up a story. It made no sense for her to not know, being his fiancée, but after a moment Colin nodded and told her that wherever she ended up, he was sure his owl would find her, and turned back to his own meal much to her relief.

Sure enough, the next morning a letter with the now familiar Malfoy family crest stamped onto it arrived, giving her the details of their holiday schedule and formally inviting her to attend the Christmas party with an extended invitation to all of her family, of course. That part had been expected. What surprised her was the message underneath the invitation, Draco's fancy handwriting requesting that she spend the last three days of her break at Malfoy manor and allow him to bring her back to train station following with no further explanation.

She tucked the letter into the pocket of her robes, placing it out of sight and out of mind for the time being before making a decision and responding. Draco was still a stranger to her, was even still an enemy in many ways. They barely communicated and when he did send letters it was for show, with random words stringing together sentences that made no sense and were just part of the illusion. The day after the first Witch Weekly featuring Harry and Lavender had come out, he had sent her a little package. To everyone else, it would appear he was sending her a gift to cheer her up and get her mind off of the article. She'd gotten a look of envy from Astoria Greengrass that particular day that made her feel both triumphant and frustrated. What Astoria hadn't known was that tucked into the wrappings was a chocolate frog card of Dumbledore and an old piece of parchment with some of Draco's old potions notes scrawled onto it. She'd rolled her eyes and briefly considered saving all of her trash for the next month to send him before convincing herself that yes, that really was as immature as it sounded and he had actually had some sort of vague, ridiculous reason behind sending her those things inside pretty packaging.

"What did Ginny say about staying here?"

"She hasn't responded, mother."

Narcissa's hopeful smile fell the slightest bit, but she only patted Draco's shoulder, replying, "Well, that's alright. I'm sure she will, and even if she doesn't, it is a bit of a big request. She has her own family. Of course, we're to be her family as well, but that's okay. I just thought it would be nice if you two had that extra time together. Your wedding is in less than a year and you're still practically strangers, Draco dear."

With a sigh, he pulled his lips upward into an unconvincing smile. "Mother, you have no reason to worry. I'll get to know her. She doesn't need to spend the last of her holidays here for that. It'll all be fine."

"I know. I do worry though. There is nothing wrong with a marriage contract; I'm just very concerned about the light people might view her family in if it came out. It wouldn't look very good, Arthur Weasley signing off his daughter like that, you know. It would be so much easier if you didn't have to act like you were happy about this, you know. It is a good thing. She's a very good looking witch- and spunky. She'll keep you on your toes."

"Mother," he interrupted before she could continue on. If given the opportunity, Narcissa Malfoy would talk and talk for hours. "I understand. It would be a great embarrassment if it was suspected that our feelings were not genuine. It will be fine. You should place the order for our formal wear, to be certain it will arrive on time."

He shot her another smile, immediately dropping the expression once she had exited the room. He wasn't stupid. He knew very well that it was her own reputation that Narcissa was worried about, the idea of them having to contract a marriage with a Weasley for their son, which would only lead to the revelation that he was not the most moral of men when it came to a good looking woman. On the plus side, that was one thing that his parents had not failed him in: Ginny Weasley was very good looking. He'd always found red-haired women to be the most visually appealing and she had such an innocent face, all wide, expressive eyes and gentle features, with an unmistakable fire beneath all of that. If nothing else, he would at least be confident in knowing he had a woman on his arm that was capable of making heads turn, even if he didn't care much for her as a person.

"Speak of the devil." He muttered when a tapping against the window caught his attention, one of the Hogwarts school owls, a letter addressed to him in Ginny's writing secured to its foot.

He wasn't expecting much from her. When his mother had glanced over his letter and insisted he ask her to stay with them for the last couple of days, he had been hesitant. He didn't want that and was sure she didn't, either. But Narcissa had kept her gaze steady, mouth pulled into a small smile and tone light and pleasant and he'd finally given in, scrawling the request at the bottom and sending it off before he scratched it out and upset her.

Unfolding the parchment, his eyebrows rose in surprise. He was more than just a little shocked to read her response and see that she had agreed to the request. Had anyone told him she would have agreed, Draco thought he would have laughed in their face. But there it was, plain as day on the parchment in his hands. Yes, in just a short couple of weeks, Ginny Weasley would be staying in Malfoy Manor.

Sorry for the long, long wait. My motivation ran out for awhile there. I can't promise when the next chapter will be up, but I want to estimate it'll be about a week. So if you're still with me, then review, tell me what you're hoping to see, etc. Until next time

-L