Chapter 11

Movement in the bed next to Ginny caused her to slowly drift out of her sweet dreams. Her heavy eyelids fought to open, and when they finally did they were attacked with a flood of sunlight. The shades were up, allowing the sun to pour into the bedroom. Gradually gaining the use of her senses, Ginny turned over to her left side to see what was going on. Draco was sitting on the edge of the bed, apparently dressing himself. Meanwhile he was shaking the bed, which was what caused her to wake up in the first place.

The redhead inched her way over to her boyfriend, and wrapped her freckled arms around his torso. This caused Draco to look down and turn his head to see her. He grinned and leaned in to give her a kiss on her forehead. She returned his kiss with a sleepy smile. His sober voice asked as his eyes pierced hers, "Did you sleep well?"

Ginny nodded her head of messy red hair as an answer and reluctantly let go of her beau. When her grasp was released he stood up and, to her disappointment, pulled on his shirt. With one swift movement he turned around and stood facing her while slipping his well-toned arm into the sleeve of his suit jacket. Ginny made her way to the edge of the bed where he had been sitting previously and she grabbed his hand, pulling him back down to her.

"You don't have to leave so soon, do you?" she whined, holding onto him. She was still drowsy, she was never fully awake until she had her coffee, but she was awake enough to realize what was going on. Although it was weekday and she knew that they both had work to do, she did not want the peaceful relaxation to end.

"So soon?" he asked in response with a light laugh. "It is almost ten o'clock. We both overslept and I have work today, you know that."

Her eyes darted from him to her clock, which read nine fifty-five. Groaning at the realization that her boyfriend was right, she let him go and got up out of bed. Before stretching her arms and heading into the bathroom she replied, "Blimey! When you were planning on waking me up? I have work too, and important things to do."

He leaned on the wall outside of the bathroom casually. "You looked so serene, I didn't want to disrupt your slumber. Besides, you would probably have thrown a pillow at me and gone back to sleep anyway. Don't forget what happened to the alarm clock."

"I know, I know," she responded with a sigh. Then she poked her head out of the bathroom. "Well if you must go then head off. I'll see you later?"

Draco nodded and they kissed, this time on the lips. After several moments their contact broke and he started towards the living room. Ginny screamed after him from the bathroom, "Have a nice time at work!"

She heard footsteps and then a door slam shut. Now that he was gone she returned to getting ready for work, and jumped in the shower. The shower was quick, and soon she was drying herself off and dressing quickly. Ginny was actually going in to work this morning, so she had to look presentable and to be in at a reasonable time. It was a setback that she overslept, but if she got a move on then she would have enough time to get everything done.

After taking one last glance in the mirror, and downing her third cup of coffee, Ginny set out to her office. She carried a black leather bag on her arm and the keys of her apartment were jingling in her pocket at every step. She entered the office of Warts with an air of confidence, greeting everyone that she passed by. Instead of heading straight back towards her office, Ginny took a minor detour. Raising her fist, she knocked twice on her boss's door.

A familiar gruff voice from inside the room said, "Enter."

Ginny obeyed, closing the door behind her, and moved in further. The room was darker than the rest of the building, the shades were closed restraining all outside light from entering. Her eyes eventually adjusted to the darkness and she noticed Mr. Hillman sitting at his desk. He looked the same as always, with his hand on his forehead and his eyes focused on a document that was sitting before him. As she wandered in it was as if he hardly even noticed her presence.

She stood for a bit, behind one of the chairs, waiting for him to acknowledge her. Knowing how he could be from experience, she did not want to irritate him, so she wanted to wait for him to speak first. After a few minutes he set the papers aside without looking up. His voice grunted, "Take a seat."

Another paper soon took the place of the one that had just been discarded. Ginny could literally count the number of deep lines in her boss's forehead, and she was bored enough to. She pulled out the chair that she had standing behind and took a seat in it, placing her bag on the floor next to her. One of her legs crossed over the other one and her hands came to rest on her lap.

She sat there for several more minutes, tapping her fingers on her lap and counting the many lines that the shades drew on the desk and man in front of her. This became so consuming, that when her boss began talking to her she was not paying attention. His annoyed intonation finally brought her out of her reverie, and she returned her attention to him.

"What is it that you want, Miss Weasley?"

"Yes," she answered, noticing that Mr. Hillman was not in the best mood. She leaned down, fumbled through her bag, and eventually sat back up holding something in her hands. Leaning forward, she placed the papers on his desk and then sat back in her seat. "I brought you the rough draft of my article. It is a sort of follow-up on the renovation. I wanted to let the people know what is really going on, and give them a sort of before, during, and after."

The old man picked up the papers that she plopped on his desk and set them on top of a stack of sheets. His eyes returned to the desk and he seemed ready to get rid of her already. "I will look at it when I get the chance. Keep up the good work and I will see you later."

"There is something else, Mr. Hillman," Ginny stated before getting up from her seat. She kept her eyes on her boss and waited for his reaction. Earlier she had promised an old friend that she would put in a good word for him, and that was what she intended to do.

"Well? I don't have all day you know."

"I have a friend, Colin Creevey, and he is looking for work. He is a photographer, really enthusiastic about what he does, and would be a great asset to the paper. I was not sure if you were hiring or not, but I am willing to vouch for him. All I ask is that you give him an interview. We could use a great photographer around here."

Her boss finally looked back up at her, but without irritation. Instead he gave her a better response than she could have hoped for, especially with the mood that he was in. "Alright then, set up an interview for him at the front desk and I'll take a look at his portfolio. If he is as good as you say he is, then he's got a shot at a job."

"Thank you so much Mr. Hillman," Ginny replied with a grateful smile. "I promise that you will not regret this."

"I better not."

Promptly she got up from the chair and grabbed her bag. This encounter put her in a good mood for the day. She stopped by her office, saw that she had no messages or packages, and headed back the way she had come. At the front desk she made the appointment for Colin like she was told and then, saying goodbye to her co-workers, left the building.

She was on her way to a place that she had never been to before, which she set aside her afternoon in order to go to. This place, so to speak, was Ginny's brother's apartment. He never invited any of them there, so Ginny was quite sure that she would be the first Weasley to cross the threshold other than him. She was not really looking forward to the visit, she was not sure about how he was going to react, but it was something that had to be done eventually. It seemed easier to simply get it over with then to keep discussing it and debating whether to go or not.

The apartment was not hard to find. She had gotten the address from her mother, who keeps in contact with him. Ginny soon found herself standing outside of a tall building in London, ringing a buzzer for the apartment. After a couple of minutes of standing there and waiting, she was beginning to give up. Perhaps he was not home, or did not want company. Or maybe he looked out of his window, saw it was her, and decided that he did not want to let her up.

These were the thoughts that ran through her head as she was about to walk away. Right when she took her first step away from the door she heard a voice and immediately moved back to where she was standing. It was Percy. "Who is it?"

"It is your sister, Ginny."

There was a hesitation before the voice replied. "Come on up."

Ginny was surprised that he let her up without questioning her first, but she entered nonetheless. She climbed up several flights of stairs before finally landing in front of the one that she knew was his. The door was open, waiting for her, and Percy was standing at the entrance. His arms were crossed and his horn-rimmed spectacles were resting on his thin nose. He was wearing a brown sweater and dark slacks, and his greasy red hair was brushed back.

She entered his apartment at the nod of his head, and he closed the door behind her. The minute she entered her eyes automatically scanned the place, ready to see how her brother had been living. It came as no surprise to her that the room was immaculate, nothing seemed out of place. His living room had a couch, some bookshelves, and a desk that sat in front of a small window. There was an opening on the left, which lead to his kitchen and a small hall containing two doors.

"Take a seat," he said, drawing her attention back to him. He took a seat on the couch and gestured for her to join him. She sat down next to him, placing her bag on the coffee table that was several inches away from her. The short table held a newspaper and several piles of magazines. "I haven't seen you since Ron's wedding."

"Yes, how have you been?" she asked innocently, like a sister who has not seen her brother in a while as opposed to a journalist who wants information from an insider.

"Tolerable."

"I'm sorry to hear about your job. The Ministry is really changing a lot, aren't they?" she replied, knowing that he would be reluctant to mention he was laid off. His job was a matter of pride with him and it must have hurt to have it taken away.

"Who told you?" he asked, not waiting for a response. "Is that what you came here to talk about?"

"Of course not, I wanted to see my brother," Ginny answered convincingly. It came down to lies.

A/N: Sorry about the delay. Thanks to those who read and reviewed. Please review!

Draco & Ginny Forever!- Thanks.

Aelys- Glad you liked it.

Red- lol.

Catmint- Thank you. P.S. I know that I am bad with tenses, but in the future I'll try to look out for them. As for this chapter I have no time because I want to get it up as soon as possible, but thanks for pointing that out.