A/N: Edited 29/01/19. Some changes to the story aka Ron treats Lavender better.
11
Muggles & Wizards
"Where are we going, Draco?"
They had apparated from the Leaky Cauldron into a deserted alleyway.
Ginny clutched Draco's arm, the cold night air whistled through cracks and crevices.
Draco seemed determined. "You'll see."
They hurried past a couple of houses and beneath a stone bridge until Draco halted and Ginny ran into him. It didn't seem like they were anywhere near a 'we're there' destination. Draco waved his wand over the bricks to reveal a door, then turned the handle, almost as perplexed as Ginny.
"What is this place?" she whispered.
Draco didn't answer, instead he raised his wand so that it lit the corridor ahead.
Ginny could see outlines of paintings on the wall and another set of stairs to what could be a second floor. She was reminded of 12 Grimmauld Place, but there was no umbrella stand. They entered a dark room with an armchair where an old man snored peacefully. Still, Draco said nothing. Ginny had half a mind to curse whoever it was and drag Draco back outside where he'd left his wits.
"Finally," a voice drawled from the window-pane causing them both to jump.
Draco gave Ginny a note from his pocket.
She read the curly writing, trying to make sense of it all.
Mr Malfoy, I cordially invite you to join me, to discuss your situation. You are most welcome to bring Miss Weasley, as this concerns her too. Please meet me at the address below and be sure you are not followed. The instructions to enter the building are listed below. Sincerely, Albus Dumbledore.
Ginny returned it, slightly relieved, but confused as to why Professor Snape was there.
"I'm sorry I got you into this," Draco said, holding her hand, tight.
She didn't want him to regret anything.
"I'm not sorry," she said. "I'm not leaving you if things get scary, or crazy, or dangerous. Dumbledore knows it, that's why he wanted me to come, because we're in this together."
Dumbledore woke and a large fireball illuminated the room from the end of Snape's wand. Ginny took a step nearer to Draco who squeezed her hand again. Snape lowered his wand, and returned his gaze out of the window, while the fireball rose up and down in the empty fireplace.
Dumbledore beckoned them to come nearer.
"Voldemort will have every reason to come after you since your betrayal," he looked between Ginny and Draco. "I have provided you with a shield charm, which I extended to The Burrow. Molly and Arthur agreed you will stay there for the remainder of the holidays. I can also extend the shield charm to protect your parents, if needed."
Draco thought he smelled Firewhiskey but put it out of his mind.
He nodded. "My mother, yes. My father, not so much."
Dumbledore nodded curtly. "And of course, Ginny too."
He waved his wand over her. She felt a tickling sensation, then nothing.
Snape turned from the window. "Dumbledore appointed me Headmaster in his absence. His method of protection has its flaws, so remember, at this moment, you are hidden, but be reckless, and you will give the Dark Lord and his followers reason to kill you. Death Eaters patrol Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade; they will not stop trying to find a way into Hogwarts. You must be alert."
Dumbledore stood up from the armchair, a knitting magazine in his wrinkled hands.
"Miss Weasley: a second pair of eyes is always helpful," the wizard said, indicating at the fireplace.
The fireball resembled an ordinary fire.
"You may return to the Burrow by Floo powder, your mother and father have been notified of your arrival. Oh, Severus, the picnic basket, I promised Molly."
Puzzled, Draco held out his hand and took from Snape a picnic basket which contained Christmas pudding and bottles of Firewhiskey.
Molly yanked Ginny and Draco from the fireplace and into a tight hug. Arthur relieved Draco of the basket, and held back his retorts until they had settled in. Draco prepared himself, standing tall, ready to take the blame. Ginny pushed him aside, glancing at the clock and noting all the arrows pointed to her brothers in bed, except Fred and George.
"Dumbledore sent us a message, but you could have written more on that note, Ginny, dear. What did Dumbledore have to say?" she sighed.
Draco opened his mouth, taking the time to check with Ginny as though getting their stories straight.
The Weasleys didn't know about his and Ginny's rendezvous at the Leaky Cauldron, just that they'd gone 'out' to see Dumbledore. He breathed a sigh of relief and told them Dumbledore's promise.
"He wanted to fill me in on the protection charms, and I'm grateful," Draco said, but Molly was distracted by Fred and George throwing gnomes at her geraniums, one gnome hit the kitchen window with a bang. "For you allowing me to stay, despite the tension between Harry and me," Draco said to Arthur.
Ron and Hermione had come downstairs to see what the commotion was about. Mrs Weasley's shrieks 'to go to bed' had woken Charlie, Bill and Fleur, who stuck their heads out their bedroom windows to see what was going on.
Draco noticed there was one person missing. "Where's Harry?" he asked.
"Lupin's. Had errands. Now you lot better get some sleep, it's almost 2 in the morning."
Draco and Ginny glimpsed Molly throwing gnomes at Fred and George, and hastened their way upstairs, past Hermione and Ron's curious faces. They heard the shutters shut upstairs, and then a loud bang as Fred and George apparated to their room.
At breakfast the next day, Ginny was surprised to see Lavender at the table reading Witch Weekly. Ron was cooking bacon and eggs, using his wand to pop the toast. She looked up when Ginny and Draco entered. Ginny rubbed Draco's shoulder, giving him some freshly squeezed orange juice. She grabbed some toast and put two slices of bread into the toaster. Draco drank some juice and flicked his wand, coaxing the jam and marmalade from the fridge to the table.
"Show off," Ginny grumbled, kissing Draco full on the mouth.
Taken off guard, especially by the inclusion of tongue, he broke apart hoping nobody noticed.
Lavender smirked, when Draco sat at the table, avoiding her pressing gaze.
"You rented a room, didn't you?" she whispered.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Draco muttered.
He smiled when Lavender returned to her reading, hearing his breath catch when Ginny had kissed his neck; her smile when he bucked gently inside her, and his groan when her nails marked his shoulder blades as she shuddered beneath him in their room at the Leaky Cauldron.
"Where's Hermione?" Draco asked, catching his toast in his hands, from Ginny's wand.
"Probably snogging her fiancé," Ron groaned, bringing their plates to the table.
Ginny watched Draco at ease, putting liberal amounts of strawberry jam on his toast.
She caught sight of Lavender's raised eyebrows, and beamed, he was hers forever.
"Tell me again why we decided on a Muggle Pub instead of the Three Broomsticks?" Draco asked Hermione. "Oh yeah, Death Eaters and Dementors," he grumbled.
There were a few stragglers finishing their dregs of beer while Draco waited for Hermione to finish with Muggle 'telephone' contraption.
"We can't go parading around with V-Voldemort at large, have you forgotten the price on your head?" Hermione whispered, listening to the ringtone.
"At least I could have had a Firewhiskey or two before I died," Draco muttered. "Better than this stuff," he said, swirling an almost empty bottle of beer at her.
"Shut up, Malfoy – " Hermione's voice changed to a higher, more polite tone mid sentence. "Yes, I'd like to order a taxi please. No, for six. Yes, yes the address is..."
Draco rubbed his temples – the drink was making his head hurt.
"Uh – why did I have to come again?" he asked, putting down his empty beer bottle.
Hermione sighed. "Because I wasn't about to get cornered by one of those drunks over there."
"I'm a drunk wizard," Draco muttered. "Isn't that worse?"
"Oh, I'm not scared of you, Malfoy," she laughed.
Draco followed her back to the table, where Charlie, Ginny, Ron and Lavender sat.
Draco put an arm around Ginny.
Hermione picked up her coat and they went to wait outside for their taxi.
"I'm just being cautious, if there are dementors or Death Eaters about, they wouldn't expect a bunch of wizards to catch a taxi together – they'd expect us to apparate. It should be here in five,' she told the others.
It was Charlie's last night at the Burrow, before he flood to Ukraine for a few weeks.
"Take good care of Ginny, or I'll fly back on a Hungarian Horntail and kick your ass," Charlie grinned. "It's my brotherly duty to scare the crap out of my sister's boyfriends but seriously, next year, you and me, I need someone spritely to train my Dragons and you look like you could do with a six-month vacation. Send me an owl, and I'll make the arrangements."
Draco shook hands with Charlie, he hadn't thought that far into his future, he was just trying to survive the present.
"I'll think about it. Thanks Charlie," Draco smiled.
They piled into a large taxi; Draco, Lavender and Ron in the back seat, and Charlie, Ginny and Hermione in the front. Lavender had rested her head on Ron's shoulder, and during each turn drifted towards Draco until he poked her back to Ron. The third time it happened Draco realised Ron wasn't protesting.
"Thanks mate, you're doing a fine job," Ron muttered.
Draco frowned, wishing she was Ginny.
Lavender's head rolled back to Ron's shoulder at the next corner.
"Karma," Draco grinned as they pulled up outside the Burrow.
They staggered out of the taxi, Hermione paid the driver and erased the Burrow from his mind, in case he should be questioned by a Death Eater. Bill and Fleur met them at the gates to say goodbye to Charlie, Hermione hanging back. Ron dragged a drunk Lavender away from the weeds, where she sang the Sound of Music, a burst of energy nobody wanted – for it would wake Molly and Arthur.
Fred and George had spent the evening at their joke-shop experimenting with a new product.
Ron had bought some blackberry gum for ten sickles, and shoved a piece into Lavender's mouth, making her splutter, then she began to chew it, the juice dribbling from her chin. "Mmmm, tastes like blackberry pie, wanna taste?" and she poked her tongue with gum on it up Ron's nose.
Ginny and Draco followed them up the path, gazing at the saucepan in the sky.
"I'm going to miss Charlie," Ginny whispered.
"Me too," Draco grinned, he rested his hand against her neck and pulled her towards his hungry lips.
"I'm so glad you kissed me that day in the Room of Requirement, because you saved my life."
Ginny licked her lips and caught her breath before she got carried away.
"Aww," she smiled, pressing against his chest. "A guy will say anything to get between her legs," she teased. Draco sighed, rolling his eyes to the sky. Ginny smirked, "Malfoy, you are not sleeping alone tonight," and she pulled him into her room and shut the door.
Draco locked her door with a tap of his wand and put a mufliato curse on the door to stop the eavesdroppers. A sinking feeling in his stomach haunted him about taking advantage of Molly and Arthur's kindness, but then Ginny's need for him broke his distraction, and he let her have her way with him, losing himself completely.
A/N: Drinny sexy times :) Reviews welcome.
