Chapter 14 –

Ginevra was running late for work. She knew that Fred and George would not mind, especially seeing as it was her birthday, but that was beside the point. She hated being late. She rushed through breakfast, hastily accepting the birthday well wishes she received from her family and Harry. She assured her mum she would be home in plenty of time for her birthday dinner that evening and that she would drag the twins along with her, "By their ears if needs be. They are definitely not missing out on my fun," she grinned before all but falling into the floo and spinning down to the apartment above the shop.

Her brothers had assured her that she could take the day off but she had been more than happy to work. It was a Sunday, meaning that they closed early so that George and Fred could make it to the weekly family dinner. Therefore, she would not even have to be there the whole day. Besides, she loved working at the shop. It was endlessly entertaining, between the customers and the owners themselves, and it got her out of the house. She got to see far more of her friends than she had been able to earlier in the summer. Apparently, even with the heightened state of danger that being out and about was causing, people were finding a way to make it into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The place brought a level of cheer people seemed to need, especially during the recent dark atmosphere.

Ginevra dashed down the stairs. She almost fell at the end but managed to catch herself before she ended up in a heap at the bottom. As she righted her clothes, she looked up into the smirking faces of her brothers. Fred, often the more sarcastic of the two, offered her a mocking round of applause at her less than graceful entrance. Rather than be annoyed, she merely made a sweeping bow that had George chuckling at them both.

"Honestly, Gin, you'd think that by fifteen you'd have learned to walk down the stairs on your own," Fred said in fake disappointment before he reached over and lifted her quickly off her feet. "I suppose we'll just have to carry you everywhere like when you were a baby."

At her teasing scowl, he chuckled and slung her over his shoulder. She squealed at the abrupt shift and tried to get him to put her down. "Really, if this is how you carried me around when I was a baby, it shouldn't come as any surprise now that I have trouble with something as simple as walking," she huffed from her upside-down position.

The twins just laughed and announced that it was time for presents before the store got busy. Carrying her unceremoniously into the back room Fred plopped her down on a couch while George fetched one creatively wrapped package and one neat one. She grinned and tore into the odd-shaped one revealing an assortment of interesting things heaped in a basket.

As might be expected, there were a variety of different products from the store that she recognized, and a few apparently new things she did not. One of them was in a bottle identical to their WonderWitch Love Potion only rather than the alarmingly pink packaging, this one was ice blue. She read the label which announced it to be "Love Repellent." She grinned as she realized that it was the product she had inspired a few days ago intended to ward off unwanted suitors. In addition to their own products there was a gift voucher for Madam Malkin's.

She grinned before giving them both a hug and an enthusiastic "thank you!"

"We know what it's like to have to shop for all of your clothes with mum," George explained pointing to the voucher.

"We can only imagine how much worse it would be as a girl," Fred added with a grimace.

She nodded and thanked them again before pointing to the second package. "What's that?"

"Oh, this came for you this morning," Fred explained.

"Dropped off by a barred owl I didn't recognize just as we were opening the shop," George offered.

She took the package from him. It was wrapped in standard brown packing paper. She wondered why a delivery for her would come to the shop rather than the Barrow until she looked at the address.

Miss Ginevra Weasley

c/o Misters Fred and George Weasley

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes

Diagon Alley

Apparently, whoever sent it to her either did not know where she lived, though that was generally not a problem for owls, they usually figured it out, or they had not wanted her to open it at home. She looked up at the twins who seemed just as curious as she was about what was inside.

"We checked it over for malevolent magic when it arrived, just to be sure. But it shouldn't have been able to enter the store in the first place if it was something that was going to hurt someone inside," George assured her.

Giving a shrug, Ginevra tore open the wrapping to reveal a flat square box wrapped in navy blue and silver paper and a letter addressed to her sitting on top. She reached for the letter first and was surprised to see the Malfoy seal stamped across the opening. She pulled out the letter and read:

Sprite,

I hope you are having a wonderfully happy birthday so far and that it continues to get even better. I saw this in a shop the other day and thought it would be perfect for you. The stone that the pendant is carved from is a sardonyx and is, I was told, particularly potent when used for protection. I included the instructions the jeweler gave me concerning which spells work best with this particular stone and how to cast them. Hope you like it!

Draco Malfoy

P.S. Blaise is here and asks that I include his birthday well wishes, too. So, "Happy Birthday" from Blaise.

P.P.S. Thank you for the other day with Smith.

Ginevra set down the letter – that was promptly picked up and read by both brothers – and turned her attention to the present. Unwrapping the paper carefully she revealed a black, hinged jewelry box. Surprised, she opened it to find a beautiful cameo necklace hung on a white gold chain. With a little gasp she held the pendant up closer to inspect the image on it. She instantly loved the little fairy and the way the stone was cut that made it almost appear soft. She heard George give a low appreciative whistle.

"That's a pretty little trinket, Gin Gin," he commented. "Mind if I see?"

She handed the necklace to him and he studied it before passing it over to Fred. The other twin looked at it and then motioned for her to turn around so he could help her put it on. As he did so, he asked her why the letter was addressed to "Sprite." She explained that Draco said she had reminded him of a fire sprite when she was little and that apparently the name for her had stuck with him. Fred nodded and chuckled that he supposed Draco was right, she kind of had looked like one when she was little.

She looked over at George who had been unusually quiet through the exchange. He gave her an odd little smile before mentioning that she might just have the chance to try out their new Love Repelling potion sooner than they had thought. She just rolled her eyes at him and muttered something about Draco just being pleased to see Zacharias getting kicked out of the store and did they not all have work to do. Both brothers grinned at how flustered George's suggestion had made her as she hurried out to the store with a blush on her cheeks.

That evening after enjoying a birthday dinner Ginevra pulled Bill aside and asked him to cast the charms suggested by the jeweler on her new necklace. He agreed and indicated for her to take it off so he could work with it. As he got a closer look at it he made a little noise of surprise before giving her a speculative look.

"Where'd you get a necklace like this, Gin? This is excellent craftsmanship, rather expensive, I'd guess," he commented curiously.

Ginevra blushed a little but explained that it was from a friend and that she had not known that it was valuable. She mused out loud that she might have expected anything he bought to be rather pricy, no matter how unassuming it might appear. She mentally added that she was glad he had not gotten her anything gaudy or ornate. The simplicity of the necklace only added to its appeal in her eyes.

Having heard her mumbled comments Bill chuckled, earning a deeper shade of red from his sister. He slung an arm around her shoulders and assured her that as long as she was fine with the situation, he was as well. "I didn't say anything to embarrass you, Gin. I just thought you should know what a nice gift somebody gave you. You don't even have to tell me who it's from. It's nice that they thought to give you something useful as well as pretty."

Ginevra grinned at her brother. She had always appreciated his laid back attitude where she was concerned. While he had always watched over her when she needed it he was also quite happy to let her take care of herself when she did not. This characteristic in their relationship was demonstrated most clearly in situations like the present one. Whereas some of the others might have either teased or demanded to know where the necklace came from, Bill did not. He was happy to check it and make sure there was nothing harmful about it, add the requested enchantments – including perhaps a couple of his own – and then move on.

Thanking Bill with a quick hug, Ginevra took the necklace back from him and made her way up to her room. She wanted to thank Draco for the gift, but was not sure that she would see him again before school started. Even then, it was not unusual for them to go several weeks at a time without running into each other. She decided that a letter would have to do until she saw him again and sat down at her desk to write it out. It was just a short note, offering her thanks and expressing the fact that she was happy to have seen him at the shop.

On further consideration Ginevra was surprised to realize how true that last bit was. She was happy to see him. Though she still felt like there was something troubling him, she was relieved to see him. When she thought about it she realized that she had been worried about him as the summer progressed ever since the platform at the end of the school year. She knew she had been oddly fascinated by him since they had met six years ago, when he had only been the Lightning Boy to her. Apparently that fascination had only grown while she was only half paying attention.

An interest in hearing from or seeing him again if he so wished was added to the end of the note. As she went to sign her name she paused, thinking better of it. She was not sure what was happening around him but she could well imagine that correspondence with a Weasley would be frowned upon. Her mouth quirked up in a half smile as she signed Sprite to the bottom of the note before folding it up and stamping it with the new seal her parents had given her just that day for her birthday. She addressed the letter only to Draco Malfoy, rather than adding specific direction as to its delivery, and went in search of an owl to use.

Deciding against their family's owl or Harry's – both being rather recognizable – she asked Bill if she could borrow his. At his shrug and nod of agreement she went upstairs to his room and gave her letter to Bill's pharaoh eagle-owl, Ahmose. She instructed him to give it to Draco but only if he was alone. Even without her signature she figured it would be less likely to cause him problems if no one else knew that he had gotten mail in the first place. She sat at the window for a minute, watching Ahmose fly away into the darkness.

AN: I am sorry, both for the missed week and for the shortness of this chapter. Real life has been kicking my figurative butt these past few weeks and honestly I almost just went to bed tonight before posting this. I thought better of it (and remembered how irritated I have gotten in the past when authors randomly didn't update when they said they would) so here at least a short chapter. Reviews would make this coming week start off better than this past one ended!