Chapter Twenty-One: Endurance

Hermione shook Ginny from her deep sleep, looking down at her happily. Blinking against the light now filling the room, Ginny rubbed her eyes. She sat up, turning to give Hermione a confused look.

"What are you so cheery about?" Ginny yawned.

Hermione shrugged, "I don't know. It's a gorgeous day, which is saying something for it being October, and it turns out that your little pal has survived the night."

Ginny smiled, "How do you know that?"

"I came out to use the bathroom and found Ron and him arguing like mad on the landing," she said laughing. "I think that Ron might have stepped on him getting up or something."

Getting out of the bed, Ginny joined in on the laughter. "I just hope that Bill will be around all day to make sure Fred and George don't take it too far."

Hermione shrugged, "I doubt that they'll go too crazy . . ."

"Wow," Ginny breathed, "if you really believe that after coming here so much, you must be insane."

The girls laughed once more, Ginny following Hermione out of the room and to the stairs. The cheeriness that Hermione awoke her with seemed still a bit odd, but Ginny knew that it was really just Hermione trying to make sure she had a good start to what would become such a stressful day. As they came into the livingroom, Ginny was quite disappointed to find that her father still was not home. Mrs. Weasley sat in her chair, talking quietly to Bill. Ginny didn't see the rest of the boys.

"Where's Draco?" Ginny asked Bill.

"I think he went out for a bit with the twins," Bill said.

Ginny froze, "You let him go off with Fred and George? What were you thinking?"

Bill shrugged, "They seemed to be getting along this morning, I didn't suppose it would be that bad. They're out in the garden if you're so worried."

Sighing, Ginny shook her head and made for the door. Hermione ran up to join her as they came out of the house and made their way to garden.

"I don't think you should be so worried," Hermione said.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Well, that doesn't change the fact that I am . . . if that makes any sense."

Hermione laughed, "What can they do out here in the open?"

"Oh, they can do a lot more than you would ever think . . ."

Ginny spotted Draco standing alone in the middle of the garden, looking very lost. The twins were nowhere to be found, which allowed Ginny to breathe a deep sigh of relief. She looked around once more, just to make sure they weren't hiding somewhere near, before she finally entered the garden. Hermione stayed out on the edge as Ginny went to meet him.

"What's going on?" Ginny asked.

He smiled at her, "Good morning."

"Good morning to you too," Ginny said with a slight impatience. "Why are you out here?"

He shrugged, "No clue. I think I might have been lured here under false pretenses."

"And what were those pretenses, if I might ask?"

"The arrogance that is your two brothers," Draco said slowly, "seem to think that I want to play Quidditch with them. They seemed to overlook the fact that they are both Beaters, and I'm just a Seeker."

"That doesn't make any sense whatsoever," Ginny said.

Draco nodded, "I know! How are you supposed to play with only Beaters and a Seeker?"

She shook her head, "No, I mean . . . they usually play up in the apple orchard. Why would they ask you to come to the garden?"

"Maybe it's some sort of silly test . . ." Draco mused.

Ginny laughed, "I wouldn't put it past them."

"I've been here for a good twenty minutes, which is making me quite anxious . . ."

"This is stupid," Ginny said, taking his hand. "Let's go back inside. Whatever it is that they want can't be this important . . ."

Walking him out of the garden, Ginny thought to herself. Why must everything be so damn complicated with my stupid family . . . It's hard enough to even maintain a relationship without these kinds of distractions! They met up with Hermione, who was chewing on her bottom lip, eyeing Draco cautiously. Ginny could tell that she was still very apprehensive when it came to trusting his civility. Draco smiled at Hermione faintly, and Ginny resisted the temptation to hit him in the arm.

"Morning, Granger," Draco said.

Hermione looked him over. "Good morning to you too, Malfoy."

Ginny rolled her eyes and headed for the house once more, pulling Draco by his hand. She went around the side of the house to the door leading to the kitchen, smirking when she found Fred and George sitting at the table with Ron, trying to look guiltless. Ginny glared at them and let go of Draco's hand, sitting down at the table next to Ron and taking a piece of toast from a plate in the center of the table.

Sitting down on the other side of her, Draco tapped his fingers on the table lightly, looking between all of them. Ron was glowering at him from the other side of Ginny, and the twins were still wearing looks of complete innocence. Ginny watched as Hermione sat down between Ron and George, nearly completing the circle of the table. She too grabbed some toast, chewing on it slowly in the silence.

"Morning, Gin!" Fred said brightly, beaming at her. "Did you sleep well?"

She glared at him, "Shut up, Fred."

"I think that means not," George said lowly to Fred.

Ron looked at them harshly, "Just leave her alone, you two."

Hermione watched fearfully over her toast. Ginny knew that she had been around quite enough to sense when a fight was about to break out. Draco continued watching the people around him curiously.

"We weren't doing anything wrong, Ronnie," George snapped. "And besides, we really don't have to listen to you."

"I'm so tired of hearing about what you don't have to listen to, George," Ron retorted.

"Stop it before it starts, Ron," Hermione whispered to him softly, putting a gentle hand on his arm. "Don't get worked up over nothing."

Ginny watched in awe as Ron looked at Hermione, whatever beast inside of him that normally came out during the family fights seemed to settle down. He sighed and slumped back in his chair, his former tension gone. Hermione smiled at him softly. In sudden realization that entire room was staring at them, Ron cleared his throat loudly and stood.

"I think . . . I'm going . . ."

Ginny laughed with her brothers as Ron exited the room, red-faced and humiliated. She could tell that Draco was holding back his laughter. Hermione looked upset. She stood up and followed after Ron, wringing her hands nervously. Ginny rolled her eyes and turned to the twins, trying to be as civil as possible.

"Why do you have to tease him so?" Ginny asked.

Fred looked confused, "Since when do you object to us messing with Ron?"

"Not Ron," Ginny sighed. "What reason did you two have for trying to make Draco stand out in the garden all morning?"

"He wouldn't have had to stand out there all morning," George said. "Actually, if you were to look out the window in about . . . two minutes . . ."

Ginny immediately stood up, crossing the room and looking out of the window facing the garden. Draco came up beside her, staring out with mild curiosity. Then it hit Ginny, just as she saw a tall and worn figure Apparate into the garden, his robes wrinkled and his face sullen. Whipping around quickly, she rounded on the twins.

"You were just going to leave him out there alone for dad to find!"

Fred bit his lip, "We thought me might as well get the ball rolling on this whole reveal thing . . ."

Ginny threw her arms up in frustration. "You two just need to stop this right now! I don't care if you have some sort of vendetta against Draco or his family. Shove your silly feud up your stupid as---"

"That's enough!" Draco stopped her fearfully. "Look, you two can hate me for as long as you like, it doesn't tear me up inside. I just wish you'd leave me alone for the sake of Ginny."

The twins looked shocked, both at Draco's words and at Ginny's explosion. Ginny stared at them now, still fired up, but now also curious as to what they would reply to Draco. Fred cleared his throat slightly, as if to say something, but seemed to lose his words just as soon as he opened his mouth. George was happy to choose words for the both of them.

"It's not that we hate you," George said to Draco, "it's more that we have a very hard time trusting your actions, which we can only believe are a sham in order to alleviate some stress from Ginny. Of course, if you're going through all that trouble just to make her happy, it's got to mean something. We just don't want to buy into whatever it is that you're trying to portray."

Draco shrugged. "I am trying to make this less stressful for Ginny, because I don't like seeing her family against her. Well, I guess you aren't against, more that you're all against the thought of her and I together." He sighed, "I can't explain myself to you all properly anyway. You'll just have to take what I say with whatever you want to."

Fred nodded. "You're doing a good job of selling yourself, Malfoy."

"Charisma is one of my most coveted talents, Weasley." He smiled.

Rolling his eyes, George turned to Ginny, "Even though he is still a bit of an annoying snooty prat, I think we can overlook that for you. Of course, you aren't going to get out of explaining this to dad."

Ginny peeked around the corner to the livingroom, where Bill had already met her father at the door and was talking to him in hushed tones. Ginny turned back to the twins.

"I think that he's getting a bit of enlightenment as we speak."

Draco now looked mildly frightened. "He's not going to curse me out of the house, is he?"

Ginny shook her head, "Dad's a very calm person most of the time. If my mother didn't chase you off with her wand last night, then there is no cause for distress."

As the sound of yelling from her father was now added to the din of the household, Draco shot her a look filled with cynicism. "You have terrible timing, Ginny."

She smiled faintly, "My warped sense of timing suits me just fine, thank you. And besides . . ." she looked at the twins meaningfully, "you don't have anything to worry about until he starts to throw things."

Fred smiled deviously. "Good luck, Gin. I know that you're going to need it."

"That comment did not help . . ." Draco said, now inching closer to Ginny, as if to hide behind her.

"You silly coward! Have you no shame?" Ginny said, laughing.

"I told you, I have never said that I was brave."

Ginny and Draco sat alone in the livingroom, her father having gone up to bed after talking for hours with the two of them. Her mother was in the kitchen now, straightening things up and clearing out the dinner things. Bill and Fleur had long since left to go out for a quiet dinner together, and had still not returned. Ron and Hermione were upstairs now with the twins, watching them play chess.

To her dismay, her father had acted quite like the twins had. He was very keen on hearing about how Draco could have reformed so quickly, and more suspicious than Ginny had ever seen him. Of course, she was quite sure that he might simply be taking his disappointment in her out on Draco. After quite a few harsh questions, Bill finally cut in and tried to calm him down. After a while, it seemed that he was finally starting to give in. Still, he took his time in telling Ginny that this couldn't be good for Harry,which meantshe had to give him another reason to be let down when she told him that Harry didn't know.

It ended as well as she had hoped, since he didn't once yell at either of them, and went to bed only after he assured her that he didn't mind anymore since he now knew her reasoning. This left Ginny and Draco alone still, left to talk about things in confidence.

"So, are you planning on leaving in the morning?" Ginny asked him.

He nodded, "Yes. I think that it would be wise for me to return to my house for a little while to talk with my mother about things. She knows a little about our relationship, but I never had the time to fully explain things to her."

"Was she angry with you?"

"No," he said shaking his head, "she was actually fine with it. I think she's just relieved that I'm finally taking time out of taking care of her. I know that while she enjoys my company, she would probably rather I be gone a little more often."

Ginny laughed, "I wouldn't expect her to be so understanding."

"Well, she's actually never been that bothered by the thought of me marrying someone other than Pansy Parkinson, unlike my father, and so this is just a bit of a shock for her."

"Pansy?" Ginny made a disgusted face.

"Her family is close with ours. It was something of an arranged marriage at first, but they decided that we could just figure it out by ourselves. She's always been sort of an unnecessary evil . . . a hindrance, I suppose." He waved his hand dismissively. "I don't want to talk about her now though. Now when I have you."

Ginny smiled, "You go back and forth so often. It's very hard to tell what you'll say next."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "I do? I thought I was quite the open book . . ."

"It might just be that I'm terrible at reading people."

He laughed slightly, "I think that would be the most believable explanation."

She chuckled softly, leaning against him. He wrapped his arms around her, resting his head against hers, which now lay on his chest. They sat like that in silence for several minutes, not moving until they heard Mrs. Weasley heading their way. Scooting out of his grasp and sitting up straight, Ginny smiled innocently at her mother.

"I think it's time for bed, Ginny dear," Mrs. Weasley said, looking at the two of them distrustfully. "You too, Draco."

They both just smiled and stood, Draco following Ginny up the stairs. When they came to her door, he stopped her, pulling her close and kissing her softly. Ginny kissed him back, pulling back as she heard her mother getting ready to ascend the steps. Ginny laughed at Draco, shooing him off down to Ron's room and going quickly into hers.