A/N: So the secret is out! Ginny finally lets the boys know that she knows! And now, without further ado, the aftermath pt. 1

TWENTY-FIVE

Eye For An Eye

The moment they arrived home, Draco asked her if she wanted to talk about it. She had said no. There was no further explanation and as much as he wanted to know, he pursed his lips and kept his questions to himself.

She had walked away from him, leaving him in the living room to mull things over while she took a shower. Draco figured it would be best to give her some space though he desperately wanted to clean up as well. The magic had removed the aftermath of sex, but it didn't erase the emotional residue.

He walked to the liquor cart and grabbed the bottle of Firewhiskey. He removed the top and flopped down on the couch with it raised to his lips. This time hadn't been like the last. None of it was planned. In fact, after his little talk with Potter the other day, he had no intentions of it ever occurring again.

And somehow it had.

And he felt dirty.

His gut wrenched as he thought of Hermione in the shower. He imagined she was experiencing the same emotions, but at a much higher level. He scrubbed his face with his other hand and then took another swig of the alcohol, enjoying the way it burned down his throat.

He thought about the way Ginny had acted the last time he had seen her. He knew something had been off between her and Hermione, but she had dismissed it easily. This was one of the few things he had hoped to have been wrong about.

His mind conjured up the sight of the two witches kissing and he groaned. He found himself wondering if Hermione hadn't been sleeping with Weaselette this whole time as well. He shook his head and pushed that thought aside. He had so many questions and he wondered if Hermione would even answer them. He wondered if he really even knew her at all. Most of all, he wondered just what the hell he had gotten himself in the middle of. If she could ever truly love him as much as he found himself loving her.

Only when he had drowned his thoughts, completely smothering them in Firewhiskey, did he push himself up and stumble his way towards the bedroom. He shed his clothes along the way, only distantly realizing that the shower was still on. As he crossed over the threshold into the bathroom, he peeked around the corner of the shower and saw her huddled in the corner with her knees pulled up to her chest.

The sight sobered him.

He made his way to her and sat beside her on the tile floor. The water from the shower nozzle splashed around them, hot enough to scald his skin. He reached for her, settling his arm around her shoulder and she instantly curled into his side. She sighed against him. He was relieved that she hadn't been crying; that it was more like a stupor of surprise. He pressed a kiss onto the crown of her hair and then stood up, drawing her with him.

She didn't resist as he began to shut the water off and pull them out of the shower stall. He used his magic to dry them both and then walked them to the bed. They crawled beneath the sheets with ease. Hermione turned her back to him and he wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her close against him. He buried his face in the crook of her neck and shut his eyes.

No matter what was going on, she would tell him when she was ready. If he pushed, he would lose her. And that thought terrified him more than anything else.

The following day was spent mostly in silence. They had slept late into the day before getting up to take real showers separately. After lunch, she had picked a book from his collection and curled up on the couch to read it. She had done so until she fell asleep. Draco had carried her to the bedroom later where he slept beside her until it was time for work the following morning.

He worried about leaving her alone for the day, but she was awake when he was getting dressed and assured him that she was fine. He had left before he gave into the notion of telling Azura she was on her own for the day.

The day had kept him busy, allowing it to pass rather quickly. From the moment he stepped foot into his office, Azura had been there, handing him stacks and stacks of paperwork. The deal had been successful with the foreign investors and now he needed to handle stocking those stores. On top of ordering his own weekly supplies and monthly inventory, he barely left his office all day.

"Mister Malfoy?"

He looked up from his desk to see Azura half in the doorway, half still out. "Yes?"

"I'm headed out. Is there anything you need?"

He shook his head. "No. Thanks for your help today. I'll see you tomorrow."

"No you won't. I'll be gone until after the holidays."

"Right," he said with a smile. "Happy Christmas then."

"Happy Christmas," she returned.

She gave a little wave and closed the door behind her. Draco sought the clock and sighed at the time. He didn't want Hermione to worry about him, but he still had quite a few things left to do. He supposed it wouldn't hurt to pop back home, have dinner, and then come back.

"Did you forget something?" he asked as the door opened again.

"No."

Draco paused and looked up to see Weaselette standing in his office. "Now's not really a good time."

"Yes, your employee told me that as well. I told her to continue closing. That you'd see me out."

He sighed. "What do you want?"

She took a seat in the chair on the opposite side of the desk and he pushed himself away from his paperwork. He had a feeling this wasn't going to be a quick visit.

"How long was it before Hermione told you that she was fucking my husband?"

"I figured it out and confronted her with it pretty early. I didn't know it was Potter until a little later."

She nodded. "Neither one of them are as discrete as they think they are. Yet, somehow no one else has said anything. I doubt my brother was keen enough to pick up on it."

He ran a hand through his hair and straightened his tie. "It's late. It's been a busy day. I'll need you to get to the point of your visit sooner rather than later."

"Did you enjoy the show?" she asked, lifting one leg to rest atop the other.

He froze, sizing her up.

"She tasted like Harry. She must have kissed him last when you lot left his office."

His jaw ticked as he tapped at the arm of his chair. He was usually good at coming up with the right things to say on the spot. Banter and deflection were a specialty of his; a commonality amongst Slytherins. However, it was this moment that his natural gifts failed him.

"He told me everything about Saturday night. He even told me about the night at one of your estates." She smiled and Draco averted his gaze at the sadness in her eyes. "But I already knew all of that. I told him I'd known since the beginning; just as I told Hermione not too long ago."

"Is that what that kiss was then?" Draco asked, finding his voice again. "A threat to keep her quiet?"

Her laugh was sharp. "A threat? No. Just curiosity. Wondering what's so great about Hermione Granger that she can get two wizards that can't stand each other any less to fuck her at the same time."

"It was only supposed to be a one-time thing. Saturday night was a mistake." He held her gaze evenly. "Rest assured, I will not be making that mistake again."

"Actually, you will."

"Excuse me?"

She got to her feet and he followed suit. He watched as she slowly stalked around his desk like a cat with a mouse. "You will be making this mistake one more time. Only this time, I'll be there as well."

"She's not a whore that you can rent for the evening," Draco all but growled at her.

"I never said she was," Ginny snapped, stopping in her tracks. "Not once have I ever thought of her that way. Despite everything, she's my friend." She crossed her arms over her chest and tipped her chin up, reminding him a bit of Hermione. A Gryffindor trait if he ever saw one.

"Then you should just let this all go. Put it behind you and walk away." He shook his head. "It's over between them. It wasn't even her idea; it was mine."

Her eyes widened in surprise at that and she smirked a little. "You both did carry a rather large hard-on for each during school."

Draco's face morphed in disgust. "Don't get it twisted."

She snickered, but shook her head. "Look, Draco. I commend you for trying to talk me down, but I've already made up my mind. Either you can let me in and turn your triad into a quad-"

"Or?" he challenged.

"Or I leave Harry and give Rita Skeeter the interview of her life."

He definitely had not been expecting that. "You would really ruin everyone just because we said no? Blackmail is awfully Slytherin for someone so Gryffindor." He stepped forward, mustering as much menace in his scowl as he could. "Have you even told Potter you were coming to proposition us?"

She nodded, squaring her shoulders; not backing down in the slightest. "I told him before I came here. And I asked Hermione to ask you days ago. She refused; said something about after the holidays. I know that's code for her to figure a way out of it. So now I'm telling you."

He wondered if it were true; that she had really told Hermione to ask him. Deep down he knew it was true and he felt himself caving. "I'm not forcing her into this," he said. He had already resigned himself to this. If she left Potter and spilled the beans, his name and reputation would be even worse than it had been after the war had ended. He had worked too hard to see it all fall apart from a sex scandal involving the Golden Boy.

"I know," she said. "You have a few days; I suggest you do your best to convince her she wants it. By your own admission, you've-"

"May I suggest a counter offer?"

Her brow rose and she moved her hands to her hips. "I'm listening."

He took a deep breath and pushed aside the bile rising in his throat. "Does Hermione need to be there?" he asked, hating himself as he did. "Do you need her present or are you just wanting to know what it's like to be with two men at once? I can't really tell what you're after; the sex or the power."

"I assume part of the counter offer would be for her to never know," she said and he inclined his head. "That kind of defeats the purpose, don't you think?" Her eyes flashed with a fire that made Draco go cold. "On second thought, maybe I don't want her to have my husband anymore. Maybe there is one thing I would accept; something that would make it even between us."

"What?" he asked even though he already had a feeling he knew the answer.

"You want me to keep my mouth shut, Malfoy? Fine. I can divorce Harry and keep all of you out of it, but I want Hermione to know what it's like to have the one she loves be with another. Harry and Hermione can watch while you fuck me. When it's over, they'll both get what they deserve and we can walk away. If you say no, Malfoy, I will go straight to Skeeter. Sounds fair to me?"

He shook his head and scrubbed at his face with his palm before raking it through his hair. He had heard the words and still couldn't believe what was happening. "You have no idea what this will do to her. Did Potter tell you anything about what I said to him in his office last week?"

"He never told me you stopped by."

"I warned him. I told him to keep you away from her. That if you keep pushing for the foursome or the revenge, it would undo everything she's been working towards. Did you know, that until Saturday, she'd been sober for a few weeks?"

Ginny had the decency to look ashamed for the first time and cast her eyes down on the floor.

"It was her choice. Just like it was her choice to drink her first potion. Just like it was her choice to sleep with Potter for the first time. Just like it was her choice to leave him. She's not perfect. No one is. But if you push this; if you threaten her with blackmail, she'll go right back to the potions." He stared at her. "And just like I told your husband; if either of you are the reason she relapses or worse, I will gladly take the cell next to my father for Avadaing you both on the spot."

It worked. She stumbled away from him as his words finally got through to her.

"Do what you want with Potter; divorce him or not. Say what you want about me. I rebuilt my reputation once, I can do it again. You can even hate Hermione all you want; you should after all she's done behind your back. But I will never betray Hermione the way Harry has done to you. I understand your need for revenge, but this has to stop."

He knew by denying her, she would carry out on her threat to bring them all down. He would rebuild his name. He didn't want to, but he would. And he would be there for Hermione when the secret got out. He just hoped it was enough. But he knew if he gave in to Weaselette's blackmail, there would be no way to bring Hermione back from the edge and he wouldn't be able to stand himself either.

"I'll do it, Malfoy."

"Get out," he snapped.

Her temper flared as they glared at each other until she Apparated from sight.