DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything here, like Harry Potter, etc. or anything else that looks familiar.

fourteen. bet.

Ginny didn't get very far in her mission, however. Just as she had crossed the manor and reached the staircase to climb up to the Owlery, she ran into Max. Literally.

Her face came into contact with a firm chest as strong hands clutched her shoulders to steady Ginny. She looked up sheepishly to see Max's pleasant brown eyes staring down at her, then glancing further down to her feet. A pile of invitations lay scattered around her ballet flats.

"You're in a bit of a hurry," commented Max as he reached down to help her gather up the invitations.

"Yeah, I was just trying to get these invitations owled out for my birthday," Ginny explained as she took the remaining invitations from Max's hands. "Thanks."

"I do hope my invitation is somewhere in there," he said as they both stood up, while Ginny shuffled the invitations into a neat stack in her hands. Max turned his head sideways to glance at the stack. Ginny fumbled with the envelopes as she tried to cover the top invitation on the pile with her hand. It bore Draco's name on it.

It wasn't like their blossoming relationship was a secret. Several of the other couples had already picked up on the shift in their relationship. But still, Ginny felt the need to protect her privacy, especially from the niggling feeling she got from an individual that was nosy like Max.

"Of course," Max replied knowingly, the friendly light in his eyes losing some of its sheen.

Ginny cleared her throat awkwardly. What was his problem? She barely even knew Maxwell Fawley, save from the scant group interactions she had during lessons. Her hand clutched the bannister of the staircase, preparing to ascend to the top.

"Well, I really must go before my mum decides to owl me with new additions," said Ginny uneasily.

Max smirked, a strange look coming across his face. Ginny was unable to decipher whether their conversation had taken a turn for the worse or if he was just another moody man. "Right. I'll let you go then. It will probably take you awhile judging from that stack in your hands."

She nodded and gave him a small smile, all the while feeling uncomfortable. Without another word, he walked away, hands shoved in his khaki trouser pockets. Max whistled a familiar tune as he headed down the corridor, the melody slowly fading away as he sauntered off.

That was odd. Ginny had no time to ponder the confusing inner workings of the male mind. She had one job to do. Just as she placed her left foot to climb up the stairs, an excited voice called out to her.

"Gin! There you are!"

With a groan, Ginny turned around. It was Lena running over to her. Was it suddenly interrupt Ginny's one-mission-in-life day? She had one job to do and it was proving impossible to complete. Though upon seeing how excited Lena looked with her beaming smile, Ginny quickly plastered a smile of her own as well to greet her friend.

"What's up?"

"My dress for my coming out party just arrived! You have to come and see it!" Lena exclaimed, her ponytail bouncing up and down with her excited motions.

"Can I come check in a little bit?" Ginny asked gently. "I really need to get these invitations sent."

"Oh, come on! I have to get fitted for it, so it won't be here for that long. I want your opinion," Lena said, coming over to grab her free hand. She began to drag Ginny across the corridor, back towards the staircase she had just come up from.

"Besides, if your mother decides to add someone to the list, just pretend the owl got lost. It's not like she'll know," advised Lena.

She had a good point. If anyone could convince her mum of a white lie, it was Ginny Weasley, dungbomb soiled hands and all.

They continued to babble about the upcoming ball, the final event of Charm School. It was a little more than a week away, and more and more preparations were being made. Narcissa had mentioned that they would be doing a dress rehearsal at the Headquarters of the Mulieres Viginti Octo. She had her own final fitting for her ball gown yesterday and they were set to do trial runs for hair and makeup tomorrow afternoon. It was hard to believe an experience that she had reluctantly participated in would now be over. Ginny was sad to see it go.

While they recounted their expectations for the magical night, both girls failed to see the stocky figure lurking behind a tapestry in a connecting corridor. As both of the women made their way down the stairs, a familiar young man came out from underneath the tapestry, the sunlight highlighting his sandy brown hair.

Half an hour later, Ginny finally marched up the spiraling staircase to the owlery. Huffing and puffing, she leaned against the wall, slightly out of breath from the long ascension into the room. The Malfoy Manor Owlery was reminiscent of the one at Hogwarts, both situated in the highest tower of the building. However there was one striking difference: the Manor's owlery was spotless. The room at Hogwarts was covered nearly from ceiling to floor with animal carcasses, feathers, and owl droppings, hardening on the cubbies hollowed out for the numerous owls that traveled in and out. There had to be a crew of house elves on call solely for this room for it to be continuously spotless. Not a single owl dropping was in sight, which she found both incredible and incredulous.

A quartet of chestnut colored screech owls were huddled in front of the glass free windows. Their yellow eyes blinked up at her lazily, almost as if they were hoping she would pass them by to use other eager owls. Ginny divided up her pile of invitations amongst the owls and gave them each generous treats to send them off on their laborious journey.

She grinned as the owls took off one by one into the warm afternoon. They weaved in and out of each other as the soared through the sky. Perhaps she would take a lap around the pitch later in the evening as well. It had been awhile since she had climbed onto a broomstick and felt the wonderful breeze thread through her hair. Ginny hoped she could convince Draco to come too, and that he would wear his very flattering Quidditch kit.

Brushing off stray scarlet tresses from her shoulder, Ginny turned to head back downstairs towards civilization. She felt very satisfied now that she had gotten her big errand of the day out of the way. Just as she was about to climb down the stairs, a cacophony of voices crept up the narrow stairs of the owlery.

"…really didn't think Weasley was that stupid, but I suppose I gave her too much credit as usual," she heard Daphne's exaggerated tone criticizing her.

Ginny's eyes narrowed at the other woman's implications. How dare she?! She automatically reached for her wand in her dress pocket, but calmly retracted it, deciding which tactic was best. On any other day, Ginny would have charged at the girl and hexed her all the way down the twirling staircase. She reflected on what Draco would do if he was in her shoes: calmly feel the situation out and attack at the perfect moment. Shoving the wand back into her pocket, she quickly scampered across the room, concealing herself into one of the concrete alcoves.

The growing laughter of Daphne's motley crew increased as they climbed up the last step. Ginny resisted the urge to throw up right then and there, soiling the spotless floors. How could these other girls blindly follow someone? It was disgusting. The redhead resisted the urge to groan as she burrowed further into the alcove, making sure that her feet were no longer sticking out.

Daphne reached for a snowy white owl and handed it a small piece of parchment. The owl gingerly took it from her hands, decorated with shiny silver lacquered nails, and flew off into the afternoon. The blonde turned back to the group, dramatically looking around the room to confirm that no one was around. Feeling satisfied with her inspection, she leaned in, her friends crowding closer around her.

"You won't believe what Max told me the other day," Daphne begin, her voice ringing with excitement. Ginny was sure her eyes were gleaming with excitement but she couldn't quite see from the angle she shoved herself into.

Daphne's voice had gone conspiratorially low, though she was whispering quite loudly, enough that Ginny could hear every single word loud and clear. "He told me that Draco's only been nice to Weasley because of a bet!"

The rest of the girls gasped, much to their dismay. A confused voice chimed in, one that was Tracey's. "But, they seem pretty happy together. I've seen them walking around the gardens hand in hand."

"That's all for show," Daphne waved her off, her voice returning back to its normal volume. "Maxwell challenged Draco to turn one girl into the Belle of the Ball, and they agreed on Weasley. I suppose he went the seduction route, which is quite genius of him, really. She's been hanging all over him."

Daphne's cronies giggled maliciously in response.

"I'm sure he's going to dump her as soon as this bet is over," Daphne commented, as if she was watching paint dry. "There's no way in hell he would willingly spend time with her. Though, I admire his dedication in pretending he actually likes her."

The harpies continued to titter rapidly, but Ginny was no longer listening to what was spewing from their mouths. Her mind was reeling. She leaned against the wall for support, feeling like she was going to fall over from the gravity of the situation. There was no way what Daphne said was true. She was just spreading lies just as she always was, keen to besmirch Ginny's good name. Then why could she feel her heart banging against her ribcage? There was no possible way there was truth to the other woman's words.

It didn't stop Ginny's mind from going into warp speed. All of their encounters began to flash in her mind. At first they hated each other, constantly antagonizing each other mercilessly, which continued to bring their examination assessments down. It all began to change when Draco offered her a little assistance. Their barely there tolerance for each other began to grow into something new, a friendship. Ginny began to see that there were many facets of Draco Malfoy. They spent their days helping each other in areas that they were knowledgeable in, just like they were supposed to do.

And then there was the night that changed everything: they kissed. It took some time to getting used to for both parties, but the duo had finally mutually acknowledged their feelings for each other. The redhead looked down at the clothes she was wearing: a classic light blue sundress paired with a black cardigan, clothes that she was unaccustomed to wearing. She had taken to styling her hair more elegantly, waking up early to create easy and effortless looking curls. Hell, she even applied a few more cosmetics charms. It seemed that the beauty and fashion lessons had not been lost on Ginny after all.

She inhaled sharply. What if there was truth in what Daphne was saying? Was Draco molding her into the Bell of the Ball? This place, this look, this world, it wasn't hers. It never was. She never wanted a part of it. She just wanted to take her galleons and run. Somehow Ginny had gotten caught up in this silly world of high society, and caught up in enigmatic grey eyes.

Things began to make sense. Why else would Draco help her? How could she have let her guard down when she was in enemy territory? She had even guarded herself from his slithering ways. Draco had every advantage in the world, and she had simply went along with it. She should have known better than to let her heart make decisions; it rarely was the best judge of character. Flashbacks from her first year came back to Ginny. White hot angry tears were welling up in her eyes, blurring the world around her. Her chest rose and fell rapidly; it felt like the walls of the alcove were closing in on her as the air began to disappear. Ginny needed to escape.

Subtly sticking her head out, she saw the group of women were still huddled talking to each other, their backs turned to the redhead. She could easily slip by unnoticed and promptly lock herself in her room, flinging her pathetic self onto her bed.

Fate, of course, had other plans for the youngest Weasley. Just as she had tiptoed toward the staircase, Ginny was met with the last person she wanted to see. Though the tears pooling in her eyes threatened to give way, she quickly squeezed her eyes open and shut rapidly, willing her ducts to suck the water back in. She was not going to cry at a time like this.

Draco was coming up the stairs, Maxwell trailing behind him. He climbed up onto the landing, flashing her one of his dazzling grins, clear grey eyes smiling down at her. Had this been a few hours ago, Ginny would have smiled back, entranced by his beaming features. Now it made her sick to her stomach, knowing what was behind the falsities of his face.

"Max said you would be up here," Draco greeted. "Finished delivering your invitations?"

"Is it true?!" Ginny exclaimed in paranoia.

The girls behind her finally noticed that they were no longer alone. They turned to see the free show that was being put in front of them, Daphne most eager of all. Her knowing smirk went unnoticed by the duo standing by the staircase.

"Is what true?" Draco asked in bewilderment. "Is everything okay?"

"The bet," Ginny spat. "Is it true?"

If it was possible, Draco blanched, though it was difficult to tell with his already pale complexion. "Why don't we go somewhere else to talk about this?"

"No. We're going to talk about this right here, right now."

Draco hesitated, hearing the iciness laced in her voice. Steely eyes darted around the room, unwilling to lock on her flaming russet orbs. He saw Daphne and her cronies hanging onto every word that was being said in the small room. Maxwell hung back next to him, looking slightly uncomfortable, though he imagined that he was probably reveling in the fact that Draco was about to lose the bet.

He didn't want it to come out like this. In fact, he hoped that he could go on living the rest of his life happily with Ginny at his side, never having to bring up the silly wager ever again. After all, what she didn't know couldn't hurt her. Ignorance was bliss. But this was literally one of the worst places for it to come out. In front of people he would sooner throw under the Knight Bus than trust. And in a damn Owlery which somehow mysteriously held onto the stale animal stench in its spotless walls.

"What's there to hide, Malfoy?" Ginny prompted, her foot impatiently tapping against the concrete floor.

The blond visibly gulped. For the first time in so long, he felt tongue tied. This was a perfect time for his faculties to lose their bearings. What was that saying he had always staunchly ignored – the truth shall set you free? He supposed it would apply in this situation.

Draco took a deep breath, willing himself to look down into her livid, distrustful eyes. "Yes, there was a bet. Which I accepted. But it was before I got to know you, Ginny. I don't even care about that stupid wager anymore, it was just something created out of boredom."

He reached for her hand, but she quickly snatched it out of sight.

"Oh, so I was merely for your bloody amusement?" Ginny laughing hollowly. "Was this all some sort of fucking joke to you?"

He flinched at the hardened tone of her voice. Draco had never heard Ginny speak like to him like this. Even when they were at each other throats, she never talked as if he was the scum of the earth. The coldness in her voice was piercing. There was no way to tell which tactic was best to employ in a situation like this. Should he cower? No, Malfoys don't cower. Especially not in front of witches that he could easily tower over. But she had that Weasley trait of attacking first, talking later. Should he block his face? But she also had a way with hexes. How he knew that from much experience.

"The Cotillion, the night on the balcony, all of that was for a fucking bet?" Ginny demanded, her voice eerily steady.

"No, it's not like that all. I—"

"Save your lame excuses, Malfoy. Did you think you were going to seduce me to win the bet? Answer me that."

Draco paused, unsure of how to respond. If she wasn't even willing to listen to his reasoning, how could he give her the answers she deserved?

"I SAID, ANSWER ME!" Ginny shouted shrilly, silencing the lightning speed whispering that was occurring behind them. But at that point, there was no one else save for them as the girls and Max had faded faraway into the background.

Draco had gotten her upset before in the past but never murderously angry like this. A part of him wanted to reach out and embrace her, console her, for how upset she was. He wanted to tell her that it was all a big misunderstanding and it truly was a stupid, immature joke. But a larger part of him was getting irritated and mortified. How dare she embarrass him in public like this? Any common witch would have the decency to discuss this in private. It put them at an uneven playing field the way she had come at him out of the blue. But most of all, his feelings were hurt from her distrust in him, after everything he had done to show he was no longer the same person from Hogwarts. It hurt even more now that his own emotions were entwined with hers.

"And... And helping me that night? All for a bet?" Ginny whispered. Her bottom lip began to tremble as her glowering brown eyes glistened.

There was no point anymore in having this discussion, Draco reasoned. She was no longer going to believe another word out of his mouth, so why should he bother? The kneazle was out of the bag. He replaced the look of confusion on his face to a hardened look of indifference. It was probably better for the both of them that this had come out, after all. Draco didn't need to get close to anyone, least of all a woman, at this point in his life. Least of all Ginny Weasley. He had already been burned before, and was not about to leave another lasting scar again.

"So what if it was? What does it matter?" Draco finally replied disinterestedly. "It's almost over anyway. You'll get your money and I'll keep my reputation."

She stepped closer to him, and Draco remained steadfast at keeping his composure. He saw a tear escape, streaking her freckled cheek. A part of him wanted to cup her face with his hands, using the pad of his thumb to brush it off, but the louder part told him that it was futile.

"I-I trusted you," Ginny croaked.

Suddenly, a small hand came up near his face, and before he knew it, she slapped him. The sound of the strike ricocheted off the marble walls as everyone in the room stood in silence. Draco looked at her incredulously, reaching up to clutch his tinted cheek. Perhaps he should have blocked his face after all.

"Fine, if you clearly believe everything you seem to think you know then go," Draco snapped haughtily, unwilling to back down.

"You have some nerve to get defensive after manipulating me, you smarmy bastard," Ginny sneered, roughly brushing past him. "At least I told you the truth upfront."

He felt his own heart shatter at the hurt and duplicity in her voice. Draco willed himself to quash his oversensitive defense mechanism from rearing its ugly head again. In that moment, more than ever, did he realize how intense his feelings were for the angry redhead in front of him. He couldn't let her walk away like this, they needed to talk this out, regardless of how much it went against his normal behavior. Draco couldn't lose her.

"Come on, Ginny, just let me explain," Draco called after her as she took one step down the stairs.

Ginny whipped back suddenly, wagging a finger in his face. "Don't. Call. Me. Ginny. It's Weasley, now. Or better yet. Don't ever talk to me at all, Malfoy."

Before he could get in the final word as he was wont to do, Ginny quickly scampered down the spiraling staircase and disappeared. Fear stabbed him through the heart as she began to descend down the steps. Panicking, Draco lunged forward to run after her, quickly running through which words to get himself out of this sticky situation. In his heart of hearts, he wanted a final word of reconciliation.

A hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Don't. Let her have some space."

Draco turned to see Maxwell doing his best impression of looking solemn, though he could sense the glee radiating off of him. He contemplated a moment and eventually agreed. It would be best to let Ginny cool off, she was not ready to hear anything he was going to say, and it would probably make it worse. Once she calmed down, they could have a collected conversation and move past it.

After all, every relationship had its rough patches. Even a strange, convoluted one that of Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley.

Her hand clasping against the door handle, Ginny threw the door open, quickly slamming it shut. She had no idea if Draco attempted to follow her, though it wasn't even possible. Even then, she wanted to disappear from everyone else. To be alone with all of these new revelations. The tears that had been obscuring her vision on her journey back to her room suddenly began to fall freely.

She flung herself onto the luxurious bed, burying her face into her pillow as she continued to cry. Turning to her side, her eyes landed on the gorgeous deep red roses sitting primly on her nightstand, paired with the strip of pictures from the photo booth from the Cotillion. Abruptly sitting up, she angrily grabbed her wand, shaking the nightstand, and pointed it at the vase.

"Incendio."

The flowers burst into brilliant red-orange flames, before becoming completely engulfed by the fire and scattering into blackened ash amongst the several fallen petals. She grabbed the obnoxious photo strip and shoved into the novel sitting next to her nightstand. Ginny couldn't bear to continue to watch the once-happy memory of her and Draco. Over and over, it replayed the moment Draco went in for the kill. For some reason though, she couldn't bring herself to burn the picture despite the fact she utterly despised it.

Wiping her tear-streaked face, Ginny walked over to her wardrobe and threw the first edition of Wuthering Heights as far back into the wardrobe as she could. She slammed its doors shut, turning around so her back flush against the door. She slid down to her feet, in despair.

Ginny had been betrayed. And manipulated. After everything she had gone through in her first year with Tom Riddle, Ginny Weasley had vowed that no one would ever take her for a fool again. A choked sob erupted from her mouth, wracking her body. What hurt her the most was that she had been honest with him. Draco knew very well why she was here and what she was doing. He knew her insecurities and the familial pressures she felt. Draco couldn't have had the decency to tell her upfront what was happening? She may have been more understanding had she known from the very first day.

Of course not, then you wouldn't have cooperated, an angry voice reminded her. She was foolish to think that Draco Malfoy could show compassion and be considerate. And, in their moments alone, kind to her.

Suddenly, she couldn't wait for Charm School to be over.

A/N: Yikes, Ginny is pissed! And rightfully so. Apologies for any errors, I have checked it a few times but I am sure something has escaped me. Hope you all enjoyed this dramatic chapter and hope you leave a review on the way out! I would really appreciate some feedback as to what you think! Pretty please? *insert adorable cat meme here*