Chapter 2 - Saved

Ginny spent the next few weeks avoiding Malfoy. Even if he was helping their cause (a point she was more unclear on now, than ever before), it was obvious he didn't want her help with it. Though she could maintain a physical distance from him, she couldn't keep her mind from straying.

Why had Snape had him empty the Veritaserum? Was he on their side, too? No, he'd killed Dumbledore. There was no excuse for that.

If Malfoy was really evil, why didn't he hurt or (or even kill her) when he had her alone in the forest? Though he'd left her there without a wand, maybe he thought that would kill her. But she hadn't met so much as a stray bird or flobberworm on her trek out. Had Malfoy had something to do with that? Or was she just grasping at straws now?

There were a lot of things Ginny didn't know for certain, but one thing she was sure of was that Malfoy wanted nothing to do with her. Which was why she was surprised when he pulled her out of detention with Alecto one night, insisting he needed help in the Prefects' Office.

Alecto had been using Ginny as target practice for non-verbal spells. Ginny didn't mind too much, since Alecto had only been casting Stinging Jinxes, which were easy to heal, and she was also very bad with non-verbals, only managing to land three in the hour they'd already spent together.

As Ginny followed Malfoy through the castle to the Prefects' Office, she wondered if what he had in store for her would be worse.

Once Malfoy had her alone, he grabbed her shoulder roughly and turned her around, studying her. His eyes landed on the side of her face, then her swollen ankle, two of the spots Alecto had hit.

He tapped his wand to each injury, healing them easily (and wordlessly, something that would surely make Alecto jealous). "Do you have any other injuries?" His eyes were almost soft, then they turned to ice as he added, "I need you in one piece tonight."

That was ominous. Ginny tried to hide her fear as she pulled her wand out and pointed it at a spot under her shirt. "I can do it myself," she bit back, then turned away from him and tried her best to heal the wound on her side. It was hard with her shirt in the way, but she didn't want to lift it up in front of Malfoy.

"As fun as this is to watch...," he drawled, "come here."

She took a step away from him.

"Do you want me to force you? Because I can and I will."

Ginny set her jaw and stepped closer to him, glaring at him angrily. She hated how much power he had over her. Even if she managed to beat him in a duel, he could call on a small army of Death Eaters to back him up in seconds.

"Show me where it is," he demanded.

Ginny pointed to a spot on her side, just under her bra, where Alecto had hit her. Malfoy nodded, then slowly lifted her shirt, keeping his eyes fixed on hers as he did so. She was trembling now, unsure if he meant her any harm. Even though he was staring her down, his eyes were completely blank and she had no idea what sort of thoughts were running around behind them.

His hands were warm and gentle on her skin, but she knew that could all change in an instant. When Malfoy had her wound exposed, he held her shirt in place, then healed the wound quickly. When he looked back at her, his eyes were a storm and she thought he was finally going to give her a hint of what was going on in his head, but instead, he moved away from her abruptly and took a seat behind the desk.

Malfoy conjured a chair a few feet in front of the desk and motioned for Ginny to take a seat. She considered protesting, but ultimately decided it would be more trouble than it was worth and lowered herself into the chair. Malfoy picked up a copy of the Daily Prophet and threw it at her. "Read that."

"Okay…" she started to read the front page. There was Harry, with a headline of, "Undesirable No. 1." Ginny had seen this photo hundreds of times, since Harry appeared on the front of all the papers these days, but it didn't keep her chest from clenching painfully every time she saw him. The next article was about some victory You-Know-Who had had in a skirmish in France.

"Out loud," Malfoy demanded.

Ginny rolled her eyes. Of course. She should have known this wouldn't be that easy. She began reading the paper out loud, trying to ignore Malfoy's smirk. The articles were dull for the first few pages and Malfoy was quiet. He had his eyes closed and was sitting eerily still. Ginny wondered if he was actually listening, but kept reading anyway, since she found reading about You-Know-Who's side of the war mildly interesting, and it was better than getting hit with Stinging Jinxes.

When she reached the Punishments Section on the fourth page, Malfoy spoke again. "Louder."

Huh. So he had been listening. He had his eyes open now and was staring at her intently, but she tried to ignore his gaze as she read. "Name: Gordon Parsons. Age: 24. Status: Half-blood. Crime: Passing information to the Order. Punishment: -"

Ginny had to stop reading as bile rushed into her mouth. She quickly swallowed it back, not wanting to give Malfoy the satisfaction of knowing he'd upset her. "What happened to him?" Malfoy pressed. He was still staring at her.

Ginny focused back on the page in front of her. "Punishment: Dismembered with an axe but allowed to live."

"Hmm," was all he said in response. "Next."

Ginny took a deep breath. "Name: Agatha Panasiuk. Age: 33. Status: Half-blood. Crime: Hiding Mudblood Criminals. Punishment: Torture by stretching."

"Do you know what that means?"

"No," she replied quickly, "and I don't want to."

Malfoy ignored her statement and told her anyway. "It's when they pull on your hands and feet until your bones tear out of their sockets. She was healed afterward though, unlike Parsons."

Ginny's eyes snapped up to meet Malfoy's, horrified. "You watched this?"

"I did," he said simply.

"Then you don't need me to read these to you." Ginny tossed the paper onto the ground and sneered back at him. He'd risen to his feet and come to the front of the desk, standing just a few feet from where she was sitting. "Are you accusing me of committing crimes against the Dark Lord?" he asked carefully, his voice low.

Ginny finally knew then what this had been about. He was telling her (in a very roundabout, dramatic way) how dangerous her accusations were to him, and what would happen if he were caught. She rose to her feet and went to stand across from him, studying his face as they stood in silence for several moments.

He was terrified, she could almost see it behind his eyes. He had good reason to be. The crimes she'd just read about were minor, but the punishments had been severe. How would Voldemort punish a traitorous Death Eater? Perhaps Malfoy already knew the answer to that question, as he'd been forced to watch the punishments being metered out. How awful. He was just a teenager, just a year older than her, and had already been forced to witness unspeakable things.

"He made you watch?" she whispered, her voice catching on the tears in her throat.

Malfoy didn't drop her gaze. She saw his jaw twitch slightly and thought she could pick up a hint of sadness in his eyes. His irises were a cold grey now and were boring into her like the edge of a sharp knife, causing a stabbing pain in her heart, but she couldn't make herself look away. She felt like he was trying to tell her something and desperately wanted to know what it was.

"I understand that you're in an impossible position, Malfoy," she whispered. His eyes grew stormy again as he took a deep, shaky breath. "You don't need to worry about me," she continued. "I haven't told anyone about my suspicions and I won't accuse you of committing crimes against You-Know-Who again."

"Good," he breathed, the word barely audible.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly.

"You're…sorry…" he repeated, taking a step forward, closing the distance between them.

All Ginny managed to say in response was, "Um…"

"You're sorry…for me."

Ginny finally snapped out of her trance and lifted her chin. "Yes. I am," she said defiantly. She expected Malfoy to step back, assuming this was what he'd wanted from her, assurances that she'd stop spreading rumors about him and an apology, but he didn't seem to be finished with her yet.

Malfoy placed a hand on her waist and she tensed up, but didn't step back or push him away. Instead, she looked down at his hand curiously, as if expecting it to tell her what it was doing there. When she looked back at Malfoy, his eyes were fierce and bold and he looked the same way she did, right before she did something daring and stupid.

Next, he placed a hand on her neck, pushing his fingers into her hair and lightly rubbing his thumb along her jaw. Her heart was pounding wildly. What was he doing? What was she doing? She should push him away, now! But she couldn't make herself move.

Malfoy leaned forward and his eyes flitted down to her mouth for a brief movement before locking on hers again. Ginny knew exactly what he was about to do, and also knew he was moving so slowly to give her a chance to stop it. Although her mind was yelling at her to push him away, she grabbed his hips and pulled him closer instead, finally closing the distance between them.

Their lips crashed together and as soon as they touched, Malfoy's hesitance from earlier disappeared. He tightened his grip on her, pulling her so her body was flush against his, and shoved his tongue right into her mouth - a move the wizards she'd kissed before had always worked up to.

And he didn't just tentatively slide his tongue against hers - there was nothing tentative about how he was kissing her. He explored her mouth thoroughly and after he'd charted all the territory on the inside of her mouth, he started surveying her lips, sucking and biting his way across each one. Ginny tried her best to keep up, meeting him for every bite, suck, and lick.

She couldn't believe she was doing this, kissing Draco Malfoy, but it was thrilling. And it felt more like playing an extreme sport than kissing.

When Ginny pulled away for air, Malfoy dipped his head down to her neck and began sucking vigorously there, instead. She buried her hands into his impossibly soft hair and tried to keep from making embarrassing sounds as he ravaged her.

He reached under her jumper and snaked one hand up her side, stopping at her bra. As he continued to kiss her neck, he slipped several fingers under the elastic band of her bra. He didn't move them any higher and just pressed his fingers into her skin. Would she let him go further? Her brain wasn't working clearly, and before she could decide, she felt his other hand in her knickers.

She instinctively pushed him away from her. "No. We're not shagging," she said quickly, out of breath.

"Oh. Why not?" He looked completely nonplussed and besides slightly swollen lips, messy hair, and a tightness at the front of his pants that Ginny was trying to avoid looking at, you'd never guess what he'd just been doing.

Ginny just huffed in response, crossing her arms in front of her. Malfoy cocked his head in confusion. "If we're not going to fuck, then why are we doing this?"

"You kissed me!" she bit back.

He just shrugged, then grabbed his bag from behind the desk, combed his hair back in place, and left the room without another word.

Ginny took a little longer than that to collect herself. What had just happened? Why had she let Malfoy kiss her like that? And to be completely honest, she hadn't just "let it happen," she'd been kissing him back. She blamed his intoxicating silver eyes and determined never to look into them again.

Ginny let out a long sigh and took a seat on the floor, leaning her back against the wall. Wasn't she supposed to be waiting for Harry? She felt sick as she thought of how he'd react if he heard she'd been snogging Draco Malfoy. The Daily Prophet she'd been reading earlier was on the floor next to her, still opened to the Punishments Section.

Desperate for something to focus on besides Harry's look of anguish when he found out about this, she read the next entry. "Name: Daniel Woodlow. Age: 18. Status: Pureblood. Crime: Defied a direct order from the Dark Lord. Punishment: Death - hit with thirty-one severing charms and left to bleed out."

Ginny pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her forehead against her knees as she began to cry. She felt so lost, and young, and ill-equipped to handle everything right now. She was in the middle of a war; a fact that was easy to forget sometimes in the relative safety of Hogwarts, but Malfoy never forgot, that was clear.

"What are you doing, Ginny?" she said aloud. She tightened her grip on her knees. The answer to that was simple - she had absolutely no idea.

The next week was a weird one for Ginny. She committed to burying that memory of kissing Malfoy and refraining from thinking about him altogether, but her mind (and body) had other ideas. Her brain was constantly replaying images from that night: his piercing eyes, the way he'd looked when he was leaning in to kiss her, how sexy he'd been after with his swollen lips and tousled hair.

And when she closed her eyes at night, or even when her mind wandered in class, she could feel him on her. Pressing his fingers into her side, biting her lower lip before pulling it into his mouth, devouring her neck, shoving a hand down her - Damn, she swore inwardly. Her knickers were soaked, right here in the middle of Potions. What was wrong with her?!

Was she really one of those pathetic witches who fell for criminals? No, of course not, because she hadn't fallen for Malfoy. She was just attracted to him. He was handsome and he'd kissed her and it had been a long time since she'd kissed, or even touched, another wizard. Nearly three months to the day - to be exact - but who was counting?

And she didn't think it was fair to refer to Malfoy as a criminal. At least, not a criminal against their side. She was nearly certain by now that he was committing crimes against You-Know-Who, but was determined to stop bringing it up, for his own safety. And not because she cared about him, but because it would be better for their side if he remained safe.

That's why she'd stopped following him. Reading the Prophet had been a jarring reminder of just how much danger Malfoy was in each and every day. All he had to do was upset You-Know-Who once, and he could end up without his legs. Though she couldn't stop herself from watching for him in the skies from the window in her dormitory.

There was another account of someone being saved from the forest on the radio three nights ago and Ginny had seen Malfoy flying above the trees that same night. But that didn't prove anything, did it? Though with all the time he spent in the forest, it was unlikely that he didn't know what was going on there. Even if he wasn't the one helping people escape the Snatchers, he must know who it was and so far hadn't turned them in. That was good, right?

No! Stop behaving like a silly girl! Her entire family was out there fighting, really fighting, not just sitting back and letting acts of defiance happen while not tattling. There was a difference. And Harry - well, there was no comparing Harry and Malfoy. If Harry were in Malfoy's position, he'd be long dead. He'd have attempted hundreds of bold rescue missions by now and would have been killed several times over for refusing to stand by and acquiesce.

But if Malfoy did that, he'd be dead and no longer in a position to help. Sometimes trying to survive so you could be well-placed to help those in need was good too. Right? What was she doing? Why was she making excuses for him? Because he'd kissed her? He'd made it clear he was just interested in a quick shag and had thought she was willing, that's all that was. Why was she making it into more?

Ginny's thoughts continued to circle like this, causing her to accidentally take a deep breath of her Pepper-up Potion. She coughed out a burst of flames and for the rest of the day was burping smoke, all thanks to Malfoy. But no matter what she tried, she couldn't find it in her heart to hate him. She knew, deep down, that he wasn't evil.

She'd seen again the way he reacted anytime students were tortured. He was hiding it well, but she'd been watching him for so long, she finally knew his tells. A slight tightening of the jaw, a twitch of his hand, a flash of his eyes. He hated watching others being hurt and whenever it was in his power to intervene, he did so.

If he had a hard time watching those punishments, weak Cruciatus Curses which were clean and quick, how did he keep his face straight when forced to witness the sort of punishments she'd read about in the Prophet? And now she was feeling sorry for him, again.

This wasn't her. This was the sort of thing Hermione would do - take up a hopeless cause like Draco Malfoy. Ginny was direct, blunt, someone who saw things the way they were. Someone who admired brave heroes, like Harry Potter. Not cowards like Malfoy.

As her thoughts continued to swirl for the remainder of the week, she decided to confront him. Ginny thought she was having trouble moving on since they'd ended their last interaction so abruptly. Maybe, if she had a chance to talk to him and get everything off her chest, she could get the closure she needed and finally move past the whole Malfoy Affair.

Affair? Wrong word. Malfoy Incident, she corrected in her mind.

After dinner on Friday, she went to the Quidditch pitch to find him. He was flying and she was insanely jealous. Their letter from Snape at the start of term had said students weren't allowed brooms this year, but she'd packed one anyway, in hopes she could get around the restriction.

But the first student who tried it, a Seventh Year Ravenclaw, was publicly punished in the Great Hall over breakfast, and no one else tried to sneak out onto the Pitch after that - except Malfoy, of course, who seemed to be above the rules.

Ginny leaned against the base of one of the hoops. She saw Malfoy register her appearance, but he waited almost an hour before flying down to meet her. Wanker.

"Students aren't allowed to fly," he said lazily as he drifted closer to her, stopping when he was about ten feet off the ground.

"Are you not a student anymore?"

He ignored her jibe. "Leave. Unless you changed your mind about fucking. In that case we can-"

Ginny shot a hex at him and he flew out of the way, dodging it easily. He did a graceful flip in the air before settling back in front of her. Show-off. When Malfoy was looking at her again, Ginny gave him her fiercest scowl. "I came to say something, then I'm going to leave you alone, for good."

"Just leave me alone without saying anything," he suggested.

"This isn't for you, it's for me. Now shut up and listen."

He flew a little closer to her and leveled her with a stern glare, but didn't protest further. She took that as an invitation to continue.

"I got this feeling earlier in the year that you were - you know - not who I thought. I don't know if that's true, but it's clear you hate this job of yours. You hate the evil you're forced to watch and maybe even do on occasion, but there's very little you can do about it besides performing small acts of defiance here and there and hoping that our side wins, and soon."

Malfoy stayed quiet and she could tell he was trying hard to keep his expression unreadable.

"I guess the point of this is just to tell you that, I don't know, I get it, and I'm sorry, and, and -" she paused to sigh, "and you're not alone in fighting this. I know it probably feels like you are but - I know you're fighting - for whatever it's worth."

He remained still and didn't say a word, so she turned to leave. It wasn't exactly what she'd planned, she'd hoped for more closure, but it was the best she could do in a one-way conversation.

"You miss your boyfriend," Malfoy called when she reached the path. He'd said it as a statement, but she answered it like it had been a question anyway.

"Yeah," she said with a shrug.

"I'm not him."

"Okay. I know you're not Harry."

"Good."

"Um, was that it?" If it was, those were odd parting words, but then again, Malfoy was always doing and saying things she never saw coming.

"Go," he said coldly, "and don't talk to me ever again."

Ginny shook her head and turned back to the path, hoping this odd conversation would be enough to quell her thoughts of Malfoy so she could finally focus back on the DA and doing her small part to end this awful war.

Ginny was running down an abandoned hall, past the old Muggle Studies classroom, when someone caught her and violently pulled her into a dark room. She squealed and kicked, then lifted her wand to cast a hex, but it was pulled forcibly out of her hand. Ginny began to panic and thrashed around, trying desperately to break free of her attacker's grip, only stopping when she heard a familiar voice, "Stop, Weasley, it's me."

The wizard conjured a few floating lights and spread them around the room and Ginny saw that it was, indeed, Draco Malfoy. He finally released her and started pacing the empty office he'd pulled her into. "You are a fucking idiot," he spat as he walked the length of the room. "We're in a fucking war and you're still doing these ridiculous pranks. Do you understand how much danger you're in, Weasley? Do you even care?"

"I-" Ginny faltered. The way he'd said that, "Do you understand how much danger you're in," had made it sound like she, specifically, was in danger. What did he know? She tried to shake the thought from her mind. "Malfoy. My friends, please help them."

He let out a loud sigh of frustration and paced the length of the room one more time before asking, "Who?"

"Neville, Luna, Dean, and Seamus. I don't know where they are. We all ran in different directions."

"Yeah, I know." He sighed again and tossed her wand at her. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

Ginny tried to follow him into the hall. "No, I should-"

He grabbed her by the arm and pushed her back into the room. "I said, stay here," he snarled. "For once in your life, try to keep yourself safe. You won't be able to help me, anyway."

Ginny wanted to protest again, but Malfoy was right, he'd be more effective without her around. She gave him a quick nod and he turned away, slamming the door to the office behind him.

Ginny started pacing the office nervously, trying not to think about what was going on with her friends. Dammit. How had Snape found them? They'd planned it all out. And he'd looked livid when he'd seen them. Even if Malfoy managed to get everyone to safety now, it wouldn't last, since Snape had seen everyone in his office. Eventually, he would find them and make them pay for breaking in and trying to steal that sword.

Just then, Ginny heard voices outside. She waved her wand to drop the lights Malfoy had created, but didn't lock the door, since she didn't want it to make a clicking sound and alert the people outside to her hiding spot. She pressed her ear to the door and thought she recognized Amycus and Crabbe. She shuddered and looked frantically around the room. That's when she spotted a narrow door just behind the desk.

She crossed the room and opened the door to reveal a dusty bedroom. She guessed this was where Professor Burbage used to live. Ginny entered the bedroom and closed and locked that door, which seemed safe enough, then began examining the room, just for something to do.

There were a few boxes filled with personal effects and clothes. Ginny's heart sank when she thought of their late Professor. Ginny had never taken classes with Professor Burbage, but she had a kind face and was clearly the type of person who would never harm anyone. She didn't deserve to be eaten by a snake.

Ginny's stomach turned and she conjured a glass of water and drained it before resuming her search of the room. There were artistic photographs of Muggle objects along one wall and because of who her father was, Ginny knew what each one was. A telephone, a computer, a record player, and a television.

When Ginny reached the picture of the television, she grazed the dusty glass with her fingers. Tears strung her eyes as she remembered a conversation she'd had with Hermione just before Bill and Fleur's wedding.

Earlier in the day, Hermione had been asking Harry what sort of television programs he'd watched as a child. He'd been vague and said something about not liking TV and only watching the news. Hermione had pressed him, listing off the most popular programs among kids their age and Harry had cut her off, then dismissed himself brusquely from the room.

Later, when Hermione and Ginny were alone in Ginny's bedroom, Hermione told Ginny that the more she learned about Harry's past, the more convinced she was that Harry had been neglected and abused. She'd been pressing Ginny to see if Harry had ever confided anything to her about it. Ginny's stomach had dropped, because even though they were supposed to love each other, Harry had never confided in Ginny about this sort of thing. But she'd had similar moments like this one, that hinted at Harry's painful past.

Instead of telling Hermione this, Ginny had told her friend off for jumping to wild conclusions just because Harry didn't like watching the telly. In reality, Ginny was insecure because she knew Harry was suffering from this huge trauma and had no idea how to deal with it. And it wasn't just him. Luna had lost her mum, Neville's parents were mad, and Hermione had been forced to make her parents forget her existence.

Then there was Ginny, who had wonderful parents and hadn't had to deal with any real hardships in her life. Even in this war, she'd been sheltered. Even right now, Malfoy had stuffed her away somewhere safe while he went and did the real work.

Ginny felt so terribly stupid and young and naïve and all she wanted to do was cry and have her mum rub her back and tell her it would all be okay. She sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her knees up to her chest for comfort, then dipped her head and took deep breaths to keep from crying, since she knew if she did so, Malfoy would notice and tease her for it.

Ginny didn't hear Malfoy come into the room, which was why she jumped at the sound of his voice. He smirked and she tried her best to rearrange her features into a scowl and hide the sadness she'd been wallowing in just seconds ago.

"Your friends are safe, for now. Snape knows who was involved and will give you detention in the morning."

"Oh. Um, just detention?" Ginny asked, trying to keep the fear out of her voice.

"Yes, and since Snape doesn't like doing detentions himself, he'll likely hand you lot over to me or Hagrid. You'll be fine."

"Not the Carrows?"

"No. Snape hates the Carrows." She could tell by Malfoy's tone that he hated them too. She was about to ask him about it when he said, "You need to know something about the Carrows."

He was standing in front of her now, his grey eyes serious. Ginny stood up from the bed. "What?"

"You've caught their attention. Amycus has grown obsessed with you and Alecto is jealous. If either of them manage to get you alone, they'll...hurt you." Ginny knew he'd been about to say something worse there but had changed his mind at the end. She shook her head as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"I don't - I don't understand. Amycus can't assault the students, you already turned someone else in for that. And what do you mean Alecto's jealous? They're brother and sister."

He let out a sigh and turned away from her, going to the window overlooking the grounds. "The Dark Lord will not allow his followers to debase innocent Pureblood witches from good families. He has no regard for Blood Traitors, especially not those whose pain and suffering would hurt Harry Potter."

Ginny's heart began to race and she tightened her grip on herself. She needed to leave Hogwarts. It was no longer safe for her here. But how would she manage it? Perhaps McGonagall could help; she was in the Order.

Ginny backed away from Malfoy and felt her legs collide with the bed, then took a seat. Her mind was trying to show her images of Amycus forcing himself on her, but she kept pushing them out. She had to keep her head right now.

"You're safe at the school as long as you lay low," Malfoy said with unexpected kindness. "Snape is protecting the students, although it doesn't seem like it to you. Just - stop doing these stupid pranks, which take you out of your bed at night and put you in a position to be caught by one of them. If Amycus gets you alone, he'll rape you. And Alecto - I don't want to know the details of her twisted relationship with her brother - but I do know she's jealous of your beauty and is eager to use that knife of hers to mar your features. She's told me as much."

Ginny shuddered. As if she didn't already have enough content for her nightmares, now she'd be adding Amycus assaulting her and Alecto slicing up her face to the list. Thanks, Malfoy. No. It wasn't his fault. He was just warning her.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked.

"I don't know." He sounded sincere and turned back to look out the window. As Ginny watched him, she thought he looked a bit like a statue. Stiff, harsh lines, pale skin shining in the moonlight. He looked tired though, like he hadn't slept in days, but he was still handsome. He was a beautiful, yet tortured statue, she decided.

"It wasn't just a prank," she said to him, after several moments of silence. Ginny didn't know why she was admitting this, but she didn't want Malfoy to think she was putting herself in danger needlessly. "Harry needs that sword, Dumbledore tried to leave it for him. We were trying to help the war effort."

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked, echoing her earlier question. "Let me guess, you're hoping I'll risk my life to find that sword and deliver it to your precious Harry Potter. Because you've convinced yourself I'm some sort of spy."

He walked back to where she was sitting on the bed and glared at her. Ginny stayed in place, lifting her chin defiantly. "I'm not some big hero, Weasley. And I'm not going to save you again. I told you, I'm not Potter."

"I'm not asking to be saved. You keep doing that on your own."

Malfoy sneered at her and turned away.

"And it's not just me," she continued. "I know you helped Astoria. I know you couldn't kill Dumbledore. I know you save students from punishments with the Carrows whenever you can, and I know you're part of the reason the forest is a safe place for people trying to escape the Snatchers. You're acting the part of an evil Death Eater quite well, but it's not real."

At these final words, Malfoy seemed to deflate slightly and for the first time Ginny had ever seen, he abandoned his perfect, well-bred posture and slouched. He took a seat next to her on the bed and dropped his head into his hands.

Oh shit, I broke Malfoy. Do I even care? Ginny was puzzling through this last question when he turned to her, his expression haunted, and asked, "Do you think I'm capable of that? Giving up everything, risking my life, risking my parents' lives, just to help a few fugitives?"

Was this a trick question? Ginny never knew with him. She thought about it, since he seemed to be looking for an honest answer. She'd already decided weeks ago that she believed in him. She had no concrete proof, but felt it in her gut that he could be trusted.

"I do."

Her words seemed to echo around the silent room for longer than normal, then Malfoy closed his eyes and pressed his lips against hers. It wasn't like before, which had been more of a collision of tongues and teeth than a kiss. Malfoy's lips were soft now and moved tenderly against her own.

After a few moments, he carefully pushed her back onto the bed and Ginny knew where this was headed, but she had no plans to stop it this time. She wanted to feel close to someone and Malfoy clearly needed the same. She'd probably regret this later, but for now she just wanted to give in.

He pulled her jumper off when they reached the head of the bed, then she slowly pulled his off. They sat there studying each other in the moonlight for several seconds. He was covered in scars, which made her chest clench. When Ginny met his eyes, she saw him eyeing her hungrily. She felt a throbbing between her legs at the sight. No one had ever looked at her like that before.

Malfoy reached behind her and propped a few pillows up, then pushed her down onto them. She was thinking how unexpectedly sweet the gesture was, when he bent down and started devouring one of her breasts, making her mind go temporarily blank.

Ginny buried her fingers in his hair and laid her head back on the pillow as she enjoyed the sensation of him sucking on her nipple while simultaneously flicking his tongue against it. She had never felt anything quite like it, then smiled to herself as she thought that she was pretty sure she was about to experience several things she never had before. She'd had sex with Harry a handful of times at the end of her Fifth Year, but Draco Malfoy, as he kept reminding her, was no Harry Potter.

After giving her breasts equal attention, he reached into her knickers and slipped one finger inside her. "You're so wet," he whispered with a smirk as he pulled his hand out and began hiking her skirt up to her waist.

Ginny rolled her eyes at his smug expression and reached for his cock, which was very hard. "I'm not the only one aroused here."

"No, you're not," he said simply.

Malfoy pulled his pants down and tossed them off the bed, then turned to her and pulled her knickers off. He didn't waste any time entering her and when she let out a small gasp, he lifted up on his elbows and looked down at her, alarmed. "Don't tell me this is your first time."

"It's not."

"Good." Well, so much for him being sweet. Though he did take it slowly, at first. And it felt divine, being this close to someone again. Feeling herself stretch around him as he moved in and out of her.

Malfoy started moving faster and when Ginny didn't protest, he moved even harder and faster than that. Ginny reached behind her to grip the bars of the headboard, just for something to hold onto as he continued to pound into her at an impossibly fast pace. When he saw her grab the headboard, he leaned forward and did the same, bracing himself as he drove into her.

As she watched him move, she confirmed he was objectively beautiful. His muscles were taut from the effort of thrusting into her, his scars shining silver in the moonlight, his cheeks were flushed, his normally perfect hair was messy and damp on his forehead, and he was biting his lip, probably to keep from crying out. She realized they hadn't cast a Silencing Charm, but it was probably okay. The only sounds in the room were the bed hitting the wall, the slapping of skin, and their heavy breathing.

When Malfoy saw her watching him, he gave her a wicked grin, then leaned forward and began sucking on her neck. That was surely going to leave a mark, then she wondered if that was the point, if he was trying to stake some sort of claim on her. Ginny could feel the tension building in her and wondered if it would be weird if she started touching herself when he abruptly let out a strangled moan, then slackened against her.

He gave her neck a quick kiss, then rolled off her and immediately began putting his clothes back on. Ginny propped herself up on her elbows as she watched him get dressed. Once he was finished, he gave her a nod and turned to the door.

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

He turned back to her, confused, then pulled his wand out of his pocket and came back to where she was still lying on the bed. "I thought you could do this yourself," he muttered as he began to cast a Contraceptive Spell on her abdomen.

She rolled her eyes and when the spell was finished, pressed, "That's not what I was talking about."

He just shrugged.

"I didn't finish," she explained.

"Oh. You didn't?" Ginny shook her head. There was no way he was that naïve. Or maybe he was. Maybe none of his partners had ever told him how not to be selfish in bed. He was still young, so that was possible. Again, more proof he was no Harry Potter, who had been almost annoyingly obsessive about making sure everything was good for Ginny the few times they'd shagged.

When she didn't say anything, Malfoy smirked and added, "You can't do that yourself either?"

Ginny kicked him. "If you want this to happen again, you're going to finish what you started here."

Malfoy's eyes widened in surprise. "Again?"

"I…" Oops, had she just committed to doing this again? She shouldn't have done it at all. What was wrong with her? But the harm was already done, wasn't it? "Yes," she said eventually, "if you do a good job."

Malfoy smirked at that, then gestured toward his pants. "I'm already soft."

"You're a teenage boy," she bit back. "Give it five minutes and you'll be hard again. Or feel free to use your hands, I'm not picky."

He considered her for a few moments, then climbed onto the bed and positioned himself over her. He looked like a panther about to strike and Ginny's heart started beating hard in her chest. Malfoy dipped his head down and bit her shoulder softly, then her neck, then her ear. "You're not picky?" he whispered.

"No," she said, trying to keep her voice even.

"Well, what if I used my tongue, then?"

"Yeah...uh...you could do that."

He began kissing a path down to her legs and she tried to keep from shaking, but she was literally trembling with anticipation. This was something no one had ever done for her. He started with a long lick along her slit, stopping at her clitoris, and she instantly realized that while this was a first for her, it certainly wasn't a first for him. She bit her lip, trying to suppress a moan, then picked his head up.

"Silencing Charm," she said breathlessly.

Malfoy gave her a smug look, then waved his wand and cast the spell wordlessly. He really was a huge prat. He'd known she hadn't finished earlier and was just being selfish, not naïve. But he was surely making up for it now. He was running circles around her clitoris with the tip of his tongue and Ginny knew in a few seconds she was going to lose the ability to form words, so she took this opportunity to say, "You're a prat."

He didn't respond and she swore she could feel him smiling against her. Though by then, she didn't care.