Chapter 5 - Beseeched

Five months later

It was a week after Harry's victory at the Final Battle of Hogwarts, and Ginny was alone with him for the first time in ages. Harry told her earlier he needed to speak with her about something important, then invited her over to Grimmauld Place where he'd been staying with Hermione.

Ginny knew what he wanted to talk about and was considering putting him out of his misery as he paced the room in front of her. Before she'd decided whether or not to admit that she already knew his big secret, Harry turned to her and said, "I'm with Hermione."

Ginny nodded. "I know."

"Oh. Er - Ron told you?"

Ginny nodded again. Even if Ron hadn't warned her about this a few days ago, she would have known. Harry and Hermione weren't overly affectionate, and she hadn't seen them kiss or anything, but they were always with each other, whispering, handling hands, or just leaning into each other. And the few times they weren't standing right next to each other, they were exchanging glances from across the room.

"It's okay, Harry. We never agreed to wait for each other. And a lot has happened since. We're different people now than we were last year."

"Right." He leveled her with an unwavering gaze and as she looked back into his eyes - which were a lot greener than she remembered - she couldn't help but think of Draco, who'd also been able to captivate her with his eyes like this.

It's Malfoy, she corrected in her mind, and you're not supposed to be thinking about him.

After their conversation months ago, when she'd slapped him, she'd resolved to leave Malfoy in her past and never think of him again. But he still crept into her thoughts sometimes.

As if reading her mind, Harry said next, "I know about you and Malfoy."

Ginny's eyes widened in surprise. She couldn't imagine how that was possible. The only other person who knew about her "thing" with Malfoy was Malfoy himself, and she doubted he'd been the one to tell Harry. Regardless of how Harry had found out, she could tell by the look in his eyes he was certain and knew it wasn't worth denying it, so she didn't even try. Instead, she asked, "How?"

"The map."

Bloody hell. Ginny had nearly forgotten about the map. He'd been checking it while he was hunting for Horcruxes? Why? When the answer to that question hit her, her stomach dropped. Harry had probably been checking on her. And what had he seen? Her spending nights in the Head Boy Dormitory with Malfoy.

She blushed and dropped her head. "Oh."

Harry started pacing again, raking his hands through his hair as he did so. "I was so worried when I first saw you with him. I was convinced he was forcing you to be with him against your will. Maybe using a Love Potion, the Imperius Curse, or even threatening your family or something."

"It wasn't like that."

He stopped at the mantel and turned to face her. "I know. At the time, I was ready to go straight to Hogwarts and rescue you, but Hermione watched the map for a few days and noticed a lot of things that hinted at the fact that it was a mutual thing."

Ginny nodded, unsure what else there was to say. Harry didn't seem to need her for this part of the conversation anyway.

"Hermione pointed out the hours you spent flying together at the Quidditch Pitch. And other times, the Library, the Prefects' Office, and his room-" Harry cut off and took a deep breath. "She pointed out that if you were just there to shag him, you wouldn't be there for hours at a time and you wouldn't have spent the night. And she reminded me that the Malfoy we knew had a lot of flaws, but wasn't sort of person to rape someone."

Ginny was crying now. Not because of Harry's harsh words. She was simply remembering those weeks with Draco, something she never let herself think about and for some reason, the memories made her cry.

Harry went to sit next to her on the sofa and placed a hand on her shoulder. His tone was kinder when he spoke again. "Anyway, I had to accept that you'd moved on, with Draco Malfoy of all people, and - I don't know. I was really depressed. Hermione was depressed too, since Ron had left temporarily and we - er - turned to each other for comfort. And as the months went on, it turned into more."

He squeezed her shoulder, then dropped his hand and they sat in silence for several minutes while Ginny sorted through what she wanted to say. She wished she'd had some warning about this, since being confronted with her relationship with Draco, after spending so long trying to ignore it, was more jarring than she'd expected.

"Who else knows?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

"Just Hermione."

Ginny nodded, keeping her eyes down on her lap. "I'm really sorry you had to find out like that, Harry. Hermione was right, he wasn't forcing me into anything. He -" She'd been about to say he'd deceived her but decided to leave it alone. She didn't need to start some big drama between Harry and Malfoy.

"It was just sex, or, uh, comfort, as you called it. Then, we sort of became friends, and then after the Christmas break, I cut it off and haven't talked to him since."

"What happened?"

Ginny shrugged, still looking down. "It was never going to be anything real. We both knew that."

"Okay."

They were quiet for a little while longer and when Ginny finally looked back at Harry, his eyes were swimming with concern. "Are you okay, Ginny?"

She nodded and wondered if he could tell she was lying just by looking at her, like Draco used to be able to do. It's Malfoy!

"You really have changed, Gin. And I think he has, too. He helped us at Malfoy Manor and again at the Final Battle. We were looking for the last Horcrux, then Crabbe and Goyle came to make trouble, but Malfoy helped us fight them off. One of those idiots set off Fiendfyre, nearly killing all of us, but-"

"I don't want to talk about him. We're done. Really."

Harry nodded sadly. "Can I say one more thing?"

Ginny sighed. "Sure."

"Everything's terrible now. Even though the war's over, we lost so many people to make it happen. You know that better than most."

Ginny dropped her head as tears strung her eyes at the thought of Fred. Harry wrapped an arm around her before continuing. "Anyway, we need to figure out how to go back to normal, or some version of normal, otherwise all their sacrifices were for nothing. But as I consider that, I just want to scream and if it weren't for Hermione, I'd be a huge mess - well, more than I already am."

He paused and Ginny looked up at him. "I'm glad you have Hermione, Harry. Really. You don't have to worry about me getting in your way."

He let out a breath. "Thanks, but that's not what I'm trying to say. I'm just stalling here because I can't believe I'm about to say this next thing."

He took another deep breath, then said in a rush, "I don't know what happened with you and Malfoy or if it's really over - but it seems like there are some unresolved feelings there. And he might be going to Azkaban, so maybe this is all moot, but, if he's your person, the one to keep you from going mad during all this war recovery stuff, well, I won't get in your way."

"Wow. Um, thanks, Harry. But I meant what I said before, Malfoy and I are done."

The words felt hollow on Ginny's lips and she could tell by the look in Harry's eyes that he didn't believe them either.

A week later, Ginny was at the bottom level of the Ministry in a large courtroom, waiting for the Death Eater trails to start. She wasn't here for Malfoy, which was something she kept repeating in her head. She was here to support Harry and her family, who would be called as witnesses for a number of trials. And she was also here to watch Augustus Rookwood, the man who'd killed Fred, get sentenced to a life in prison.

Malfoy would also be here but that was inconsequential. Ginny would watch his trial, hear his sentence, and be perfectly fine. What if he was sentenced to Azkaban? Would she speak up for him? No, of course not. What would she say? He'd done nothing to fight against You-Know-Who. All she could say for him was that he'd hated it and been scared and wouldn't have chosen to be a Death Eater if he'd been given a choice. Which, in all honesty, wasn't nothing.

But it hadn't kept him from working for You-Know-You. And she didn't know all Malfoy had done for his depraved Master, though she figured she'd find out soon enough. Her father had explained over breakfast this morning how the Ministry was using a Priori Incantatem spell on each of the Death Eater's wands to determine the list of charges. It was why Harry had to turn over Draco's wand, since he'd been in possession of it in the Final Battle.

Had Malfoy finally been forced to kill? How many more people had he tortured? What else had he done? Actually, maybe she wouldn't watch his trial. When his name was called, maybe she'd excuse herself to the loo.

But several hours later, when Kingsley said, "Draco Lucius Malfoy," Ginny couldn't make herself move. She watched him being walked into the courtroom, his hands and feet in chains. He looked so young, especially compared to all the other wizards on trial today. He was also missing his usual swagger, which Ginny guessed was hard to maintain in chains.

Seeing Malfoy like this should be satisfying, shouldn't it? He'd used her and lied to her. He'd known what he was doing was wrong but been too much of a coward to do anything about it. And now, he was finally getting what he deserved, but it didn't make Ginny happy. She couldn't make herself feel anything but pity for Malfoy.

The guard leading Malfoy threw him roughly into the chair at the center of the room, then pointed his wand at the chains around Malfoy's hands, causing them to disappear. Malfoy laid his hands on the arms of the chair and winced as the manacles tightened over his wrists. Ginny had watched this happen for every Death Eater before and had determined by now that the restraints were painful in some way, but this was the first time she'd cringed.

Wasn't it bad enough that the accused had to sit in front of a room full of people while they waited for a sentence that would affect the outcome of the rest of their life? They were already locked up, did they need to be hurt, too? Hermione was muttering something angrily to Harry and Ginny guessed she was complaining about this very thing.

He's a Death Eater! Ginny reminded herself. You didn't care when this happened to the rest of them, so why do you care now? But even as she thought it, she knew it wasn't true. Malfoy was nothing like the others, and that was clearer now that she was seeing him alongside wizards who were truly evil. Wizards who smiled proudly as their list of charges was read out, not cowered in shame, like Malfoy was doing as Kingsley's deep voice announced the charges brought against him.

Ginny held her breath as Kingsley spoke, waiting for him to say, "murder," but he never did. She let out a sigh of relief when he was finished reading Draco's charges, which was a short list compared to his peers. You-Know-Who hadn't had a chance to force Draco to kill. Thank Merlin.

When Ginny moved her eyes to chance a look at Draco, she saw him looking right at her. She focused back on Kingsley but could still feel Draco's eyes on her. Ginny worked hard to avoid his gaze. She was used to this. This is what the last few months had been like at school: Draco staring intently at her across the Great Hall while she pointedly ignored him.

But for some reason, it was a lot harder to look away from him today. She knew he was scared, could read it plainly on his face, and part of her wanted to give him some sort of comfort, even though he didn't deserve it. Or did he? She was more torn about him now than she ever had been.

When Kingsley was finished reading Draco's charges, he turned to the audience and asked if there was anyone who wanted to speak for or against Draco. Harry stood and made his way to the front of the courtroom, stopping a few feet in front of Kingsley and the rest of the Wizengamot. Ginny had been expecting this.

This was the fifth time Harry was speaking up today, but she knew unlike all the other times, when Harry had spoken against the accused, listing off the terrible things he'd seen them do through his connection with You-Know-Who's mind, he was going to speak on Draco's behalf.

"Draco Malfoy is not like the other Death Eaters we've seen today," Harry started. He was impressive up there, addressing the entire courtroom with a quiet confidence Ginny had never seen in him before. She wondered where it had come from.

Did it have to do with the fact that he'd faced the worst obstacles anyone could ever imagine, the darkest wizard of all time, and even death, so no longer had anything left to fear? Or maybe it had something to do with Hermione. Harry kept glancing over at her as he spoke and every time, Hermione nodded and shot him an encouraging smile.

Ginny's chest ached at the sight of them. She was happy for her friends, really, but she was also jealous. She didn't have that, not even close. All she had was unresolved feelings for a Death Eater who may be a few minutes away from receiving an Azkaban sentence. She took a deep breath and focused back on what Harry was saying.

Harry had described the story of Dumbledore's death, which she'd heard before, pointing out that although Draco had Dumbledore alone and disarmed, and although Draco had been threatened with death for him and his family if he failed in his task, he couldn't make himself kill his Headmaster.

Now Harry was telling the story of the night when he, Ron, and Hermione had been captured by Snatchers and brought to Malfoy Manor. It was during the Easter Break, so Draco had been at home. Harry had been hit with a Stinging Jinx to the face, so was nearly unrecognizable, but Hermione and Ron looked just like themselves.

Draco was called on first to confirm the group's identity and he'd tried to lie and urge his family to free them, but Narcissa had recognized Hermione. Ginny found herself leaning forward in her seat as she listened to Harry. This was the first time she was hearing the story of that night in its entirety.

When Harry reached the part where Draco had helped Hermione during her torture by casting an undetectable Shield Charm between her and Bellatrix, Ginny gasped, raising her hand to her mouth.

"Is that true?" she whispered to Hermione.

Hermione just nodded, keeping her eyes on Harry.

"How do you know, if it was undetectable? And it could have been anyone in the room."

"The first spell hit me at full force," Hermione replied out of the side of her mouth. "All the ones after that were much better. I could still feel the pain, but it was muted. And as I looked for the source, I saw Malfoy staring at me as he muttered under his breath. It had to be him, since he was the only one in the room maintaining eye contact."

Ginny looked back at Draco, who was watching Hermione now. When Hermione noticed his attention, she gave him a small nod, then Draco moved his eyes back to Ginny. She looked away, focusing on Harry who was explaining their escape from Malfoy Manor. Apparently, Draco had assisted there too, something about easily giving over all the wands he'd collected, but Ginny was hardly listening.

She was thinking back on an anomaly she and her friends had noticed around March. The Cruciatus Curses being cast by the Carrows and some of the younger Death Eaters, like Crabbe and Goyle, had stopped hurting as much. You could still feel them, but it was only about 10% of the typical pain. They thought it was because everyone was building up a tolerance to the curse, but that explanation didn't fit because the less-powerful curses came and went.

Typically, the more public punishments were fine but in smaller groups, the curses would come out at full force again. Was this the explanation? Was Draco casting Shield Charms whenever he could? Then, Ginny remembered something else.

It was an item on the list she'd made of the ways she and Draco could work together to help the Order. She'd written something like: See if it's possible to modify Shield Charms to make them invisible. That way we can secretly protect people during detentions and school-wide punishments.

Ginny's eyes snapped to Draco's again. He nodded, as if in answer to her unspoken question. Tears stung her eyes and she looked back at Harry as she discreetly dabbed her eyes with the back of her sleeve.

Harry explained the incident with the Room of Requirement next, when Draco had helped Harry, Hermione, and Ron find one of the Horcruxes, then fight against Crabbe and Goyle, who had both lost their lives, consumed by the Fiendfyre flames one of them had set off. When Harry was finished, he nodded to Kingsley, then Draco before returning to his seat on Hermione's other side.

There was a low murmur throughout the room and Ginny saw several members of the Wizengamot conferring with each other. What did they think? Those were all relatively small acts of defiance. Would they be enough to erase the other things Draco had done? When Ginny looked at Draco, she saw him watching Kingsley, looking almost calm. But Ginny knew it was just a façade. She could tell by the tightness in his jaw, and the way he was fiddling with his hands in his lap that he was nervous.

"Is there anyone else who would like to speak for Draco Malfoy?" Kingsley looked to the right side of the room, almost as if he was speaking to someone in particular. Ginny followed his gaze and watched Professor McGonagall stand and approach the Wizengamot.

"I would like to speak on Mister Malfoy's behalf," she announced when she reached the spot Harry had recently occupied. The room stirred and Ginny could tell they were surprised to see McGonagall up there, but Draco didn't look surprised or even nervous. It was like he knew exactly what McGonagall was going to say.

Ginny leaned forward and was almost off her seat now, but she was curious to see what McGonagall would have to say for Draco. Would she confirm Ginny's suspicions that he'd been casting Shield Charms to protect students from the Cruciatus Curse? Were there other acts of defiance Ginny didn't know about? Would it be enough to keep him out of Azkaban?

"Mister Malfoy was doing small things here and there to protect as many students as he could from pain and unnecessarily cruel punishments," McGonagall began. "By the end of January, he wanted to do more." She turned to the crowd for emphasis before saying, "So, he sought me out and defected."

There was a collective gasp, and even Hermione, Harry, and Ron seemed surprised. Ginny pulled her hand up to her mouth and sat back in her seat. She could feel Draco's eyes on her again but kept her gaze on McGonagall and Kingsley. That's why Kingsley had known ahead of time McGonagall would want to speak up for Draco. As head of the Order, he knew about all their spies.

Kingsley pressed McGonagall to explain further and she began listing out all the things Draco had done to help the Order over the past few months. "Passing on Death Eater patrol schedules, both for Hogwarts and some that he found at Malfoy Manor. Handing over memories of all his meetings with Voldemort. Removing the anti-Apparition ward on the Hog's Head, allowing us to set up a safe passageway into and out of the castle, which ended up being critical to Mister Potter's success."

As McGonagall continued speaking, Ginny felt like her old Professor was reading directly from the list Ginny had made for Draco months ago. Was this real? Had he really defected? Had he used her list for inspiration, or was this all a coincidence?

Ginny could feel Draco's eyes on her and when she finally looked at him, she saw the answer to her question written clearly on his face. Yes, Weasley. I did it for you.

Draco was acquitted of all the charges brought against him and once his chains were removed, he took a seat in the audience near the front and watched his parents' trials. His father received a reduced sentence - seven years - since multiple people, including Harry, confirmed that he'd stopped fighting during the last year of You-Know Who's reign.

Narcissa was also acquitted of the short list of charges brought against her, helped by Harry's testimony of how she'd helped him in the Forbidden Forest and Draco's explanation of how she'd helped him with a lot of the work he was doing for the Order. After her trial, Narcissa left and Ginny expected Draco to follow her, but he stayed and watched the rest of the trials.

No one else escaped Azkaban that day. And Rookwood, whose trial was shortly after Narcissa's, was sentenced to the life in prison he deserved. Currently, everyone was filing out of the courtroom, but Ginny remained seated. She told her family she'd see them at the Burrow later for dinner, but that she wanted a few moments to herself.

Her mum had nodded, giving her a quick hug before leaving, but Hermione stayed - because she was amazing and intuitive and knew that even though Ginny said she wanted to be alone, that she needed a friend by her side right now. Hermione reached over and took Ginny's hand and they sat there in silence as the courtroom emptied, each lost in their own thoughts.

Once it was just the two of them left, Ginny waited another ten minutes before standing up, wanting to give everyone ample time to clear the lifts and the lobby.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Hermione asked when they reached the hall, which Ginny was relieved to find empty.

"No."

"Are you sure? He defected, Ginny. That's huge. And I have to imagine he did it-"

"I said I don't want to talk about it," Ginny snapped.

Hermione nodded. "Okay."

They were quiet on their ride up the lift and once they walked out into the lobby, Hermione nudged Ginny and muttered, "You might not want to talk about it, but it looks like he does."

Ginny followed Hermione's eyes to find Draco leaning casually against a pole, facing the lifts. When he saw her, he straightened his stance and shot her a pleading look, which was the first time she'd ever seen that expression on his face.

Ginny considered ignoring him but figured she needed to get this out of the way. He'd probably just continue to seek her out. Now that he was a free wizard, he could do that. She should let him say his piece, then she could put this Draco Malfoy chapter of her life behind her for good.

She turned to Hermione. "Will you wait here for me?"

Hermione gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Of course. Good luck."

Ginny crossed the lobby slowly. Her feet were heavy and the air felt thick around her. As she got closer to Draco, her heart started beating rapidly. Calm down, she scolded herself, not wanting Draco to see how nervous she was. She stopped in front of him and waited for him to speak, but he stayed quiet and simply drank her in.

"Um, I didn't know you did all that stuff," she said lamely, hoping to move the conversation along, so it could be over.

"Stuff...thing...we need to work on your vocabulary, Weasley."

"If you want someone with a good vocabulary, you should go for Hermione. But - uh - she's taken, and a Muggleborn, so that's probably a dealbreaker, and I doubt you're her type anyway and…" Ginny buried her face in her hand and groaned. What was she doing? Just mumbling like an idiot. She was the one with the upper hand here.

She dropped her hand from her face and looked back at Draco defiantly, daring him with her eyes to make fun of her. He was watching her, amused, but didn't say anything unkind. "If you'd read my letters, you would have known about all that stuff."

"I burned them."

"I figured."

They were quiet for a few moments, then Ginny said, "After you couldn't get a hold of me with the letters, I expected you to pull me to the side one day or break into one of my detentions, but you never did."

"No, I didn't."

Ginny sighed. He was impossible. She figured it was her fault for not phrasing her statement as a question. Draco wasn't like her friends, who gave information away freely. But he'd been standing here, waiting to talk to her, and now that she was here, he wasn't saying anything. She thought again of how impossible he was.

"Anyway, I'm glad not you're not going to Azkaban. You didn't deserve that. And - um - thanks for helping our side. Good luck and, uh, bye."

Ginny nodded and turned to leave as Draco said, "That's debatable."

Ginny turned back to him and cocked her head in confusion. "What?"

"Whether or not I deserved to go to Azkaban. I got my act together at the end, but I still let unspeakable things happen for years without doing anything to fight back."

"The Wizengamot thinks what you did was enough."

"What do you think?" His eyes were boring into her, like he was expecting to find the answer to his question on her face.

Ginny shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I'm not a Chief Warlock or judge."

"It matters to me," he whispered.

Ginny dropped his gaze and looked down at her feet, suddenly at a loss for words. Draco took a step closer to her.

"I'm sorry about your brother," he stated, rather unexpectedly. "I was there, but unarmed at the time and unable to help. Are you okay?"

She shrugged and forced a smile on her face, like she always did when people asked her this question.

"Of course not," he continued. "But I'm sure you will be, with time."

An awkward silence settled in, then Draco broke it with a second unexpected comment. "It was never about sex for me."

"Oh."

"If I wanted sex, there were a lot of other witches I could have chosen who would have been much less...complicated."

Prat.

"I know you're thinking I'm a prat, but it's true. Do you want to know what it was about for me?"

Ginny sighed. "Sure."

His lips turned up slightly, then his expression was serious again. "When you accused me of helping those people in the forest, I thought you were just hoping to find another Potter, some other hero you could latch on to. But it didn't take long for me to see that you weren't seeing Potter when you looked at me. You were seeing me. Or...the person I could be if I could just get past my fears.

"You were the only person in my life who looked at me and saw someone who was worth something. That feeling was intoxicating - I couldn't get enough of it."

So, it hadn't been about Ginny, specifically. She dropped his gaze and looked down at the floor, trying to hide the disappointment that had suddenly overcome her. "What were you doing in the forest? I never asked."

She saw him reach into his pocket and hold out a small, white box. "Smoking," he explained. "It's a vile Muggle habit that's surprisingly soothing." He popped the box opened to reveal several white cylinders.

"I don't understand. You smoke these? Like a pipe?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Like a pipe. That's what I was doing in the forest. I learned soon enough what the centaurs were doing and left them alone. We had an unspoken agreement that as long as I didn't bother them, they wouldn't bother me. But one night, there was a centaur from another tribe, he didn't know me and just saw my Death Eater robes and attacked. That's where the wrist injury came from."

Ginny nodded. "Okay. Um, thanks for explaining. I guess I should go."

Ginny turned back to Hermione, who was reading on a bench, and began walking back to her. Her chest felt tight as she made her way across the lobby and she could feel tears threatening to fall. Why was she so upset? She got the explanation she'd been wanting, hadn't she?

No. She wanted more. That was the problem, though. There wasn't more to Draco. From the start, she'd never seen him for who he truly was, just who she wanted him to be. But he had changed, in the end, and she'd played a small part in that. She'd tried to take solace in that.

"Don't go yet," Draco said from behind her, grabbing her arm.

Hermione, who was just a few feet away now, looked up from her book and shot Ginny a concerned look. Ginny gave her friend a shrug that said, I have no idea what's going on, but hang on for a few more minutes, will you?

Hermione nodded and patted her robes in a gesture that said. Of course, and I'll have my wand ready just in case.

Ginny turned back to Draco and sighed. "You have more to say?"

He nodded and gestured to a nearby pole that was out of earshot of Hermione. "I've never heard you say this many words in one conversation," Ginny quipped as she followed him.

"That's not true," he said with a smile, leaning against the pole. "Have you already forgotten the Tornadoes versus Wasps argument?"

Ginny smiled back at him. "Okay, you're right," she allowed. "I'll amend that to say I've never heard you say this many words on a topic other than Quidditch."

He simply smiled in response, then his expression turned serious again and he was quiet for several moments.

"You said you have more to say," Ginny pressed.

"You're too impatient."

"You're too broody. If you want to say something, just say it, otherwise I really should-"

"Fine," he said sharply. "I wasn't finished before when I was talking about what happened between us."

Ginny crossed her arms. "Okay. Go ahead and finish. I'm listening."

He shot her a nasty look, then continued in a slightly kinder tone. "As I was saying, I was attracted to you in the beginning because of those looks you gave me. But soon, it was less about the looks and all about you."

He took a deep breath and stepped closer to her, then paused, clearly hesitating with his next statement. She was about to open her mouth to press him again when he blurted, "You are the most remarkable witch - well, person, really - I've ever known. And I could not believe you chose to spend all your time with me."

Draco tentatively reached for her hand and when she didn't shake him away, linked their fingers together. "I'm sorry I misled you. I wanted to be that person you thought I was, but I didn't know how. Then you left and you were so convinced you were wrong about me and that sort of flipped a switch. I was determined to prove that you hadn't been wrong. I too was scared of dying a lame death, having done nothing great or even good with my life."

He paused and looked down at their clasped hands for several moments. "So you defected," she pressed, also focusing on their hands.

"I defected. And I was terrified the whole time, sure I was going to be caught at any moment. But it felt good, helping in a small way, and as I made way through the easy things on your list, I felt bolder and started tackling some of the riskier items."

Draco dropped her hand and reached into his pocket. He took out a folded parchment and handed it to Ginny. She knew what it was even before she opened it. Tears welled in her eyes as she saw the familiar list. He'd been ticking off the items as he did them.

"I only made it halfway before I ran out of time."

Ginny took a deep breath and blinked back tears before looking up at him. "You did a lot in a short time. I'm proud of you, really." She took another deep breath, then added, "Hopefully you can find a way to begin to recover from it all."

His face fell, but his disappointment was quickly replaced by anger. "So, that's it?"

His tone was harsh and Ginny was slightly relieved to see that the mean, moody Draco was still in there somewhere. She'd been beginning to suspect Polyjuice. Ginny took another breath.

"Thank you for telling me all of that. I can tell it was hard for you. Um, I guess I will go now. Good luck, Malfoy."

Ginny walked back to Hermione, trying to ignore the hollow feeling in her chest. She could address that when she was back in the safety of her room at the Burrow.

"Ready?" Hermione asked, returning her book to her bag. Ginny saw Hermione looking over her shoulder with a sad expression and almost turned back to see what Draco could possibly be doing to cause Hermione to react that way, but she refrained. She just needed to get out of here.

They walked back to the entrance and turned down the hall lined with fireplaces when someone caught Ginny's arm again. "Ginny." Ginny paused and waited several seconds before turning around as her name hung in the air around them. "Go out with me," Draco said as soon as she turned to face him.

Ginny looked over at Hermione, whose eyes were comically wide. "Um, it seems like maybe you're not ready to go."

"No," Draco said. "She's not."

"I can speak for myself," Ginny snapped at him.

"Right," Hermione said awkwardly, "I'll be over there." She pointed to the wall and Ginny saw her begin to take her book out again. She wanted to tell her there was no need. This conversation with Draco was almost over.

"Go out with me," he repeated when they were alone.

She smiled, in spite of herself. Of course he'd word it as a command rather than a question. As if reading her thoughts, he added, "Please?"

She regarded him for several moments, then began to shake her head. He placed his hands on the sides of her face, restricting the motion.

"There's something here," he said insistently. "Something more than shagging, more than intoxicating looks, more than friendship even, and I know you feel it. But I fucked it up, royally, so let me start over."

She sighed and pulled his hands down from her face.

"Come on, Ginny. Do you want me to beg?"

"Sort of."

He let out a laugh, then got on his knees and put his hands on the back of her legs. There was a flash of a camera from the end of the hall and Ginny was reminded of how exposed they were right now. "Well, that will be an interesting article tomorrow," he quipped.

"Get up," she hissed.

"Say yes."

Ginny frowned and shook her head. The thought of articles reminded Ginny of one very good reason for saying no to him. "My family's going to hate this."

Draco tightened his grip on her legs. "So is mine, but I don't care. I'll tell them I'm with the person who makes me feel the most like myself."

Ginny cringed. "That's disgustingly sappy."

"I'll be sure to pass the message along to the person who told me that." He tilted his head and a lock of hair fell onto his face. Ginny reached down and pushed it back into place. Draco grinned, probably counting the easy gesture as a point in his favor. "Please?" he asked with a very endearing smile. "One date."

"Okay."

He stood up and pulled her into a tight hug. "Oh, thank Merlin. I really didn't think you'd say yes."

"Did you have a plan B?"

Draco leaned back. "Absolutely. I had plans all the way up to S."

"S for Slytherin?"

"No, shagging."

Ginny pushed him. "You're impossible."

"I know," he said seriously. "Now, when can we start this date? Now? Tomorrow? Friday?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Not now. I have dinner plans with my family. And tomorrow I'm spending most of the day at the Auror Office, but Friday works."

Draco cocked an eyebrow at her. "Auror Office? I'm not sure that's a good career for you, just judging by the investigative skills I witnessed last term-"

She pushed him again. "Hah hah. I have to go in to give recommendations for Ron and Harry, as they've just applied to the program. And you really shouldn't tease someone who very reluctantly agreed to go on a date with you. I might change my mind."

"Then I'd just go to plan B."

"Which was?"

"Locking you in a cage and leaving you there until you said yes."

Ginny smirked. "That wouldn't have worked. What was Plan C?"

"Offering box seats to the upcoming match between the Tornadoes and Wasps, under the guise of figuring out who was truly the superior team. Then, about an hour or so in, I'd point out that we were, in fact, already on a date."

"Okay. That one probably would have worked."

They both laughed, then there was another flash of the camera. Damn, that article about them was going to be really juicy. Ginny sighed and turned to Hermione, who was leaning against the wall, lost in her book.

"I should go," she said with a sigh, "for real this time."

"Okay. Friday. I'll pick you up."

Ginny's eyes widened in alarm. "At my house?"

"Of course."

"No, that's not necessary. We can just meet-"

"The Burrow. Seven o-clock. I'll see you then, Weasley." He leaned in and gave her a peck on the cheek, then nearly jumped out of her grasp before she could protest further. As he walked to the fireplaces, Ginny noticed that the swagger that was gone in the courtroom was back. Draco gave her a final nod before stepping into the fireplace and spinning out of sight.

Ginny smiled inwardly, then let out a long sigh. "See you Friday, Malfoy."

The End