Ginny planted her feet on the wooden cobblestones of the entryway to Rosedragon Cafe, landing from having apparated with nearly as much grace as she displayed on a broom. She looked around warily, although she wasn't sure if there was even anything suspicious she ought to be keeping an eye out for. Rosedragon Cafe was one of the most conspicuous places to meet in Diagon Alley. Although it was located on the outskirts of the area, it was still a primary location for old friends and families with children alike to stop and meet for a bite to eat. Today was not an exception, with the place bustling with customers coming in and out. Rosedragon was known particularly well for their frozen butterbeer slushies along with their Every-Scent Malteser sundaes.
Before entering the shop, Ginny used a gentle color charm to lighten her vibrant red hair to a sandy blonde. She also cast a quick Notice-Me-Not charm on herself, just strong enough to misdirect the attention of anyone who wasn't supposed to be looking for her. This would assure that any wandering eyes or ears would not find themselves listening to her and Malfoy's conversation - once she found Malfoy, that is. She was not quite as popular as their friendly neighborhood Golden Trio, but she would also rather avoid anyone who might recognize her as a Weasley sister or as the past girlfriend of Harry Potter.
Ginny sat herself down in a booth, her thoughts racing over what in Merlin's muddy swamp Malfoy could possibly need to tell her. Why exactly was he being so cryptic? She understood that owls could be intercepted, but why couldn't he have told her at the game after applying a quick Muffliato?
And even more so, why hadn't he met with Harry or Hermione instead? If it was a Death Eater related issue, it was more probable for him to have gone to one of them first, especially considering that Harry and Hermione both worked in the DMLE, not to mention that Malfoy had already helped them track down a few runaway Death Eaters in the first few months after the war.
If it wasn't a Death Eater related issue, well, then Ginny wasn't sure what he might have wanted to meet with her for. Maybe he was being tracked, and meeting with Ginny would be more inconspicuous than meeting with an Auror, or the Vice Head of Magical Law Enforcement? Ginny had no clue, and her thoughts continued to race until a waiter arrived at the table where she was sat.
"Good evening, madam, may I take your order?" spoke a familiarly articulate and silvery voice.
Ginny looked up. How peculiar, she thought to herself. Her waiter was none other than the very person she was supposed to be meeting with.
Draco Malfoy stood, tall and alluring, having changed from his blue and gold Quidditch robes to a similarly-colored ashwinder blue sweater, with the collar of a sharp white Oxford shirt neatly peeking out from the neckband. He seemed to have had a similar idea about not wanting to be recognized, with his hair having been colored to a warm shade of brown which matched his trousers. With an apron over his clothes, a notepad and rose-colored quill in his hand, and a cap printed with animated dragons and flickering stars over his head, he was not out of place as one of the busy cafe's many servers.
"Excuse me, ma'am, may I take your order?" Malfoy asked once again, shooting a glance at the door, his eyes indicating that Ginny ought to just follow along.
"Of course, pardon me," Ginny responded. "I'll take the rose-dragon tea with saffron flakes and essence of Ashwagandha please."
"I do apologize, but I'm afraid we are out of Ashwagandha at the moment. Would you care to take a look at our other specialty essences offered in the back?"
Malfoy hinted with a slight nod, encouraging Ginny to declare, "Why... yes, I would."
"Very well, please follow me," Malfoy related as he turned and walked toward the employee door, and through to the back room; however, he did not stop there, as he continued walking until he reached an office of sorts, which he immediately locked upon their entrance. He cast a Muffliato and finally released a deep breath before sitting down.
Ginny crossed her arms and worriedly demanded, "So? Why did you want to meet with me? What's going on? And what's all this secrecy about?"
"Please, sit down," Malfoy offered. "I'm very sorry, what just happened must have been very confusing, but it was also quite necessary. I'm being followed."
"What? How do you know? And by whom?" Ginny questioned.
Malfoy sighed, grasping his hair in his hands. "I don't know. That's the issue. I've been getting these notes," he said as he pulled out a small leather envelope from his pocket, which Ginny guessed either contained very small notes or might have an undetectable extension charm. It proved to be the latter, as he reached into the envelope and brought out a larger box.
"Notes?" Ginny questioned. "But don't we all get somewhat disturbing notes sometimes?" she laughed nervously, although she knew that Malfoy would not request to meet with her over just some silly notes.
As he opened it, however, Ginny gasped. It was filled with hundreds of small slips of paper fraught with scratchy, irregular handwriting. As far as she could tell, all the notes seemed to be of the same hand.
"I've been coming across them everywhere I go," Malfoy explained as Ginny examined the notes. "In my home, my bedroom, in-between the pages of a book I purchased at Flourish and Blotts, stuck under my shoe when I go to a public restroom, on a bench I passed while walking at a park, inside a pastry I got from the market, and even on a patient's chart when I'm volunteering at St. Mungo's."
Malfoy seemed to be getting increasingly anxious as he spoke, his hands stroking his hair more and more errantly. "It's completely gotten out of hand! I've tried origin-revealing spells, I've even tried catching them before they place the notes, but nothing has worked! They always seem to be one step ahead of me!" His voice had grown increasingly panicked, and his breathing more erratic.
For a moment, Ginny was so unsure of what to do. She had never seen Malfoy like this, so emotional, so vulnerable. Then, it clicked. It didn't matter that it was Malfoy when it seemed like he was having something similar to an anxiety attack. Or at the very least, he seemed to be extremely overwhelmed and worried about these notes. "Hold on, slow down. Calm down Malfoy. You took a lot of precautions today. They're not one step ahead of you here. Don't worry. Harry will fix this. We'll fix this," Ginny soothed.
"That's the thing, Potter can't know," stammered Malfoy, as he unfolded one of the notes and began reading it aloud, "'A WORD TO POTTER OR HIS MUDBLOOD AND WE WILL TAKE YOUR FAMILY,' and another one," he paused as he reached for a second note, "'CRY TO POTTER THE ROTTER AND YOU'LL BE THE ONE ROTTING.'"
Ginny looked stunned. "You see!" Malfoy pleaded, "And those aren't even some of the worst ones. He pulled a few of the notes out of the box and laid them out for Ginny to read:
WE KNOW WHERE YOU ARE. WE'RE NEVER TOO FAR.
WE KNOW WHERE YOU GO. WE KNOW, WE KNOW.
HICKORY DICKORY DOCK, MANKIND IS ON THE CLOCK.
I GREATLY FEAR THE END IS NEAR. HICKORY DICKORY DOCK.
CONTINUE CONSORTING WITH DIRTY BLOOD AND WE'LL SEE HOW DIRTY YOUR MOTHER'S BLOOD IS.
WANNA RUN HOME AND TELL MOMMY AND DADDY?
WE'LL GET THERE BEFORE YOU DO.
YOU MUST BE GOING AROUND THE BEND.
SINCE WE KNOW WHERE TO FIND YOU AND ALL YOUR FRIENDS.
PANSY PARKINSON, GREG GOYLE, BLAISE ZABINI, MILLY BULSTRODE, MARC FLINT, AND THEO NOTT.
DID WE MISS ANYONE? OR DO YOU HAVE MORE FRIENDS THAN WE THOUGHT?
SMELL CYANIDE IN YOUR TEA? OH WHOOPSY DAISY, THAT WAS ME!
"Crikey, whoever is writing these notes is absolutely and utterly insane," Ginny gulped. "And now I can understand why you didn't show anyone sooner. You must have been terrified. Frankly, I'm a bit terrified."
"Exactly, you understand," Malfoy sighed. "I couldn't tell my parents, Pansy, Greg, Potter, or anyone else that the notes mentioned without fear of the person sending the notes somehow finding out about it. You're a loophole. The commotion after the game created a perfect opportunity to speak to you quickly. I thought the note-writer would be there, but I never received a note at the game, so perhaps not."
"So you want me to discreetly tell my friends, and then we can figure out some way to help you and catch this note-taker? They could easily be prosecuted for harassment, stalking, and threat of murder," Ginny pondered.
"Yes. Please. I just want the notes to end, so I can forget about these past few months," Malfoy explained, his eyes looking exhausted and his forehead was creased with worry.
"Alright." Ginny put a hand on Malfoy's slumped shoulder and looked straight into his eyes. "Don't worry. We will catch whoever this is. I promise."
"Thank you," Malfoy responded meaningfully, sending her a look of relief.
"Say, you don't happen to have a cell phone, do you?" Ginny suddenly asked.
"A what-phone?" Malfoy looked confused.
"Never mind," Ginny laughed. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a coin. It was a Galleon similar to the ones Hermione had created back at Hogwarts, but with some more advanced charms now that allowed the users to communicate longer messages in addition to precise locations with apparition coordinates. She always kept a few spare coins with her just in case.
"Here," she said as she handed it to Malfoy. "We can communicate with it and decide when to meet next. At least until you can get your hands on a cell phone. And please use it to tell me if anything new pops up."
Malfoy took the coin with a look of gratitude. "I seem to be indebted to you, Weasley."
"Don't worry about it. Let's just stop this crazy bastard before they actually do something," Ginny smiled firmly, "Now, I actually have to meet someone, but we'll be in touch. And stay safe," she said to Malfoy before turning on her feet and apparating.