Authors note: Everything save Marigold belongs to J.K.R Thanks to the following people for reviewing: DarkKnight, maidmarian62, spy_angel, StrangerWithMyFace, Serafina, w&m_law, Silver, Rebecca, Robin, VUSunflower, Lana Mavi, Lily James Potter, chix, ~*Snow Angel *~, trowa barton, Juliet_99, ~ANGELina~, Joy, wither256, Mage, izzy, Mari, Great Milenko, Gaea Blackwell, debra and LissaLapin.
Note to all readers: don't be afraid to review individual chapters and not the whole story. I'll take whatever you want to say.
The owl swooped about the Ginny, who was sitting on the bed, before landing on top of the bedside lamp.
"Hullo Hedgewig." Ginny detached the message from the owl's outstretched leg.
"Hedgewig? Isn't that Potters..."
"Harry's owl, yes," she said delightedly. She unfurled the parchment and began to read. Her face dropped.
"Trouble in paradise, Love?" He mocked her."
"Shit. Good, holy shit. Shit, shit, shit."
"Miss Weasley, careful of your language around my virgin ears." Draco tore the letter out of her hands and began reading.
Ginny~
I sincerely hope Hedgewig finds you and Mr. Malfoy well. Unfortunately, your vacation is going to have to be cut short. A friend has alerted me to the fact that you'll be receiving some exceedingly bad press in a very short period of time about your choice of vacation spot.
A few hours prior to your receiving this letter, someone alerted both Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil to the fact that you were staying with Draco. By tomorrow, all of England will be hearing about your "sordid affair." Normally I'd say sod it all, let them say what they will, but I suspect your family in general and your mum in particular are going to be very put off.
I'm attempting to track down the leak at the moment. No one knows of this letter, but me. Hopefully Hedgewig will be back before Harry notices her absence.
Good Luck,
Hermione.
"Well that can't be good," Draco thought aloud. "But it's not exactly horrific either."
"Draco, do you recall the howlers my Mum used to send while we were in school?"
He rolled his eyes. "It's a howler. I honestly don't know why people make such a great big deal about them. You open them in private, and there isn't much harm at all."
"But that's the kind of humiliation she'd give us in public," Ginny explained. "I'll be hearing about this for the rest of my life!"
"So we do a bit of work with the press," he said matter-of-factly. "It's absurdly simple. You came to pay your condolences for my father, and I asked you to help me dispose of some of his dark arts rubbish."
"Draco, I hated your father."
"Odd, me too," he said with a quirk of his mouth. "Regardless, you're the Minister of Magic, and he was a highly respected member of the wizard community. Besides, you needed to speak with me about the positions I'd have to take over now that my father is gone to the great beyond."
"Still, won't it look a bit odd when I walk out empty handed from 'helping you' remove dangerous equipment?"
"You won't, I have a list of things that are in need of disposal. I'll give you the list and say you've been helping inventory these past few days. Pack your things and I'll find your wand."
"But if I'm helping take inventory why am I leaving?" For some inexplicable reason, she didn't want to leave just yet.
"It's completed well enough for you to report it back to your office.
"But wouldn't it make more sense if I stayed until it was finished?" Why was he so anxious to get her to leave?
He began to walk from the room. "Pack your things."
"I think we need to resolve things before I leave," she started.
He didn't respond, just kept walking.
"You know, are we dating...? Is that what this is? Are we going to tell anyone?"
He spun on his heel to face her. A harsh burst of laughter came forth from his throat. "Dating? Miss Weasely, why on earth would we be dating?"
"Because...well...the kissing was..." she blustered. "It was something special, wasn't it?"
"If by 'something special' you mean 'without any meaning at all' then I think you've hit it right on the nose." She looked like she was going to cry. "I've been in hiding for three years It's a great deal of time, and you're a warm body. It doesn't mean anymore than lust."
She turned to the window to let Hedgewig out, and he walked out the door. Hedgewig gave her an affectionate nip on the ear before winging out into the early evening sky.
"Ginny?"
She turned to fined Minnie sitting on the bed looking worried. Ginny's face was a riot of emotions, and as Minnie watched she forcibly composed herself.
"We're going home," she said in a voice that was falsely bright. "I need to pack."
Minnie watched her walk into the bathroom to gather her toiletries and sighed softly.
"It's a good thing I have the hangover from hell. The man has twenty pairs of shoes if he has a one."
Note to all readers: don't be afraid to review individual chapters and not the whole story. I'll take whatever you want to say.
The owl swooped about the Ginny, who was sitting on the bed, before landing on top of the bedside lamp.
"Hullo Hedgewig." Ginny detached the message from the owl's outstretched leg.
"Hedgewig? Isn't that Potters..."
"Harry's owl, yes," she said delightedly. She unfurled the parchment and began to read. Her face dropped.
"Trouble in paradise, Love?" He mocked her."
"Shit. Good, holy shit. Shit, shit, shit."
"Miss Weasley, careful of your language around my virgin ears." Draco tore the letter out of her hands and began reading.
Ginny~
I sincerely hope Hedgewig finds you and Mr. Malfoy well. Unfortunately, your vacation is going to have to be cut short. A friend has alerted me to the fact that you'll be receiving some exceedingly bad press in a very short period of time about your choice of vacation spot.
A few hours prior to your receiving this letter, someone alerted both Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil to the fact that you were staying with Draco. By tomorrow, all of England will be hearing about your "sordid affair." Normally I'd say sod it all, let them say what they will, but I suspect your family in general and your mum in particular are going to be very put off.
I'm attempting to track down the leak at the moment. No one knows of this letter, but me. Hopefully Hedgewig will be back before Harry notices her absence.
Good Luck,
Hermione.
"Well that can't be good," Draco thought aloud. "But it's not exactly horrific either."
"Draco, do you recall the howlers my Mum used to send while we were in school?"
He rolled his eyes. "It's a howler. I honestly don't know why people make such a great big deal about them. You open them in private, and there isn't much harm at all."
"But that's the kind of humiliation she'd give us in public," Ginny explained. "I'll be hearing about this for the rest of my life!"
"So we do a bit of work with the press," he said matter-of-factly. "It's absurdly simple. You came to pay your condolences for my father, and I asked you to help me dispose of some of his dark arts rubbish."
"Draco, I hated your father."
"Odd, me too," he said with a quirk of his mouth. "Regardless, you're the Minister of Magic, and he was a highly respected member of the wizard community. Besides, you needed to speak with me about the positions I'd have to take over now that my father is gone to the great beyond."
"Still, won't it look a bit odd when I walk out empty handed from 'helping you' remove dangerous equipment?"
"You won't, I have a list of things that are in need of disposal. I'll give you the list and say you've been helping inventory these past few days. Pack your things and I'll find your wand."
"But if I'm helping take inventory why am I leaving?" For some inexplicable reason, she didn't want to leave just yet.
"It's completed well enough for you to report it back to your office.
"But wouldn't it make more sense if I stayed until it was finished?" Why was he so anxious to get her to leave?
He began to walk from the room. "Pack your things."
"I think we need to resolve things before I leave," she started.
He didn't respond, just kept walking.
"You know, are we dating...? Is that what this is? Are we going to tell anyone?"
He spun on his heel to face her. A harsh burst of laughter came forth from his throat. "Dating? Miss Weasely, why on earth would we be dating?"
"Because...well...the kissing was..." she blustered. "It was something special, wasn't it?"
"If by 'something special' you mean 'without any meaning at all' then I think you've hit it right on the nose." She looked like she was going to cry. "I've been in hiding for three years It's a great deal of time, and you're a warm body. It doesn't mean anymore than lust."
She turned to the window to let Hedgewig out, and he walked out the door. Hedgewig gave her an affectionate nip on the ear before winging out into the early evening sky.
"Ginny?"
She turned to fined Minnie sitting on the bed looking worried. Ginny's face was a riot of emotions, and as Minnie watched she forcibly composed herself.
"We're going home," she said in a voice that was falsely bright. "I need to pack."
Minnie watched her walk into the bathroom to gather her toiletries and sighed softly.
"It's a good thing I have the hangover from hell. The man has twenty pairs of shoes if he has a one."