Doc10 Disclaimer: All belongs to JK Rowling 'cept for plot.

Disclaimer: Thanks for all the reviews, and don't worry, in this chapter EVERYTHING (well, almost) shall be explained. All righty, here we go.

Chapter Ten
Explanations





"Come home with me," Ginny said softly.

Draco, who had been feeling quite content, his head on her chest and feeling her fingers twirling his hair, sat up suddenly. He swung his legs over the other side of the bed, his back to her.

"I can't," he said simply.

"Sure you can," Ginny said brightly.

Draco knew she was happy because they were together again. But he couldn't be happy. Of course, he was relieved that Ginny was his again. Yet there was a dark cloud hovering over him, making him very aware that at any moment she could be taken from him. As he thought these depressing things, he heard her move behind him and place her chin in his shoulder. Her warm breath on his neck almost made him shiver, but he managed to keep himself still. She kissed his ear lightly before going on.

"Sooner or later my family is going to have to accept the fact that we're together," she said. "And seeing us side by side, realizing how non-Malfoyish you are will help that come sooner -"

She stopped when Draco held up his hand for silence. He heard something and sat up straighter, straining his ears. Yes, they were definitely footsteps coming towards his room. When he was younger, and had been sent to his room for being insolent, he always would lay in bed and listen for his father's footsteps from down the hall, knowing he was in for a beating. And now it was no different.

"Under the bed," Draco hissed. "Quick."

Ginny did not question and without hesitation jumped to the floor and rolled under the bed. Draco made sure the bed skirt was covering her from view before standing up and preparing to confront Slytherin.

Slytherin did not even knock, which didn't surprise Draco considering his father had never knocked either. Instead, he burst into the room, throwing the door open with such force it slammed into the wall and nearly bounced shut again. Slytherin held out one hand to stop it and strode in, looking almost as pissed as Lucius had when he had come home the night of the third task in the Triwizard Tournament during fourth year, after Harry Potter had managed to yet again escape Voldemort's clutches. It was the look of absolute fury and frustration that Draco normally dreaded to see, because it normally meant that all the anger and frustration would be taken out on him.

"I am willing to give you another chance," Slytherin said, hissing so much his words were slurred. "If you disobey me again, I will kill you."

"You took them," Draco said shortly.

"I took who?" Slytherin asked distractedly, as if he didn't want to talk about such inferior matters.

"Ginny and Harry Potter. You put them in that building with that carpet," Draco said, unable to keep the anger from his own voice.

Slytherin stared at him for a moment, then threw back his head and laughed. "Very good, Draco! You figured it out. I was hoping you wouldn't, but I see that I had underestimated you."

"How did you know about the rings?" Draco demanded hotly. "How did you know that I would find them?"

Slytherin darkened. "Or perhaps I have overestimated you. Don't be daft, Draco. Who do you think gave Narcissa the rings to give to you?"

Draco's mother was in on this? Before he could ask anything else, Slytherin went on.

"At first I didn't need your help," he said. "I was going to kill her myself. Of course, I couldn't go out where everyone could see me, because then the news of Lucius Malfoy escaping would be out and everyone would be looking for me. So I hid in the woods near her house for a couple of days, and one day her and her brothers went swimming. I figured it was the perfect way to kill her and making it look like an accident."

Ginny, who was listening to everything from under the bed, grabbed a handful of the carpet and tried to keep quiet. It was him who made the rock appear from nowhere! There was no possible way a rock could've been there, but now it makes sense. He tried to kill me.

But why?

Slytherin moved on. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. She is still alive and now she will know that you aren't her . . . friend anymore. I suppose I'll just do it the old fashioned way - burst into her house and kill her."

Ginny's breath caught in her throat. What if he turned around and went there now? She wouldn't be there, and he might kill her family instead.

She gripped the carpet tighter.

"Where's Ginny?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

Her and Mr. Weasley had been home for ten minutes before they noticed their youngest and only daughter was the only welcoming face they hadn't seen.

Ron shrugged. "Probably in her room. So they still aren't sure who attacked Percy?"

Mrs. Weasley sighed heavily. It was quite obvious she hadn't gotten much sleep in the past twenty-four hours. "No. And he still won't wake up to tell us who. There isn't even a guarantee that he actually saw the person."

"I'll go bring Ginny down," Mr. Weasley said, and left the kitchen.

Ron, Harry, Hermione, Fred, and George (who had come home as soon as they heard that their parents had returned) were listening to Mrs. Weasley's theory on what happened with Percy when Mr. Weasley came back down, looking slightly panicked.

"She's not in her room," he said, his smile wavering as he tried to look nonchalant. "And she's nowhere upstairs."

"Oh dear," Mrs. Weasley said, sounding more weary than upset. "Well, she's probably talking a walk. When she comes back I'll have to tell her I'm not comfortable with her walking alone, especially with what happened with Percy."

Twenty minutes later Ginny had not come back, and even her mother was starting to get a little worried. Fred and George stood out on the front porch and screamed her name until their throats were raw and the sun went down. Still, she didn't return.

"There's nothing to be worried about," Ron said, noticing how nervous his parents were looking. "This morning she went for, like, a five hour walk with Harry."

"But she was with Harry," Mr. Weasley said. "And why would she take another five hour walk when she just took one earlier?"

As worried as everyone was, Harry looked the worst. No one really noticed, but finally Hermione glanced at him and saw how he looked nearly sick. "Harry, what's wrong?" she cried. "You're sweating."

Harry absently wiped his forward, wondering if he should say what had just occurred earlier that morning. He was terrified that maybe Draco had come back and forced Ginny to his house again, and then his father had killed her. Why hadn't he checked on her often, or forced her to stay near him?

But the sound of the front door opening saved Harry from having to answer. Everyone in the kitchen jumped up and hurried into the front hall to find Ginny putting the broom away in the closet.

With Draco behind her.

"What's HE doing here?!" Fred immediately hollered, while at the same time Mr. Weasley yelled, "Where have you been, Ginny?" and Mrs. Weasley rushed forward to hug her, crying, "We were so worried, we didn't know where you were . . ."

Of all the dark stares Draco was getting, Harry was glaring the hardest. Draco wasn't sure if he had ever seen the great and kind Potter look so hard before.

Ginny hugged her mother back briefly then wiggled from her arms, backing up to Draco. "I'm okay," she said quickly. "How's Perc?"

But now everyone seemed to be watching Draco and did not answer her.

Draco sneered. He dearly wanted to say something about the state of their home (which was clean but cluttered and all the furniture looked like it had been saved from a dump a hundred years ago) but restrained himself. He was trying to get on the good side of Ginny's family.

"Look, he needs a place to stay," Ginny said hurriedly. "He can stay in Charlie's room."

"He is NOT staying here," George snapped.

Ginny gave him a hard look. "If you all will stop staring at him like he's got three heads and sit down, then I will explain everything to you. Okay?"

Reluctantly, everyone turned and went into the living room. All the males were glaring at Draco while Hermione and Mrs. Weasley were watching him warily, as if he would jump up and pull out a wand and kill them all.

And then Ginny launched into her story about how Slytherin was out to kill her. She left out the tiny detail that he was in Lucius Malfoy's body, because her family would never believe that.

When she was through, Mrs. Weasley said very slowly, "Well . . . I guess, uh, Draco, if you need a place to stay from Slytherin that you may stay here -"

"MUM!" Fred and George both whined at the same time.

" - I'll just go and put clean sheets on the bed in Charlie's room," Mrs. Weasely finished uncertainly, and left the room.

"Well, I for one am going to call the Ministry," Ginny's father announced. "Maybe it was Slytherin who attacked Percy."

The room was quiet for a moment except for the hush whispers from Fred talking to George. Then they both grinned and excused themselves, leaving Hermione, Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Draco alone.

"You're not telling us something," Harry said as soon as the twins were out of hearing distance.

"Who? Me?" Ginny asked, unsure of who he was talking to.

"Yes. If Slytherin is trying to kill you then why did I save you from Lucius?"

"That was you?" Draco said loudly. "You stunned Slytherin?"

"I stunned Lucius," Harry told him, an icy edge to his voice.

"Wait, back up a minute," Ron said, holding up his hand. "When did Harry stun Lucius?"

"This morning," Ginny explained briefly.

"He didn't stun my father, he stunned Slytherin," Draco snarled.

"Since when is your father Slytherin?" Harry asked.

"Since a few days ago," Draco replied.

"This isn't making any sense!" Hermione cried. "Harry, please explain this to Ron and me. When did you stun either Lucius or Slytherin?"

"I already told you, this morning," Ginny repeated.

"How?" Ron asked.

"Remember that five hour walk we went on?" Harry said.

"Oh. So . . . I'm still confused," Ron admitted.

"That'll never change, Weasley," Draco told him.

"Shut up, Malfoy."

"How about EVERYONE shuts up," Ginny said. "Slytherin, who took over Lucius's body, tried to kill me this morning and Harry stunned him, saving me. See? It's not that complicated. Draco, come on."

She stood up and grabbed his hand, pulling him out of the room. They went to her room, where Ginny locked the door and turned around and instantly put her lips on Draco's.

It was a short kiss, and when she pulled away she found Draco giving her an odd look. "What was that for?" he asked.

"For coming with me," she said, hooking her arms around his waist and pressing her nose to his. "For some reason I feel braver talking to my family when you're around."

"That's because no matter what you say they'll always think I'm worse, and they'll turn around and kill me instead," Draco told her with a smirk.

She laughed and pressed her cheek against his. "That's probably the reason," she said quietly.

Later that night, Ginny couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned in her bed, painfully aware that Draco was only two rooms down the hall.

She should've been exhausted, considering all that had happened to her that day. But for some reason, all she could think about was how she had told Draco she loved him and he hadn't answered.

He wouldn't say it, she tried to tell herself. He wouldn't ever admit his feelings to anyone. Why would he say it to me? He probably is afraid to even say "I love you" to his mother.

But what if he really doesn't love me?

She kicked the covers off with a huff. It was nearly October but it was still way too hot for comforters. Peeling a strand of hair off her forehead, she sat up and turned to the window. Moonlight fluttered in through the white curtains that had been brand new for Ginny's great-great grandmother.

Two rooms away, Draco couldn't sleep either. He lay on his back, hands folded over his stomach. He was still in his clothes - he hadn't bothered to grab any other things to bring, including pajamas. Not to mention he wouldn't be caught dead wearing pajamas around or near the Weasley twins.

He, too, was thinking about what she'd said to him that afternoon. Her words still echoed in his head.

"I love you."

Did he love her back? He wasn't sure. He'd never loved anyone before, so how would he know what it felt like? He sure as hell cared about her a great deal. But he also cared about his money and that didn't mean he loved it. He'd had it so long he took it for granted and didn't need to love it.

Draco stood up and gave up on sleeping. Instead, he crossed the room to leave and go to the bathroom when something caught his eye as he walked by the mirror.

His hair was pink.

He did a double take, and even though it was dark in the room except for the light coming through the window, he could clearly see that it was darker than usual. And pinker.

He pulled his wand from his pocket and hissed, "Lumos." The bright light revealed that he did have bright pink hair.

Draco had to clamp his hand over his mouth to keep from screaming. His hair was pink. Hair doesn't turn colors in less than an hour for no reason.

He glanced back at the bed. Crossing to it, he yanked the pillow off and pulled the pillowcase off, reading the tag on the pillow itself. Hair Dye Pillow from Weasley's Joke Shop.

So that's why the twins were laughing earlier, Draco thought furiously, throwing the pillow on the ground and resisting the urge to put on his boots, find a mud puddle, and then stomp the cursed thing into a pile of feathers.

It took nearly two hours for Draco to get his hair back to it's normal silvery blonde state. By then, he was very, very close to wringing the Weasley twins' necks. Instead, he tried to calm himself by pulling the dresser drawers out as quietly as possible and then decorating the entire room in Charlie's clothes.

But when he opened the first drawer, he found it full of leather. Leather pants. Draco moved his wandlight closer and inspected them. Wow, this is some expensive stuff, he thought, starting to grin. I wonder what the twins will think when they see me all over their sister wearing this . . . .

A/N: You asked for it!!! Draco in leather!!! It'll come more detailed in the next chapter!! Review, please, and I'll try to get the "leather" chapter out ASAP. Okay, here are thanks to the reviewers.....

Burke (I rush home from school each day to write and post!!!), Lady Ev (I like your reviews, I don't care if they are the same!), Pepperjackcandy(D/G shippers are awesome! hee hee), Carrie (omg, I TOTALLY agree with that sex thing. Reading about HP characters doing "it" really disturbs me, dunno why, just does), Zoemma (twelve whole hours?!!! AHHHH!), Archer (Why does Draco have to sound so damn sexy? Oh, and I'm still waiting for more of Catenatus! that story is awesome), kitty devil (wow, I take it you liked my story? lol), Aquaria (Ginny is with Draco, don't worry, it's where she is supposed to be and will stay!), Anya Malfoy, Alienchick (as always, you're still awesome), *~*GinnyPotter*~* (yes, Draco in leather, it's coming!), Hermione M. Granger (hon, you don't know how badly I'd love me some Draco), Amanda Mancini (Draco does not like to say his feelings...and I hope I cleared the confusing parts up a little bit for ya), AND Draco's Lil Angel (Draco has an angel? jk, of course).

Oookie dokie, that's all, I'm done, going to bed, bye.