A/N: sorry for being so late with the update, but I was busy with my exams (I had three last week, and one of them was on Saturday! Yes, on weekend!!! I was soooo mad about it!). You also have to get used to the thought that I'm going to update more rarely now, because as soon as my exams are over I'll move to the family's weekend house where I don't have a computer. I'll come home usually once a week, so you might get one chapter a week – but I can't promise even that. Be patient with me, please!

Really, tell me, when does school start again in the USA? At the beginning of September?

The face of Evil: I'm going to prove you that the Creevey-brothers are two wizards in a Muggle family – the following quotation is from HP and the chamber of secrets: Colin tells Harry: 'I never knew all the odd stuff I could do was magic till I got the letter from Hogwarts. My dad's a milkman, he couldn't believe it either.' This means that the Creeveys' father had no idea about magic at all. Thus it's a Muggle family, and it accidentally had two wizards in it (or one ancestor of theirs could be magic but they didn't know about it). Your guess about the 'super hero' was close:) I'm glad you liked the description of the task.

Aimee: you won't find out soon where everyone went. Wait till chapter… 28 or rather 29:) You'll see plenty of Fred/George in chapters 28, 32 and 33 (as far as I remember). Oh, my mum is really cool! All my friends say that they envy me for having such a great mum! She's really modern-minded and likes everything (well, almost everything) that I like. She likes HP, Star Wars… she really has a good taste:)

rebkos: so, three books in the series 'His dark materials'? Great, then I'll be able to read all of them soon, because the Hungarian publisher promised to publish two more books of it this year. I've just finished reading book one, it was quite good. Pantalaimon is soooo cute! He's my favourite character! Lord Asriel and Marisa Coulter give me the creeps… two people who loved each other so much… and now they are both so cold and cruel! I don't like them! Really, did Roger die at the end of book one? I re-read the end twice, but I couldn't find it out – it was only told that his body was lying in Lyra's arms, but was he dead or just unconscious?

One-Winged Butterfly: the story is 39 chapters long, so you'll see the Dursleys near the end. You asked how loosing his magic could affect the ring. Well, the gems in the rings function by the magic in the bodies of the bearers (Ginny and Harry) - there has to be a connection between the magic in H and G. So, when Harry lost his powers, the connection was broken and the light in Ginny's ring went out (it went out in Harry's ring too, of course).

Waldomier: what does ERG mean?

PepsiAngel: I'm so happy you're a Gilderoy fan! There's so few of us! :(( I really don't understand why… Gildy rocks! Whenever I read the Gilderoy-parts of book2, I feel like melting – he's so cute and soooo funny! My absolutely favourite character! More about Tatyana and the disappearing audience in chapter 28.

LilGinny: no, Tatyana hasn't done this magic-sucking thing before, Harry was her first victim. You'll get to know why. You'll see Ron's reaction to the pregnancy in chapter 29 and after that.

Rab: yes, that person will be important. I cannot answer your other question, sorry.

blaubaerin: no, I haven't read anything from Wolfgang Hohlbein. Tiefgang? Well, I guess 'depth' is the right word for it. I didn't want to use Salazar Slytherin, because he had been brought back in several fanfics before. I didn't want to copy them. I haven't seen Ice Age yet, but I'm going to, as soon as I'm ready with my exams. I can't wait :)) (and I'm happy that your computer is working again! You'll be able to write me more often :) Btw, I don't watch the football world cup, because I don't like football at all.

WolfEyes: no caveman and no mammoth :)

Caroline: you'll get to know what the sex part had to do with it. There will be an explanation in chapter 28 – actually a quotation from Beautiful Bill's Biography.

AmandaPanda: sorry, but you aren't going to see Harry for a while :(

princesswitch and Nefertiri: read my answer to One-Winged Butterfly.

Paperdoll58: I have no idea who Natasha and Boris are, really. Yes, Mileta will do something to ruin H and G's relationship, of course. But she'll give up sooner of later :) No, Mileta won't be there in the next story *everyone cheering and jumping happily, I presume*:) I seriously hope that Rowling will make H and G get together. Otherwise I'd be very disappointed. I wouldn't really mind if Harry hooked up with Hermione (though for that Ron would have to die:(, but if Harry got together with Cho, I'd definitely freak out! I hate Cho!

magicalmischiefmaker: you actually read TGSoHH? I never knew… since you never reviewed me. So, you think that this one is better? More sound technically? What do you mean by that? The structure of the story, the grammar or what? About the emotional part you're right – this story is much more emotion-based than the former one. How did I come up with a plot like this? Dunno… ideas just randomly come to me. (btw, your native language isn't English, is it? Just because you make incredibly lot of spelling mistakes – I don't want to offend you, but it's like that in your story as well. So, what is your native language?) ((you are THE magicalmischiefmaker who wrote Fond memories, right? I don't want to mistake your for someone else :))

Lupin's Angel: feel free to put my fics on your fanfic page. (I just suggest you to get rid of all those A/Ns, they are way too long and irritating:)

teacherchez: yes, of course Mileta knows that Tatyana slept with Harry, but she doesn't know about the sucking-his-powers-away-stuff. You asked whether I liked getting all these reviews. Well, of course I do, it's fun to read and answer them.

spangle*star: in chapter… er, 29, I guess, you'll get to know what the champions found in the cave.

Tessa: what? No, that guy is called Anor and it's not Voldemort! Voldemort is dead – his body exploded at Stonehenge, nothing is left of it :))

Aurumlupi: yes, THIS is the greatest shame.

Notebook Girl: why did you hit your forehead with GoF? *just wondering*

ur loyal phan: you're right, I confused the words 'poisonous' and 'venomous'. I meant to write that the doxy had venomous teeth (just like a snake), but I thought that 'poisonous' was the right word for it. So it's not a plot mistake, it's a translation mistake. Given that my native language isn't English, I make such mistakes sometimes. Tatyana will tell why she chose Harry.

!Cedric!Diggory!Fan!: Ginny wasn't calm but she didn't start crying at once. She's really worried about Harry, of course. No, Malfoy won't be that evil to make Gin think he's Harry… but he'll be nasty enough, don't worry. About the far-fetched discussion between Fred/Gin and Gin's too simple conclusion: yes, she decided about it too simply, but at that time she had no idea that it was what really happened. In real life she'll react in another way, of course! Sorry, but… no Harry in this chapter, either. And no Harry for quite a long time… I'm terribly sorry to disappoint you all, people, but the plot doesn't let Harry appear right now :((
When Hermione said Voldie's name in the movie I remember that I said aloud: 'how dare you?', and a woman sitting right in front of me in the cinema turned around to say 'shut up!' (I was commenting on everything and she was a bit annoyed, LOL:) I also loved Snape, your mum has a good taste :)) What am I reading until the release of book five? Well, I have just finished Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. I'm reading AotC by R.A. Salvatore and I'm also reading Don Quijote by Cervantes (LOL, that Don Quijote is such a fool!:) No, I haven't read V.C. Andrews, never heard of it. Haha… you really seem NOT to know anything about Star Wars, so it's time for you to watch all the SW films!

green smurf: tell me when you update, okay? Read my answer to spangle*star.

alli: then you will be mad with me:)) Don't worry, it won't be serious.

Bucky: so nothing can surprise you anymore? Hm… good that you have such strong nerves – the other readers who don't, will surely produce some not so tepid 'Oh's :)) Yes, the baby is still a squib.

Princesa: I love your Hungarian, really :)))

Derkaun Zarion: no, Anor is of course no Yuuzhan Vong, because this is no crossover. My Anor is a simple human wizard. You asked how soon after this is over will I post the third one. Well, I'm still at the very beginning of it, I'll work on it during the summer holiday and hopefully I start uploading in September or October. This story will last until August, so you won't have to wait that long after it.

hogwartsgirl228: how long does it take me to write a chapter? Well, 1-2 days if I have time. 3-4 days if I don't.

Kristen Michelle: you'll coerce your mum to review me??? LOL:) Just tell her to tell me that she's your mu when she writes the review :) Hermione's babies will be the same gender.

jeanine23Dr: have you received my mail of one week ago? Because I guess I wrote in there that "I wish to tell you how much I love you" in Hungarian is "Bárcsak elmondhatnám, mennyire szeretlek.!" Well, it doesn't matter, just tell me whether you got that mail (Tatyana's pic attached) or not. Ginny couldn't get to Durmstrang herself, because the connection between the rings had been broken. That's why she needs Draco. You know what? Your theory about F/G/A is very close to what I'm going to do with them :)

aurora riddle: I didn't want to name the baby James, because I like the name Daniel better. A pince-nez is a very old type of glasses, people wore pince-nezes in the 18-19th centuries. No, the man in ice isn't Tatyana's lover, becuase her lover is the man in the hidden chamber.

X_Tow_Naga: hey, it's totally okay for me if you write such short reviews, you really don't need to write novel-length ones :) Why didn't Gin apparate to Harry when the ring flickered? Because when she noticed that it was flickering, she wanted to get to Durmstrang, but in the next second it stopped flickering, so Ginny was a second or two late. No, your theory of Voldie/Quirrel/Tatyana isn't right. What did you mean by "none of the other review were submitted, were they?" I didn't get it.

Afromonk: I'd be glad if you kept reviewing :)))

Lily Chelstane: I'm happy that you like the story so much. Don't worry, I don't like the Harry-Tatyana thing either :) Damn bitch, Tatyana.

reviewer: the title isn't about Dan being a squib, but Harry losing his powers, so that's why it isn't centered around Daniel. You are right, there are lots of little plots, but I'll come back to all of them, so do not think that I'll leave them hanging in the air. They will all be solved by the end of the story.

Steph: no, Harry losing his powers has nothing to do with Dan being a squib. The latter is genetic, the former is the result of pure evil.

Also thanks to: K.C.Hunter, Alexander Pheonix, Super saya-Jin Gotan, Ari Potter, Kit Cloudkicker, Laurenna, zzxm, Faunix, The-Girl-Who-Lived, Rubyjuls1722, Saphron, Trekgirl01, Almah, Lavendar Brown, PadmeSkywalker, Mage, Lana Potter, Myrtle

Chapter 26

Indecent proposal

"Weasley!" Draco gasped.

"Potter." Ginny corrected.

"Whatever." he grunted. "What do you want here?"

"Let me in and I'll tell you."

"I'm in no mood for having guests." Draco said. "But all right, come in and be short."

She entered and he led her into the living room where his book on undetectable poisons still lay open. He sat down and gestured her to follow suit.

"Thanks." she took place in an armchair. "I won't be beating around the bush, Malfoy. I need your help."

"Excuse me?"

"I need to get to Durmstrang. Immediately. I supposed you might know where it is."

"How should I know?" Draco frowned.

"Your father was a death-eater. He knew Karkaroff as well, and according to Hermione, he wanted to send you to Durmstrang instead of Hogwarts."

"That doesn't mean that I know where it is." Draco crossed his arms.

"But your father surely knows." she replied calmly. "Ask him."

"Why do you want to go there?"

"To find Harry."

"Really? You can't bear to wait till Easter to have him back?" Draco raised an eyebrow. "A bit insatiable, aren't we?"

"This is not about sex." she said sternly. "Harry is in trouble. Serious trouble… he might be already dead."

"Then why are you in such a hurry?" Draco smirked. "If he's dead, he won't run away."

"Ha-ha. Listen, Malfoy, I have to find him… dead or alive. But as long as there's a little hope to find him alive, I need to hurry." she stood up from the armchair and walked over to the sofa, seating herself next to him. "I have to get there. I love him. Maybe love doesn't have a meaning for you, Malfoy, but one day it may… and then you'll understand what I feel now. Have mercy and help me. Please."

He stared into her eyes, mesmerised. Heavens, she was so beautiful! So sweet! So… deeply in love… with another man.

"What will you give me if I help you?" he asked coldly.

"Whatever you want."

"Even…?" his eyes roamed over her body, sizing her up like a hungry wolf would size up its victim.

"I told you." she said, not flinching from his unabashed stare. "Whatever you want. I hate the pure thought of you touching me, but I'd do anything to help the man I love." she stated with such resolution that appalled Draco.

"Er… that's a good little wife. Everything for her hubby. Really. I almost envy Potter…" he replied in a dreamy tone. "But you have to pay in advance." he added in a much more business-like way.

"In advance?" she hissed.

"Of course, Weasley." he shrugged. "It's business, and I'm a good businessman. I know that if you find Potter with my help, you'll refuse to settle your debt… and he won't let you do it, either. That's why I want it in advance."

"You may be a good businessman, Malfoy, but I know a bit of business myself, and have enough brains to know that you won't help me after I 'pay' you. What about… the half of it now, the other half after we've found Harry." she said.

"The half?" he blinked. "This is no money that you can divide into halves!"

"Really?" she shot him an innocent stare. "Then let it be the whole thing… afterwards."

"After you have found him?"

"Yes."

"You really think I'm a fool."

"No. All I think is that you are the guy who knows where Durmstrang is." she replied. "And you are going to tell me how to get there."

"I like determined women." he grinned. "All right, persuaded me, Weasley."

"Potter."

"Whatever. Come, father's got a map somewhere in the library… lucky that it's here, not in Malfoy Manor… by the way, how have you found me? How did you know that I was here?"

"Asked your little girl-friend, Pansy."

"Ex-girlfriend."

"Whatever." she shrugged. "She was quite willing to tell me where you were. She seems to hate you."

"What a surprise!" he grunted. "I bless the moment when I broke up with her."

"Strange…" Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Pansy happened to tell the story in another way. She told me she had broken up with you."

"It's non of your business."

"True. Let's go into that library, then."

* * * * *

"There." Draco had rolled out a parchment on the table. "See this place with the ice-cave and the four stones?"

"Yeah." she nodded. "Is that Durmstrang?"

"No. That's just a stable portkey."

"A what?"

"A stable portkey. The four stones together are the portkey. It's been there for centuries. If you stand among the four stones and touch two of them with your hands, then you'll be transported right to the school. It's good because hardly anyone knows about its existence. There's The Dancing Bear as well…"

"What?"

"A pub in St. Petersburg. It has a direct floo-route to Durmstrang. It is the only fireplace in whole Russia that is connected to the school."

"A fireplace connected to the school?" she frowned. "I thought Durmstrang was very well-hidden. How can it be hidden if people can simply go there through the floo-network?"

"Oh, there's a tricky charm… you know the fireplace at The Dancing Bear memorises who had come from Durmstrang in the past, and lets them back if they want to go… but it does not admit people who had never come from the school only want to get there. Do you understand?"

"Yeah. I'm not stupid." she snapped. "So I can't go that way. Should I go to those four stones, then?"

"S'pose so." he shrugged. "We've got to apparate to the stones, whose co-ordinates are…"

"We?" she cut in. "You said we?"

"'Course I said we. I'm not letting you go there alone." he replied. "If I want to get paid, I can't let you get killed by a stray polar-bear or something."

"Oh, how very sweet of you!" she snorted. "For a second I thought you were acting out of humanity."

"Humanity?" he laughed. "Me – human? I am a monster, remember?"

"Sometimes." she said quietly. "But deep down you are also human, Malfoy."

"No one can prove that I am."

"Shall we bet?"

"All right." he nodded. "If you can prove me that I have human feelings, then you'll be exempted from the… payment."

"Deal!" she stretched out her hand and he shook it. "I'm going to prove it, Malfoy!"

"You wish, Weasley!"

"Potter!"

* * * * *

They apparated at the middle of a snowy field, about a mile from the four stones that served as the top-secret portkey to Durmstrang.

"It's cold here." Ginny rubbed her arms.

"Of course it's cold. You should have brought a winter coat."

"It is a winter coat." she retorted. "But it's designed for the winter in Great Britain, not for the Russian winter."

"You should have thought of that. Cast a simple heating charm on yourself and you'll be all right."

"Oh, okay." she implemented the charm and felt better immediately. "Where exactly are we now?"

"Latitude 60° north, longitude 30° east."

"Could you put it in a bit clearer way?"

"We are near St. Petersburg, in the Finnish Bay."

"Oh." she nodded, a bit uncertainly.

"Geography really should be taught as a compulsory subject at Hogwarts…" Draco said. "or rather not…since certain people can't even afford a map."

"We do have maps at home! We always did!" she snapped at the insult of her family's former financial circumstances.

"But you never open them, right?"

"Malfoy, you…" she felt like slapping him or at least tell him off properly, when the ground under them started to shudder. "What's this? Earthquake?"

"Dunno…" he replied as the shuddering stopped. "As far as I know the four stones are on the coast, so we, at the moment, might be standing right upon the frozen surface of the Baltic Sea."

"But why does the ice shudder?" she worried. "It does not indicate that it's going to break under us, does it?"

"Hopefully not. Lucky that we haven't brought your mother, though. I'm not sure the ice could support her weight."

"Another insult and you'll regret it!" Ginny said, pointing her wand at Draco.

"Oh, will I?" he sneered. "What will you do to me? Paint me like Peeves did?"

"Not a bad idea, but it's no use here at the back of beyond where no one can see you and laugh at you." she replied, walking towards the stones that still looked terribly far away.

"Tell me, Weasley, how many people have you shown that pic of me?"

"Oh," she grinned at him, "whenever a new guest comes to our house, the first thing Harry and I do is show them your picture. Once an Indian witch visited us and liked the picture so much that she asked where she could find you. She said she liked such 'colourful personalities'. We refused to tell her where to find you, because we aren't that perverse... That witch was at least ninety years old and had no more than four teeth."

"Oh, I should be grateful now, shouldn't I?" he snorted. "Ooooooh… watch out!" the ground under them started to move again, and the snowy surface began to break.

"We're really standing on frozen ice!" she yelled, trying to keep her balance, as the chunk of ice that Draco was standing on, drifted a couple of metres away. "Malfoy!" she screamed. "Do something!"

"Whaaaat?" he shouted back.

"I don't know! Anything! A charm!"

"I can't think of any!"

"Oh, great! The famous Slytherin cleverness!" she fumed.

"It's not exactly cleverness, rather cunning, Weasley! The clever are in Ravenclaw, the stealthy are in Slytherin!"

"Whatever! Cool that you can philosophise even in mortal peril!" she shouted, then suddenly paled. There was something in the water under them. "Malfoy! Something's moving here!"

"Fish, I guess!" he replied.

"Nope. Bigger." she gulped.

"Godzilla?" he laughed.

"What?"

"A Muggle movie."

"I thought you hated everything in connection with Mu… aaaaargh!" she shrieked as something incredibly, horribly big emerged from the icy water. "Malfoy, watch out!"

It was late.

The thing had caught Draco, lifting him up several metres with its coils.

It was a giant sea-snake – white, scaly and scary.

"Help!" Malfoy shouted, trying to get free, but the huge monster held him strongly.

"Oh, what should I do?!?" Ginny whispered. "All right, let's try this… Stupefy!"

The curse bounced off the skin of the serpent as though nothing had hit it. "No… Petrificus Totalus!" the creature didn't even feel it. "Oh, don't eat him, please, I still need him!" she shouted in a desperate way.

The serpent suddenly stopped moving, as if mesmerised. It glanced at Ginny with its yellow eyes that – strangely to her – didn't show any sign of evilness.

A second later it let go of Malfoy - who fell into the water with a huge splash - and disappeared into the depth of the sea.

"Ginny!" he shouted, trying to hoist himself up onto a bigger ice-floe. His attempts seemed to be futile, since the ice was slippery, so were his wet hands.

"Hold out!" she yelled, jumping from her piece of drift-ice onto the next one, and the next one, until she arrived at the one that Malfoy was trying to climb onto. "Give me your hand!" she reached out, but he had drifted too far away. "All right, then, Wingardium Leviosa!" she swished and flicked with her wand, lifting him out of the water.

"Damn, it's sooooo cooold…" his teeth were chattering.

"You've got to get into dry clothes, immediately, or you'll freeze to death! My warming charm won't be enough now!"

"Glad to hear." he replied, shivering madly.

"Come, we've got to reach that cave over there! Do you think you can walk up to it?"

"I'll have to." he growled, and they jumped from ice-floe to ice-floe, finally reaching solid ground.

"Don't you think we should rather get portkeyed into Durmstrang?" she asked as they reached the mouth of the cave. "I'm sure you could warm up there much easier. Take a hot bath or something."

"No." he shook his head as they entered the cave. "We don't know… what we'll find in Durmstrang, and I… don't want to face… the unknown in my present condition. I need to… warm up and get well before… before we go there. We might have to fight or something… I'll need my strength."

"All right." she nodded, accepting his reasoning. "Start undressing. I won't look."

She turned away, pointed her wand at the ground, conjuring a heap of twigs, then saying Incendio!

She pulled a blanket out of her rucksack (Malfoy had lost his in the water). "Here. Wrap this around yourself."

"Thanks." he practically ripped the blanket out of her hands, covering himself with it.

"You look terrible." she perceived, seating herself on a rock near the fire. His lips had turned blue, but his face was white, almost translucent. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering. "Move closer to the fire." she suggested. "And you could do with a heating charm as well."

"Go ahead." he nodded.

"Calor." she pointed her wand at him, implementing the requested charm. "Feel any better?"

"A bit." he nodded, still incredibly white. "But it is common knowledge that the best way of warming up people is to share body heat."

"In your dreams, Malfoy." she gave him a grimace.

"Hey, come on, you'll have to drop your clothes in front of me sooner or later… does it matter when you do it?"

"It does." she said coldly. "And it's by far not sure that you'll ever get the chance to see me without my clothes."

"Ah, you refer to our little bet." he smirked.

"Yes."

"You'll lose it, because you won't be able to prove that I have any human feelings."

"You know, I start to fear that you are right." she huffed. "I've just saved your life and you, instead of being grateful, want to get me laid."

"That's in my nature. I can't do anything against it." he shrugged. "Malfoy blood."

"I already feel sorry for any future child of yours." she commented.

"Do you?" he raised an eyebrow. "Even if there's a possibility that you might be its mother?"

"Where do you get your delusions from, Malfoy?" Ginny folded her arms before her chest.

"Delusions? What delusions?"

"The delusion that makes you think I'll ever give birth to a child that is yours. That's absurd."

"Why? You are going to pay me, Weasley… and who knows? You might get pregnant."

"If I ever got pregnant with your child, I'd get rid of it right away." she replied with a stare that made him feel like being in the icy water again. "Anyway, it'll never come to that. I'll see to it."

"Did you see to it when you got pregnant with your son?" he asked with an amused expression. He still remembered the 'Potions' lesson that turned out to be sex education – in which Potter told the whole class about his futile attempts at protection. "You couldn't prevent getting pregnant, could you?"

Ginny didn't reply straight away – she watched as the flames painted golden and orange stripes on the rocky ground. She didn't reply, just stared.

After a couple of minutes she finally spoke up: "I still don't know how it happened. No one knows. It wasn't supposed to happen… it's the biggest riddle of my life. The uncertainty is sometimes driving me crazy… I want to know how it happened, why it happened…" she looked up to see Draco's grey eyes watching her intently. "…and now I have another unsolved riddle... well, two."

"What?" he asked.

"First… how could you know that Gozilla or what? I thought that the pureblood Mr. Malfoy would know nothing about Muggle movies."

"Oh, that." the young man grimaced. "It was Pansy."

"Who? Gozilla?"

"No. The one who persuaded me to go and watch a movie. After we came out of the theatre, I told her that it was the first and last Muggle date we ever had."

"Aha. Did you like the movie?"

"No. The ads before it were much more interesting." Draco replied. "And that popcorn stuff tasted quite good. Otherwise… what was your third unsolved riddle?" he asked hastily, indicating that he didn't want to chat about Muggles.

"Why did that snake go away?" she looked into his icy-grey eyes. "Just like that? Why didn't it eat you?"

"Oh, the greatest riddle of Ginny Weasley's life: why didn't the serpent have Draco Malfoy for dinner? Cool." he grunted. "You really have no idea?"

"No. Should I?"

"It left because you told it to leave."

"I told it?" she blinked.

"At least I guess that was what you said." he shrugged. "I couldn't understand it, you know."

"Why not?"

"'Cause you told it in Parseltongue."

A/N: another cliffie – well, kind of :)

Latin explanation: calor = heat