A/N: I hope you guys like it. : ) Anything weird is contributed to the fact that I had three pineapple popsicles before writing this.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.

Chapter 6

"Shit!" Draco led on a string of curses, and Ginny had her hands clapped over Raven's ears. Draco jumped out of his seat and started pacing the room furiously, and cursing quite colorfully. Raven with wide eyes started humming her "My Little Unicorn" song again.

"What the hell is it?" Ginny shouted.

"This letter," he said flinging the letter up. "The head of the department that I want to be transferred into is coming to dinner in an hour.

"So?" Ginny asked; Draco let out a growl of frustration.

Through clenched teeth he said, "I told him that I have a fiancé; because he favors guys who are going to start a family. I was going to get Pansy or Blaise to pretend for me, but Pansy just got engaged to Goyle, and Blaise is currently not on speaking terms with me. I have no idea what to do! I need a fake fiancé for tonight." Ginny had taken her hands off of Raven's ears and Raven was lying down with her head in Ginny's lap, looking up tiredly at Draco.

"What department is this that you want to work for?" Ginny asked curiously while playing with Raven's hair.

"The Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Draco said slumping back down into his chair.

"Who's the head of that department?"

"Jerald Murray, he's…old fashioned, he's all about guys trying to make a living for their families." Draco said bitterly. "And it just so happens that I want a job in that department, but I don't want to get married." Then Draco looked over at Ginny, and eyed her with a devilish glint in his eye. "Oh Weasley…"

Ginny glanced at him warily, the tone of his voice made her nervous. "What?"

"Well, you are a woman; a woman that I might add is conveniently located under my roof," he stated, smirking at her.

"No way, there is no way that I'm going to pose as your fiancé!" Ginny said recognizing the suggestiveness of his tone.

"Oh come on Weasley! What's it going to hurt? Next week I can just tell him that I caught you cheating on me and it'll all be over."

"Me? Cheat on you…wait! There is no way on earth that I'm going to do it. What if my dad hears about this? Or one of my brothers?" Ginny asked, jolting Raven who gave her an angry look.

"How do you know that they will? You could have a fake name," Draco said, beseechingly. Ginny eyed him suspiciously.

"I have very distinctive Weasley features, how could someone mistake me for coming from a different family?" She asked sighing loudly. "Besides, what have you ever done for me that would make me want to help you?"

"Nothing, but if you do this for me…" he trailed off.

"Malfoy, I already told you that I wasn't going to do it." Raven was watching with rapt attention, trying to figure out what exactly was going on.

"Come on Weasley! I'll pay you 30 Galleons!" Draco said exasperatedly.

"What do you think I am? Some cheap whore?" Ginny's eyes widened and she looked down at Raven. "Please excuse my language."

Raven grinned up at her, "Okay."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Don't you need the money? What could it hurt? It's just for one night."

"What could it hurt? It could hurt my reputation!" Ginny half shouted at him.

"Dinny?" Raven broached carefully.

Ginny's gaze softened as she looked back down at Raven, "Yes?"

"Can I pretend to be the daughter?" Raven asked smiling sweetly. Draco snorted, and started laughing. Ginny looked over at him and glared.

"Raven…"Ginny started, not sure what to say to her. "When people have a fiancé that means that they're engaged, not married. So usually they don't have children."

Raven gave her a sly smile, "Does that mean that you're going to help Drakey?" Draco smiled at Raven, and she blushed a little.

"No, I'm not going to help him, he doesn't deserve it." Ginny said a little less firmly than she had intended.

Raven stuck out her lower lip, "But I want you to help him."

Ginny heaved an exasperated sigh, and looked down a Raven imploringly. "Why?"

"Because I like Drakey, and he's my prince." Raven said glancing over at Draco pointedly. "Please Dinny."

Ginny looked over at Draco, and glared, as if to blame him for Raven's behavior. He just smiled and shrugged. "I'll do it on one condition". Raven beamed at Ginny, and snuggled against her. Ginny brushed her hair with her fingers absently.

"What condition?" Draco asked.

"Teach me how to fence?" Ginny said a bit nervously.

"Fencing lessons?" Draco asked, looking at Raven who was grinning at him peevishly. Ginny nodded. "Why do you want fencing lessons?" Draco asked.

Ginny shrugged, "It'll sound good at parties, 'Hi, my name is Ginny and I can fence, what can you do?'"

Draco laughed, "Okay."

"You'll give me fencing lessons, and I'll pretend to be your fiancé for tonight only." Ginny said firmly. Draco looked at Raven again who was grinning at him…a bit suspiciously.

Draco held out his hand, and they shook on it. "Deal. I'll have Hopkins bring you up some nicer robes." Ginny scowled at him.

"My robes are fine," she said scornfully.

"No they aren't, they're synthetic. Like a Malfoy would ever even consider marrying a woman with indecent robes. Or…" he said with a sly grin, "You could wear that green robe again." Ginny stalked out of the room, holding Raven's hand, and slammed the door. Draco chuckled to himself.

Ginny was seated at the long dinning room table at Draco's side, with Raven next to her. Mr. Murray was sitting on Draco's other side. Ginny was fully clad in one of the Malfoy's black silk robes with silver threads randomly woven through it. Though she hadn't wanted to wear it, she had to admit it was pretty. Draco was wearing a similar robe, minus the silver strands. Raven, against Ginny's advice, was wearing bubble gum pink; everything was bubble gum pink, her hair bow, her shoes, socks, robes, she had even talked Ginny into charming her fingernails to be pink.

Mr. Murray was grinning affectionately at Ginny, sometimes alternating, and shifting his gaze towards Draco. Mr. Jerald Murray was an older man of about fifty-five; he was going bald and his remaining brown hair was graying.

"So Mr. Malfoy, when, may I ask, is the wedding?" Mr. Murray asked taking a bite of his food. Draco glanced up from his plate to Ginny, who answered.

"Oh, Mr. Murray, we aren't sure when we're going to have the wedding." Raven was watching them, grinning.

"That's nice, it's good for young people not to get married right away," Mr. Murray said in a fatherly tone. Ginny saw Draco roll his eyes when Mr. Murray wasn't looking and had to stifle a giggle.

Draco cleared his throat, "Yes sir, I quite agree, but Virginia and I can't wait to get married." Draco smirked at Ginny as he reached out and held her hand. She smiled at him sweetly, hoping desperately that Mr. Murray was falling for this.

"Oh I'm sure you can't, you two look very in love." Ginny's eyes widened, and she almost jerked her hand away from Draco's. Draco blinked, and looked over at Raven who was giggling.

"What is it Raven?" asked Draco.

"They like to kiss," Raven said grinning wickedly, eager to put in her two cents. Draco snorted and Ginny let out a strangled cry.

Mr. Murray smiled, "Do they kiss a lot?" He asked looking a Raven interested.

"Oh, yes," Raven said, shooting Draco a sweet smile. "Yesterday, I found them kissing in a closet." Ginny clapped her hand to her mouth.

"Erm, Raven…" she started. "Can we not talk about that?"

"Why were you in the closet?" Mr. Murray asked, taking a sip of his water. Ginny glanced over at Draco, as if to say that he had to take this one.

"Well, Virginia and I were getting something out of the closet," he paused, and smirked at Ginny, "and were over come with a bout of passion."

Mr. Murray chuckled, "Always good to hear, always good to hear. How many children do you plan on having?"

Ginny spoke up, "Well, I'd really like to have five children." She saw Draco pale.

"I didn't want to have quite that many," Draco said shooting her a glare. Mr. Murray caught it and grinned at them kindly.

"Many disagreements come in a marriage." He said, glancing at Draco knowingly.

"I want them to have ten," Raven piped up. Ginny smiled at Raven, and Draco sneered at her.

Mr. Murray laughed, "Ten? That sounds like fun." Miss Wells came in and delivered their desserts, and Mr. Murray started in on his immediately. Evidently, he was fond of food.

Draco dropped his napkin on the floor, and said, "Silly me, dropped my napkin. Virginia, can you see if you can reach it?" Ginny eyed him suspiciously, but bent over and looked under the table. She saw the napkin right by the foot of Draco's chair. Draco's head appeared next to hers. In a hushed whisper, he said, "I don't like the way this conversation is going!"

"I don't like the way this night is going!" Ginny hissed back at him. Then they heard Raven giggling madly above them.

"They're kissing!" They heard her muffled voice say. Ginny groaned and heaved herself back up, and saw a very cheery looking Mr. Murray. She glanced over at Draco, who had also resurfaced.

"Raven, we weren't kissing, we were just trying to reach Mal-Draco's napkin." Ginny said sending Raven a warning look.

"It's okay Virginia," Draco said looking at her smugly. "Why hid our love for each other?" Ginny grimaced. Mr. Murray was watching them with fascination, smiling a smile that made Ginny somewhat nervous.

They had all finished their dinners and desserts, when Draco brought up another topic. "Mr. Murray, about the Director of Investigations position?" Mr. Murray glanced at Ginny and Raven.

"Perhaps we could discuss this in your study? Over a glass of brandy?" Mr. Murray suggested.

"You men go ahead, I'll go and get Raven ready for bed;" Ginny said happily, ready to get away. They left, and Ginny helped Raven out of her chair, and held her hand, leading her back to her room.

Once inside Raven said, "Did you really kiss under the table?"

"Of course not," Ginny said irritably.

"Why not?" Raven asked as Ginny helped her out of her dress robes and shooed her into the bathroom.

"Because we don't like each other," Ginny said stiffly.

"Not even a little bit?"

"Not even a little bit," Ginny said, feeling her stomach do an unfamiliar lurch. Ginny got Raven to take a bath, and into bed. After reading her five bed time stories she was finally able to leave the room an hour later.

She stepped out of the room, and leaned against Raven's door and sighed loudly. Bringing her hands up she massaged her temples, hoping to rid herself of the headache that she was getting.

Ginny pushed off of the door and headed towards her bedroom, only to be stopped by Draco's voice. "Well hello there Weasley."

Ginny whipped her head around and stared at Draco as he approached with a mischievous grin on his face. "So Malfoy, did you get the job?"

"Of course," he said smugly. "And Mr. Murray kept telling me what a cute couple we are."

Ginny played dumb, "You and Mr. Murray? I'm not sure his wife would like that."

Draco rolled his eyes at her. "Ha, ha, ha, very funny. You know very well that I was talking about you and me."

Ginny shrugged, "So?"

"So…. When do you want to start your fencing lessons?" He asked leaning against the wall.

"I don't know, how about Sunday?"

"Then Sunday it is."

"What time is it?"

Draco looked down at his watch, "It's eight thirty".

"Do you have a chess set?" She asked looking up at him.

He looked mildly surprised, "A few."

"Let's play."

"Okay, let's use the one in the library. But I warn you, I'm very good, excellent in fact."

Ginny grinned at him, "I'm sure you are," and followed him to the library.



***



They were ten minutes into the game, and both had glasses of wine nearby. The game wasn't as serious as Ginny thought it would be. In fact, they were doing quite a lot of talking.

"Why did you want the Director of Investigations position?" Ginny asked taking a sip of her wine and looking down at the board.

Draco gave her a look, "I just did."

"Come on, it was more than a passing whim otherwise you just wanted it, you wouldn't have needed me to play your fiancé tonight."

He looked hesitant, "My father, I was given my current position because of him. He made all the arrangements without even asking me what I wanted to do. I hate it when he does that, making me feel like I owe him, that I'm dependant on him. I wanted to get a job on my own."

"I always figured that you two were close, do you hate him?"

"Hate isn't even a strong enough word," he said moving his knight.

"What about your mother?" Ginny asked eyeing the pieces that were sitting on the chessboard.

"I don't hate her. She is a good mother. She didn't bake me cookies, or fix my boo-boos when I was growing up though, but she loves me." Ginny smiled.

"You love your mom?"

Draco peered at her curiously, "Why all the questions about my parents?"

"Curiosity. Why? Does it make you nervous to think that somebody might want to get to know you?" Ginny countered.

"No, not really. I do love my mother," then he grinned, "most of the time."

Ginny looked surprised, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I guess I always love her, but I do dislike her sometimes. She has a tendency to spring things on me without giving me any notice. Take Raven for example, my mother just apparated into my dining room one morning and announced that she had volunteered me to baby-sit my cousins' daughter all summer. I don't think she even thought about what I might say about it…she's like that now, so spontaneous."

"What do you mean she's like that now?"

"She didn't use to be. Back in the days when Voldemort would come over for dinner," he smirked at Ginny's surprised face.

"You're kidding right?" She asked taking a large swig of her wine.

"Of course, but my father was around him quite a bit. I think she was scared of him, my father. But now that he doesn't have Voldemort around all the time, she's more comfortable."

"Who'd blame her? I'd be scared if my husband was cronies with the Dark Lord! How did she put up with it?"

"She didn't have a choice, and neither did I." Draco said in a tone that meant he didn't want to elaborate.

"Oh," she said quietly.

"What about your family?" Draco asked with a glint in his eye.

"Well, my parents, I love them dearly, but…well, they're always trying to get me to do stuff. Things that I don't want to do. This job for example," she said smiling at Draco, "it was my mother's idea. She said that she thought I was too old to be living at home without a job. I could tell she was really disappointed in me, that's why I came."

"You still live at home?"

Ginny glared at him, "Yes. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my life. I still don't. Maybe I should work at a wizard daycare. It seems that I'm good with kids."

Draco nodded, "You're great with Raven."

"She's easy, you just have to…pay attention to her. That's all she wants, she wants to know that people love her, and she's happy. But she's also very sneaky, definitely Slytherin material."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with that, and its cunning, not sneaky."

"That's the same thing!"

"No, its not. So what did my cunning cousin do?"

"She's been asking me weird questions and I don't like the looks she's been dishing out for the past few days." Ginny said moving a pawn.

Draco looked at her amused, "Like what?"

Ginny blushed, "Just…questions."

Draco looked at her dubiously, "Just tell me."

"Well, it was when I was in her bedroom with her yesterday. She was asking me questions about men." Ginny said taking another sip of her wine.

"What kind?" Draco probed.

Ginny grinned, "About men with blond hair."

"Oh they were now?" Draco said putting a hand to his hair, and preened it conceitedly. "About me?"

Ginny rolled her eyes, "I'm sure she was talking about you. Doesn't everyone? I mean, you're just the best thing in the world to talk about." Ginny said sarcastically.

"Ouch Weasley, that hurts," Draco said while smiling.

"I'm sure it does. What do you think about Raven?"

"I-she's okay, I guess." Draco said swirling the wine around in his glass.

"Okay? You didn't love her from the very moment you laid your eyes on her?"

"Nope." Ginny leaned over the table and put her hand to his forehead.

"No temperature, are you sure you're okay? How could you not love Raven?" Ginny asked, frowning. "She is your second cousin."

"She's annoying," he paused. "And so are you."

"Me? I'm annoying? How I'm annoying?" Ginny said settling back in her chair, waiting for his answer.

"You ask too many questions," he said simply.

"Well I have to ask questions to get you to tell me anything about yourself." Ginny said testily.

"Why do you want to know me? You'll probably never even see me again after this summer."

Ginny blushed, "I don't know. I just-well, I thought since we're living under the same roof I should at least try to get to know you a little."

"Should I get to know you?"

"Only if you want to."

"And if I do?"

"Ask."

"Do you still love Potter?"

Ginny didn't respond for a moment, "Yes, and no."

"Meaning?"

"I love him, but I don't want to."

"If you don't want to love him, just don't." Draco said looking at her, obviously confused.

"It's not that easy…I don't know why I'm talking to you about this anyway. I've never talked to anyone about this…" Ginny trailed off nervously.

"I asked."

"Yes, you did."

"Do you love anyone?"

"No, I don't, I never have. Not anyone besides my mother." Draco said stonily.

"Why not?" Ginny asked looking into the unlit fireplace.

"I don't think that love is something to be-wasted. I'm saving any love that I have in me." He said frowning.

"For what?"

"Maybe someday, somebody will come along, and then I'll get a real fiancé." He said smiling at her.

"Hah, you need a real fiancé." Ginny said smiling back at him, then she added, "I never thought you were the type of person to--."

"Want to love somebody or to be loved? " Draco offered.

"Something like that."

"Everyone wants to be loved, Weasley," he said taking a big swig of his wine.

"I just didn't think because-"

"I'm Draco Malfoy. That's why you didn't think that I even thought about love." He said coldly.

"I'm sorry," Ginny said meekly, and the chess game sat forgotten.

Draco sighed, "It's okay. I didn't expect anyone to think that I would." He shrugged, "It's only natural that the cold, heartless person that I'm supposed to be wouldn't care."

"I don't think you're heartless," Ginny said looking at him.

"Why not?"

"You believe in love. I don't think that anybody who believes in love can be heartless."

Draco looked down at his watch. "Good God, it's one o'clock. Do you think that we should call it a night?"

Ginny yawned, "Good idea." They trudged back to their rooms, heavy footed and tired. The stopped in-between their bedrooms and looked at each other awkwardly. "You know Malfoy, I had a nice time talking with you tonight," Ginny said breaking the silence.

Draco cleared his throat, "I did too."

"Oh!" Ginny said remembering something. "I do have Saturday off, right? Tomorrow?"

Draco scowled, "Yes, you do."

Ginny smiled at him, then stepped onto her tiptoes uneasily and kissed his cheek. Then went into her room and shut the door. Draco stared at the door, and brought his hand up to his cheek, he felt his stomach lurch, and shook his head. Then went to bed.



A/N: Thanks to Natalie for beta-ing! A BIG SUPER thanks to her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for reviewing:

Liz, tipi, babooshka (actually, I started this fic with that movie in mind, but I think it's kind of a cross between that and 'Borrowed Hearts', and then of course my own juice, haha, thanks for your offer to beta! I'm so happy that you like my story!), Dragonessa Smith, Cyn James, LadyTiger, Lucius, mjh-523, Michi, Mystical, Tiny Q, Knutte, Twistie, Jenn (I'm sooooo sorry! I didn't mean to do that to your 'wretched soul' lol), Dark Angel, Kizna, seekerpeeker, Friend, Omni, scm (Thanks for your offer! It was greatly appreciated! I might call on you later to see if you want to beta another story for me *winks*), Aileen (Thank you so much for the offer! Might need you later!), Coconut (Thanks for the offer!), A13TAT (*squirms with delight* honored? To beta for little old me? Awww shucks), stormyfire (thanks for the offer! I appreciated it VERY much), crazyme89 ( A beta reader is like an editor, they correct spelling mistakes, grammar, and help you with your wording and stuff like that), hells (thank you so so so much for the offer!), Iden's Garden ( Would you mind if I asked you to beta another story?), Debbie (Thanks for the offer!), Gnat10886, Lunacat, elen, Elenya (Thank you for reviewing so much! Lolz, hehe your review about the tie made me laugh!), ~*Crystal Lily*~, Col. Hammer (Thanks for the offer!), ThE kIdD, kawaii ker, Adria (lol, loved your review!), prowess ( of course I remember you! Thanks for the email and the review.), angellinda, Kitty Nicoe (Hey you! Thanks for reading my story! Was greatly appreiciated…all the ones you've read! Hehez), JilseponieAngel

Now…off to eat my brownies before my brothers do.

OH YEA! Please REVIEW!!!!!!!