"Arthur," Molly whispered into the ear of her husband.

His eyes slightly opened and he gave a friendly smile to his wife.

"What is Ginny doing here?" Molly asked, her voice laced with concern.

Arthur, carefully extracting Ginny from his arms and laying her down on the nearby couch, whispered that he had no idea.

"She arrived, via the floo network, about 20 minutes after you went to bed. She had been crying. She ran straight into my arms and I rocked her to sleep.

As he finished, a head appeared in green flames in their fireplace.

"Professor Dumbledore, good morning! If you are looking for Ginny, she is here safe and sound."

"Good morning, Arthur! Good morning, Molly! I noticed that Ginny left last night and that she had gone to the Burrow. How is she this morning?"

Molly and Arthur stepped back and pointed to the girl sleeping on the couch.

"Good! She needs her sleep. I am under the impression that she did not tell you why she came home last night. Is this correct?"

"Too true, Albus, she arrived with dried tears on her cheek, but told us nothing. Is it Draco?"

"Yes…and no." Professor Dumbledore answered.

"What happened, Professor? What would cause Ginny to leave Hogwarts and Draco?" Molly asked, starting obviously to panic.

"May I come through?"

"Certainly, I'll get some tea." Molly responded as she walked into the kitchen.

A minute later, Professor Dumbledore came into the kitchen followed by Arthur. They took a seat at the table, and mixed cream and sugar into their tea.

Just as Dumbledore put down his teacup and was ready to speak, a sleepy, yawning Ginny Malfoy walked into the kitchen. As she walked into the sunny room, Molly and Arthur both gasped at the bruises on Ginny's face and neck.

"Professor Dumbledore, what are you doing here?"

"I think you know why I am here, Mrs. Malfoy. I thought it would be helpful if I was here when you told your parents."

"Tell us what? Where did you get those bruises? What happened, Ginny? " Molly asked, visibly gripping her teacup tighter.

"Mom, Dad, last night Harry and I had a bit of a misunderstanding. The misunderstanding was exacerbated by my husband. That is the short story. The long story is that Professor Dumbledore warned Draco and me that Harry was in danger of being swayed by Merlin's minions. Draco asked me to stay away from Harry and I told him no. We had a fight about it. I went to visit Ron and Harry. Harry offered to walk me back to my rooms. I accep-tuhd!" Ginny continued as she choked on a sob and began crying.

Molly, concerned at Ginny's loss of control, moved next to her and began rubbing her back in a soothing, consoling manner, "Can you continue, dear?"

Ginny hiccupped while nodding and continued speaking, "So-hic- Harry was walking me back and he asked me where Draco was. I simply said that we had a bit of a disagreement about his feelings. Then Harry turned to me and told me that Draco was correct. That I should be worried about him, and then-hic- he-hic-attacked- hic- me."

"Where did he hit you, Ginny?" Arthur asked with a firm voice.

"He didn't hit her, Arthur. He tried to rape her." Dumbledore answered quietly for the distraught girl.

Arthur jumped up and slammed his hands down on the table, "He did what? I will kill that little, ungrateful bastard. How DARE he touch my daughter!"

"ARTHUR!" Dumbledore sternly said, "It was not Harry's fault. Sit down and let us finish…"

Arthur rigidly nodded his head and hesitantly sat down.

"Ginny, do you want to continue or shall I?" Dumbledore asked.

"I will. Just give me a second, please," Ginny quietly said.

They all nodded.

Ginny took several deep breaths and began again, "It wasn't Harry, not really. I knew that much. And Professor, please tell Harry I don't blame him. I knew it wasn't him. Anyway, Professor Snape heard my screams and saved me. He took me to the infirmary, retrieved Draco and made sure that I was all right. He was wonderful, Mum. A year ago, I would never suspect that Professor Snape could be so caring, but he is."

Dumbledore gave a slight cough and a smile to Ginny. Ginny caught the hint and continued, "When Draco arrived, well, we had a fight…a stupid fight. I told him that it was his fault. Then, I hid from Draco when I knew that he was looking for me. I persuaded Professor McGonagall to let me come here; and here I am. Oh Merlin, I really fouled things up! How could I have blamed Draco? He was just watching out for me…," Ginny broke down in tears again.

"You were traumatized and, instead of holding you close, I had to open my big mouth. But, you are correct, I was just watching out for you! I love you, Ginny. Please don't ever leave me again. I can't sleep without you," Draco said, standing in the doorway. His face, while wearing a smile, was very pale.

Ginny burst into tears and ran into the arms of her husband.  He eagerly pulled her into his arms and held her tight. Molly stood up and motioned for Professor Dumbledore and Arthur to do the same. They all walked out of the room quietly letting the young lovers bask in their reunion.

Ginny gave him a slight squeeze then pulled back only enough to look him in the eye, but still keep him close.

"Draco, I am so sorry. I didn't mean it when I said that this was your fault. I was…I am just so-," Ginny broke down into tears.

"I know, Ginny; I know. Are you okay? I know that doesn't sound like much after you what you have been through, but I need to know that-," Draco faltered with a hitch in his voice.

"I know, Draco. Please don't go after Harry. It was not his fault."

Draco gently brushed a few strands of hair back from her face with the back of his hand and said, "Ginny, you know how I am when it comes to you, so I lash out first and think second. Don't worry, Professor Snape and Professor Dumbledore made me promise that I would neither hurt Harry, nor blame him. Then, to top it all off, after I had spent hours looking for you, Professor Snape invited me into his office to have a conversation. He gave me quite the dressing down. He told me that I was beginning to act like the foolish Gryffindors with their 'act first, think later' mantra."

Ginny looked at him in shock, but then caught the teasing glint in his shimmering silver eyes. Ginny pulled her right arm back, lightly smacked him and said, "That is so not funny, Draco."

"I thought it was…besides, Professor Snape really did give me that lecture."

"Hrmph," was Ginny's only response.

After a few moments of enjoying just being near each other again, a loud, sharp knock interrupted their cuddling.

Harry tentatively stuck his head around the door. He had a frightened look on his face and had to clear his throat several times before he could actually speak.

"Umm- May I come in?"

Ginny slightly tensed in Draco's arms at the sight of Harry. It was not intentional, just reactionary. She took a few inconspicuous breaths and gave Harry a smile and a nod.

Draco, following her cue, beckoned Harry in. Draco sat down at the table and pulled, possessively, Ginny onto his lap. Ginny was thankful for the strength and calmness that Draco was showing. She sank into his arms and felt ready to deal with the matter at hand.

Harry cautiously sat down in the seat across from them. He would not look at them. He seemed to be staring intently at something to his left. He also, in a showing of great discomfort, nervousness and stress, continued to bring his left thumb to his mouth, chew on the nail there, drop it back to the table top and pick it up again seconds later.

"Oh gods, Ginny! I don't know what to say to you or Draco. I swear that wasn't me. I swear! I could see it happening, but it was through a haze…a haze that I couldn't get through. I swear, in my mind, I was trying to save you." He dropped his head to his hands and roughly ran his hands through his hair in an agitated manner. When he raised his head, there were tears running down both cheeks.  He looked as if he was going to start speaking again; Ginny raised a hand to stop him.

Ginny gave him a sad look and said, "I know, Harry, that it was not you…but that does not stop me from having these instinctive feelings kicking in and they want me to run as far from you as I possibly can. I don't think I can be around you right now, at least not alone. We can continue to try being friends, but only with Ron or Draco around. Okay? You have to understand that I no longer feel comfortable around you. I don't want to feel that way, but I do. And, I don't really have a choice."

Harry gave her a tearful, sad smile and nodded. He nodded at Draco, got up and left the room.

Professor Dumbledore entered the room a few moments later and asked if they were ready to return to Hogwarts. They nodded and fifteen minutes later, Ginny and Draco were in their private rooms holding each other close.