Abandon

Dinner seemed to be a quiet affair. Ginny commented on her mother's food, and she replied with a polite, brisk 'thank you'. Other times, if Draco had not been there, she knew the whole family would be chattering about Qudditch, what Bill and Charlie were doing and whether any of them would arrive for Christmas this year. Draco sat next to her, unusually quiet as well, chewing his food in tiny little bites, avoiding everyone's gaze.

"So," Ginny finally spoke up to break the awkward silence. "How's the joke shop going?" she asked Fred and George, looking pointedly at them.

The identical twins exchanged looks before answering. "It's going fine..." Fred started. "We have enough money from it..." George finished.

"I should hope so," spoke up Mrs. Weasley with a stern voice. "After all, you did drop out of Hogwarts before graduation."

"Mum, don't get started with him here," Fred reminded her, giving Draco a dirty look. Draco looked back at him blankly.

"Yeah, he's not going to...ouch!" George yelped, clutching his leg. "Ginny, why'd you kick me?"

Ginny gave him a sweet, innocent smile. "Sorry, George."

Ron snorted. Ginny gave him a look and he cowered back into his seat.

"So, how is Harry getting here tomorrow?" Ron said quickly, changing the subject.

"Oh, your father and I are going to drop by...we owled Harry beforehand about the fireplace, though," Mrs. Weasley added, shaking her head.

Almost everyone laughed a bit, recalling when the twins and Ron had excitedly told them about what had happened in the summer after Harry's third year.

"Fireplace?" Draco leaned over and whispered to Ginny.

She looked at him, surprised that he had managed to say something. She nodded. "Yeah. Harry's uncle boarded up the fireplace while they were using the Floo network."

His mouth twitched a bit in humor.

"Of course, it was a total hazard, everyone was stuck and everything, can you imagine? Of course, dad only uses the Floo network in emergencies if the Ministry gives him special permission."

Draco's would-be smile completely vanished and he looked down, immensed in his food. Ginny, you are so stupid, she scolded herself. Of course, the Ministry's going to remind him of his father. Embarrassed, she tried to avoid Draco the rest of dinner, but it proved to be quite difficult, as she was sitting right next to him.

"Umm," she whispered. "Can you pass the - the salad, it's on your left, right there..."

"Pass what?" he said aloud. Everyone turned to him.

"The salad," she hissed.

"What? Why are you whispering?" he asked.

"What do you need, Ginny dear?" Mrs. Weasley prompted.

"Oh, just the salad - oh, for God's sakes!" Ginny exclaimed, leaning over. Everyone watched her movements as she brushed her arm against Draco's chest, to grasp the bowl next to him on his left and firmly grip it until she got it in front of her. She was blushing, she knew, because everyone was still staring at her. Wishing she could vanish, she began to eat the salad methodically as she always did, the contents crunching in her mouth. Thankfully, when dinner was over, Ginny pulled Draco into a corner of the living room.

"You knew perfectly well what I was saying!" Ginny accused.

"I did?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Of course you did! Why did you do that?"

Draco's mouth modified into an official smirk. "Would you believe it if I wanted you to lean over so I could look down your blouse?"

"What?" she said increndously.

"Good night," he merely responded, walking up the stairs and washing away from her view.

~*~

When Ginny Weasley woke up the next morning, she noticed two things. That her room was still in need of more cleaning, and that someone was sitting at the edge of the bed, watching her. Shrieking, she pulled the covers tightly around her before breathing a sigh of relief.

"Hermione!" she exclaimed.

Hermione grinned. "How're you doing, Ginny?"

"Fine, really," she gave Hermione a glare. "You scared the hell out of me, you know."

"Yeah, sorry about that..."

"What are you doing here, anyways? I thought you were coming two days after Harry came."

Hermione ignored this. "What is Malfoy doing here, at the Burrow? Please tell me this is a nightmare."

There it was. The question. Blunt, right there, in front of Ginny to answer.

"See, it's a long story..." Ginny started to say.

"I have plenty of time," retorted Hermione, crossing her legs, leaning forward eagerly.

~*~

"Wake up, you bastard!"

This is how Draco Malfoy woke up, annoyed. Ron was holding a pillow in his hands, and had been smacking him with it for the last twenty minutes.

"What do you want? Don't you see I am trying to sleep?" He glared at him, pushing the strands of silver-blonde that fell on his eyes.

"Do I look I care? Mum wants us down for breakfast and meet Hermione's parents. Then we have to be there when they leave for Harry."

"So? I don't give a damn about Granger's parents or Potter."

"Well, you're going to. Now get up, and get downstairs!" Ron threw the pillow on the floor and exited his room, slamming the door behind him.

Draco buried his face in his hands and groaned. "Oh, no, I've become a Weasley."

~*~

However, Draco's mood changed quickly when he headed downstairs. The kitchen was filled with a mass of people. Brunette Mrs. Granger, who looked nervous, with her arm around her small husband Fred, George, Ron, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, and Ginny. But what changed his mood the most was Ginny out of all of them. She looked...he gulped. Get a hold of yourself, he thought to himself wryly, but couldn't keep his eyes off her. She was wearing a small robe that was too small for her, the belt of it loose, her red curls fell down her shoulders like waterfalls, looking extremely pretty. He peered at her bare ankles in wonderment.

It was when he looked up that he met her eyes. She blushed and looked away, and he allowed himself to a smirk. The smirk quickly evaporated, however, when he realized everyone was staring at him.

"Umm...perhaps he hasn't heard us...Draco, dear?" Mrs. Weasley prodded with a motherly voice.

"Err, yes?" he asked, his cheeks tinting red. His eyes caught with Ginny's and she looked as if she was restraining a laugh.

"This is Mr. and Mrs. Granger," Mrs. Weasley introduced.

"Nice to meet you," he said politely in a dead-prone voice, nodding.

"Well," Mr. Weasley interrupted. "Molly, dear, we must get to Harry."

"Ah, yes, Arthur...are you sure you don't mind looking after the kids? I could stay and Arthur could go alone instead..." Mrs. Weasley offered.

"Oh, no, no, it'll be fine, no trouble at all," Mrs. Granger stammered.

"Can we go with you?" Fred and George asked in unison.

"Not today, boys, not today, I have to apparate and then use a portkey this time." Mr. Weasley looked extremely nervous; perhaps the thought of Fred and George's 'treats' to a certain Dudley Dursley a few years ago had taught him well.

"So? We can apparate properly..." George said.

"...Yeah," Fred finished.

"Right," Ginny spoke up, a snort in her voice. "Like the time in my eighteenth birthday last year you tried to apparate near the Burrow and ended up in the jungle with your pants off."

Fred turned red. "That wasn't my fault! Dad, tell her -"

Fortunately, Mr. Weasley had already apparated.

~*~

"I can't believe I have to spend Christmas with Potter," Draco said bitterly. Draco and Ginny were both sitting across from each other in the kitchen table, staring at each other awkwardly.

"Yes, well, he'll also be delighted," she said sarcastically.

"Humph," he murmured, examining his fingernails.

"You know, only girls do that," she said after a long pause.

"Girls do what?"

"Look at their fingernails."

"I am not a girl!" he argued.

"You sure do scream like one, though."

"No I don't!"

"Alright, prove it," she challenged.

"Fine...I will," he said, a determined look washing over his face. Then, suddenly, without warning, he gave a piercing scream that echoed throughout the whole Burrow.

"My God!" Ginny jumped up, covering her ears.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON! GINNY ARE YOU ALRIGHT? GINNY!" Ron came into the kitchen, pulling on his boxers hastily, barechested, going over to Ginny and shaking her shoulders.

"You're alright, right, right? Why were you screaming?" Ron exclaimed. He had obviously come in the middle of a shower.

"That was me!" Draco said, folding his arms over his chest. Ron glanced at him.

"You? But - it was a girl's scream!"

"It was NOT!"

"I can't believe this," Ron muttered. Without another word, he turned around and hurried upstairs.

Draco stood his ground, still frowning when a sound of chatter erupted from the living room. Ginny jumped a bit.

"Oh, that must be Harry," she said, going forward. Then, she turned around, her shoulder brushing against his.

"Told you so," she said, before disappearing into the living room.

~*~

Meanwhile, waiting for Harry to arrive, Hermione Granger walked outside the Burrow, looking around, observing her surroundings. It felt good to be reuinited with her friends once more, she hadn't seen them for over three months already. They were, of course, all tied up with their jobs, their hobbies, and other countless things. She breathed in and out, feeling serene, peaceful.

Walking around a bit, she gazed at the hens and other animals around the Burrow, smiling, breathing in the fresh air. As she walked, she saw that something was stuck at the heel of her shoe. Frowning, she kneeled over, taking it out.

It was a plain, white envelope, and had obviously been planted in front of the Burrow. Why not an owl? she thought to herself. Must be from a muggle, she thought logically.

She looked at the outside of it and the envelope dropped from her hands in shock, in midair, waving back and forth before falling into the ground gracefully.

Widening her eyes, shaking, she backed away and took off in a run.

The beaming sunlight made the neat, cursive print writing in front of the envelope luminous.

To Ginny.

From Devon.

~*~

I am sorry about the beginning of this chapter, I know it was sort of boring. But I can't let Ginny and Draco kiss yet, I want it to come slowly.

I am also sorry I've been a bit thin on the details of Draco and his family stuff, and I am sorry for the humor, since this story is supposed to be angst...but don't worry, the angst will come. Thanks for the reviews, remember to leave another one.

Love,

~Court.