An Acceptable Risk

Part 14

Ginny crept through the halls of Hogwarts, jumping at every noise she heard. She found the blank castle wall that concealed the entrance to the Slytherin common room with little difficulty. Of course, I don't know the password, she thought to herself. I wonder if Draco and the rest of his goon patrol will be back any time soon. Well, I suppose I can review dates for Professor Binn's quiz. If they haven't returned by the time I run out of dates, I'll leave.

She sat on the cold floor and began to mentally review dates; she had gotten as far as the goblin rebellion of 1485 when she heard footsteps coming down the hall.
"Now remember," she heard Malfoy say. "Not a word to anyone, and try act normal tomorrow."
"What do you mean normal?" asked Goyle in a tired voice.
"That's perfect," said Draco dryly. "Serpents," he said and the wall swung back to reveal the passageway to the Slytherin common room.

The three boys climbed in, and Ginny, after a moment of indecision followed them. Crabbe and Goyle stumbled sleepily upstairs to their dormitory right away, but Malfoy sat down heavily in one of the chairs and stared pensively into the roaring fire. While he sat, Ginny looked around the Slytherin common room, amazed that, except for the colour scheme, it was almost an exact replica of the Gryffindor common room. I don't know what I was expecting, she thought to herself, Slaves in bondage waving fans and dancing girls catering to their every whim. I keep forgetting that for the most part, they are students, just like me.

With a sigh, Malfoy got up from the chair and climbed the stairs towards is room. Again waited, halted by her indecision. Taking a deep breath, she made her way across the common room and followed Draco up the stairs. She paused in the hallway, uncertain which way Draco had gone. Taking a chance, she plunged recklessly down the right hand corridor. Looking around, she spied a plaque on one of the doors. Moving closer, she peered at it in the murky light and saw

Draco Malfoy



Prefect


engraved upon it. Removing her cloak, she folded it, and placed a shrinking spell on it and dropped it in the pocket of her robes. She took a deep breath and knocked boldly on the door and waited.
"What do you want?" he asked sleepily as he opened the door. "Ginny!" he cried in a shocked voice. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?"
"We all have our secrets Draco," she said with a smile. "I wanted to talk to you. It's important." Grabbing her by the arm, he pulled her in to the room.
"Will you get in here before anyone sees you."

Inside his room, Ginny perched nervously on the chair by his desk. "Draco, I wanted to tell you that I'll be happy to go to the Yule Ball with you."
"Oh please, you did not risk roaming the halls of the castle after lights out simply to tell me that you wanted to accept my invitation to the ball. Besides, I thought you didn't have any dress robes," he added suspiciously.
"That is too why I came," she said hotly. "I got some money, so I can get new dress robes. And," she added, "I didn't want that wretch Pansy Parkinson sinking her claws into you again this year."
"There's no fear of that happening," he said. "The only girl I've got my eye on is you."
"Oh Draco," she said sweetly. "There is just one other thing."
"What?" he asked with suspicion. "I knew there had to be something else. What do you want?"
"Draco, no. It's nothing like that. I don't want anything. I just wanted to tell you that I thought about our conversation at the Three Broomsticks and what you said you could teach me to do." He nodded and she continued. "I wanted to apologize for being so scared. I do trust you Draco and if you still want to teach me, I still want to learn." He looked at her doubtfully.
"Draco, I do. I want you to teach me how to apperate. I trust you. You won't let anything happen to me."

When Ginny told Draco that she trusted him, it was like someone had punched him in the stomach. Nobody had ever said that to him before.
"Draco, did you hear me?" she said. "I said I trusted you. You're my friend. I know you'd never do anything to hurt me."
He didn't know what to think. Ginny his friend? He'd never had a friend before. Crabbe and Goyle didn't count, they weren't his friends. They were nothing but dead weight. They didn't care about him, and he didn't care about them.

Ginny gave Draco a puzzled look. "Draco, can you hear me?" she asked. "Draco?"
"What? Oh, sorry Ginny. I was uh, just thinking of where we could practice," he improvised.
"Well, I'll leave that part to you Draco. You'll figure something out, I'm sure. Now I really must get back to my room. I'd have a dickens of a time explaining where I've been all this time.
"Come on," he said brusquely, grabbing something off his desk. "I'll walk you downstairs." They left his room; Draco going first to make sure nobody was about. They crossed the common room and slipped out through the wall.
"Here," he said shoving something in his hand. "You'll need this later. And be careful going back. Don't get caught or you'll ruin everything." He lowered his head and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek and ducked back into the portrait hole before she could react.

Pressing her hand to her cheek Ginny ducked behind a handy suit of armour, pulled out her invisibility cloak, enlarged it and put it on. She made her way swiftly back to the portrait of the Fat Lady, whispered the password and climbed inside. Once inside her own common room, she removed the cloak and relaxed.
"Where the bloody hell have you been?" asked Hermione from the depths of one of the chairs. Ginny gave a small scream and swiftly covered her mouth. Shaking her head, she motioned to Hermione to follow her and the two girls crept up the stairs to Hermione's room. Once inside, Ginny succumbed to a fit of giggles. "Hermione Granger, what has come over you lately? First it was using house elves for your own benefit, and now, vulgar language. Really, I don't think that boyfriend of yours is such a good influence on you."

Hermione opened her mouth to reply when she realized what Ginny said and instead, exploded with laughter. Ginny quickly followed suit, and the two girls giggled hysterically, their fear making the laughter worse. Hermione, gasping for breath said, "Where did you go Ginny? I was worried sick."
"I told you. I said I was going to Draco's room," the younger girl replied.
"You didn't really? Did you?"
"Yes, I did. Really Hermione, it's not like it's some den of inequity. It's just like the rooms here.
"Den of inequity," said Hermione bursting into laughter again. "Oh Ginny," she said trying to calm down. "I was so worried about you."
"And you are certainly doing a good job of showing it," said Ginny, still laughing.
"Well, I can't help it. I was so afraid while you were gone, and so relived when you came back in. And then we started laughing, and now I just can't seem to stop."
"Maybe this will help," said Ginny drawing a deep breath and holding out the stone that Draco had given her."
"What is that?"
"I was hoping that you would know," said Ginny. "Draco gave it to me after I told him I wanted him to teach me how to apperate."
"You're really going to do it then?"
"How could I not, Hermione? It's for Harry," the younger girl said simply.
"Well we both better get some sleep," said Hermione. "We only have a few hours before classes start, and my performance in potions class," she added with a frown.

Ginny crept out of Hermione's room and back to her own room and swiftly crawled into bed. It seemed as though barely a minute had passed before someone was shaking her.
"Ginny, come on. Wake up. We're late already."
Ginny sat up in her bed groggily. "Hermione, are you crazy. You can't be here. We're supposed to hate each other, remember?"
"Wrong, you're supposed to hate me. I'm still trying to be your friend. Besides, this will give us another chance to fight. I can hear Parvati and Lavender in the hall. Come on, have at it."
"I'll sleep in if I bloody well want to Hermione Granger. You had no right to wake me up!" Ginny shouted.
"But Ginny, it was late and I didn't think you'd want to miss breakfast."
"You didn't think!" yelled Ginny. "That's rubbish. All you do is think. You are always busy trying to find ways to make yourself look better. That's what you do. Well it won't change what you really are. You're nothing but a mudblood, and you know that's something you can never change no matter what you do!" She shot Hermione a quick grin before she flung the door to her room open. Hermione rushed out, her hands covering her face.

"Hermione, are you all right?" asked Lavender.
"I just didn't want her to oversleep, that's all," she cried into her hands.
"It's not your fault Hermione," said Parvati as she rubbed Hermione's back. "Really, I don't know what has gotten into that girl. She's getting to be as bas as the Slytherins."
"Worse," said Lavender. "She, of all people, should know better," said Lavender darkly.
Ginny heard the door slam as the two girls escorted Hermione back to her own room. Ginny turned, closed the door to her room and sat down on her bed. She'd had no idea that success could hurt so much.