'They don't trust me,' Draco thought to himself while wandering through the corridors. 'I don't have the kind of time to gain their trust the old fashioned way...' Now all he needed was a shortcut, and it appeared that he had just found one. His savior had just rounded the corner in the form of a fair-skinned, ginger-headed young woman.

"Weaslette!"

Draco ran in a very dignified manner toward the girl who was rapidly getting farther away. She was trying to ignore him but found it very difficult when he stood in front of her path, refusing to let her by.

"What is it, Malfoy?" She spat after finally giving up the notion that she could continue on her way.

"Whoa, where's all the hostility coming from?" Draco put up his hands in mock horror.

"If you've got a point, ferret face, please make it. I haven't the time or the patience to play games with you." She tapped her foot angrily. Draco, realizing that perhaps he pushed too far, withdrew and stood at a peaceful distance from her.

"Actually, I come to you a reformed man on my knees asking for help and forgiveness," he said. Remarkably, he didn't puke, not that he didn't have the urge, mind you.

"You look to be standing to me," Ginny retorted, not believing a single word.

"Well, I'm not literally on my knees, no. It's a figure of speech, you see..." Upon seeing the look on Ginny's face, Draco knew she was having none of it. He had to pull out all the stops on this one.

"Fine, you want me on my knees? Here," he lurched down carefully, landing on both knees, then looked pathetically up at Ginny. "Now I'm on my knees, thoroughly humbled before you. May we talk now?"

There was a pause. Draco gauged by the length of the silence that Ginny was considering him.

"I'm listening," she said finally, now obviously intrigued.

"Alright, well I've already spoken to your brother, Potter, and Granger. We've reached a sort of primitive agreement for me to help them out with all the inside information I can get." He paused to study her face.

"And what do you get out of it?"

Bugger. He hadn't practiced a way out of this one.

"Weaslette, I'm different now... I just want to make up for the wrongs that I've done; it's penance."

All was quiet until Ginny spoke up again.

"Go on."

"Well," he gulped, 'this better work', "the problem is, I can tell they don't totally trust me."

"Do you blame them?"

"Absolutely not. I've done terrible things in my past. But if this... alliance has any chance of working, I need them to trust now. I don't have time to earn it by myself," explained Draco.

"By yourself? Ah, this is where I come in," Ginny said.

"Very good, you're not as dim as you let on."

Ginny fixed him with a deathly threatening glare. Draco cleared his throat and moved on.

"Anyways, I need you to get them to be more trusting of me soon. For the sake of the cause," he added hastily.

"And how would I do that?" Ginny looked shrewdly at him, knowing the catch was coming shortly.

"Be my girlfriend," he suggested. She froze. "Only for pretend, of course, and only in front of Potter, Granger, and your brother."

She snapped her jaw abruptly shut and shook her head. "I don't think that'll be possible. No... definitely not. Sorry. Go find another girl, I'm sure there's plenty that would do this for you. Get an easy Hufflepuff... that ought to do it." She rambled on, and tried to dodge away from him so she could keep walking. He wouldn't let her.

"No, you're the only that could help me in this particular position. It's for the cause!"He repeated.

She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "And what if I don't trust you enough to help you now?"

Draco sighed. "You just have to believe me..." he answered weakly.

"Wrong answer."

"Damnit, Weaslette, I'm running out of patience!" Draco's fists were balled and he was shaking slightly from annoyance; it was clear he was close to losing his temper. "All I'm offering is help! All I'm asking is for help. Help me to help them!"

"Well, if you blow up like that..."

"Merlin, you're impossible!"

"That kind of talk will get you nowhere." Ginny gloated; a Gryffindor never gives up the chance to revel in a Slytherin's hardship.

Draco ran a hand through his impeccably kept hair. "I didn't want to have to do this... but if I must, I must," he said evenly. Ginny cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I'll tell them your little secret... I'll tell Harry your secret."

Ginny looked challengingly directly into Draco's eyes, unflinching. "What could you possibly know about me that you could use against me to my own friends?"

Draco sighed again and leaned in to Ginny's ear. Suddenly he was very calm; a Slytherin always loves being in control of a situation, especially if a Gryffindor had any involvement with that situation, and Draco was no different. He hesitated only momentarily before whispering something barely audible to her. Her face turned a ghastly pale shade.

"How did you...? You wouldn't dare!"

"Blackmail is not so far beneath me, Miss Weasley."

"But you said you were good now. How am I supposed to trust you if you're using that as bait?!"

"Just because I'm playing for the other side now doesn't mean I can't use some of the old tactics. Really, if the good side learned to play dirty, maybe it would win more often."

Ginny made a face and Draco sighed yet again; this was more difficult than he would have imagined. Then again, women usually throw themselves at him, no questions asked, and in Draco's opinion, that was the best way. Questions are a messy business left for those who think first and never get around to doing anything- weak people, and Draco wanted no part of that. I have to do this, though, he reminded himself, no matter how frustrating this gets.

"Look, I realize it seems bad now, but I really just needed you to trust me now and it'll all work out later."

Yeah, it'll work out, I just didn't say for which side! What was I bothered about, this is a piece of cake! Hmm... cake.

Ginny seemed like she was ready to box him by the look on her face, but her expression fell into a sort of weary acceptance and she sighed resignedly.

"I suppose I have no choice..."

"Smashing!" Draco whooped. "You show great faith and you won't regret it. I'll show you how useful I can be soon enough!"

Ginny felt her heart plummet to her stomach and she was suddenly queasy. What have I just signed on for?

"Ok, so the first Monday or Thursday back from holiday, be at the... Room of Requirement at seven PM. Don't talk to your friends about it yet. Before they get to the little meeting, we can work out how the 'relationship' started. Your girlfriend duties will start at eight PM sharp, got it?

Ginny nodded half-heartedly. Wait...

"'Girlfriend duties'?" she asked quickly, trying to make sure she had heard correctly. "What do you have in mind exactly?"

Draco laughed, a real, strong laugh, after all, this could certainly get very fun. He winked at her seductively. "You'll see. Until then, dear." With a new air of confidence, he sauntered away.

It went perfectly, I have my in. I can't wait to tell Father!

A/N: A new development! Yes, Ginny finds her way in here, and is actually quite important. As with all my long stories, the drama is out in the distance somewhere, lurking, so you won't see much of it until after I build up the fluffiness and/or background of this fic.

Ok, so please review, I'd like more feedback on this (MorphManiac I luv you!). Anyone have a suggestion as to what is the big secret that Draco's using as blackmail on Ginny? I haven't quite thought of an exact idea yet, so I may use yours, and if I do, you get a chapter dedicated to you and... a cookie.

MorphManiac: Thanks! Well, I think you were wrong, but at that time you didn't know Ginny was coming into this. But basically your guess is still right.