Author's Notes: A) This is Ginny's fifth year B) Therefore Draco's
sixth year C) Sorry if I mixed it up at any point D) Book five never
happened
---
The Truth Face to Face
Chapter One
"You realize she's going to hate you after this?" Draco asked dryly, watching Blaise mouthing the words.
"Shut your mouth, you're one to be giving out advice on love." Blaise didn't pause but to give him a sour look.
Draco scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You've been moping for days you stupid prick." His friend scribbled something down on the parchment.
"Piss off." The blond-haired boy turned away. He'd received a letter from Blaise's estranged girlfriend this morning. The rumors had been flying despite whatever warnings had been given out. Everyone knew something was going on with the Weasleys. Charlie Weasley had made a sudden disappearance earlier that week.
Draco wasn't sure what to think about the whole thing. He'd had no contact with Ginny since she'd stopped writing and he was in mixed feelings on what to do about it. Obviously it was out of her control, something had upset her, but Draco had never been the forgiving type. Maybe that had to change.
Change. Ever since the whole 'pen pal' deal had begun Draco had been changing and he wasn't sure if he liked it. Of course, Lucius had claim to a part of the reason why he was changing. It was as if he wasn't Draco Malfoy any more and had yet to assume another identity. That sounded a little naive now he looked back on it. It was safe to just assume that he was growing up, he decided.
The hallways of Hogwarts always felt welcoming when Draco was in another one of his 'moods' (a name courtesy of Blaise Zabini). He took a short cut to the Hall.
Dinner would be a good time to finally do something about the letter. Draco sauntered into the Great Hall, his usual smirk in place. He let his gaze wander to the Gryffindor table, noting the absence of Ginny and Colin Creevey. Weasley didn't look too happy, frowning at his food. Whatever it was, it was affecting the whole family.
"Good evening, Draco." Pansy slipped into the seat beside him, a small smile on her face. "I hear there's going to be a ball soon."
Draco managed a weak grin. Pansy'd had a crush on him since their fourth year. "Sounds interesting."
"Don't worry," She raised an eyebrow. "You're going to help me ask Colin Creevey."
He choked on his potato, covering his mouth immediately to avoid embarrassment. "Excuse me?" He gasped out.
"Don't be a prick, Draco." She said without looking at him. Why was everyone surprising him lately, was the world turning without his knowing? Plus it was the second time today someone had called him a prick, which didn't bother him too much, he tried his hardest after all.
"You and... Colin Creevey?" Draco asked, spearing another potato carefully.
"I think he's sweet, I'm tired of going out with boys like you, Draco."
"Boys like me?" He let his customary smirk cross his face.
"Oh yes," She rolled her eyes. "'Bad boys' with overly large egos."
"Are you, by any chance, intoxicated?"
"This is what I mean by calling you a prick, sarcasm, Draco, you use far too much of it."
"He's a Gryffindor." He commented, watching for her reaction. Why was it that all the Slytherins had suddenly gone soft? Maybe the Dark Lord had done it.
"He's male."
"He's a mudblood." He said, testing the waters with the issue. It was what he thought would bother her.
"I hear they're better in bed."
He sat back in surprise, almost toppling off his seat. "You hear a lot of things, Pansy." He shook his head.
"Don't feel slighted, I'm not comparing you two." Draco scowled.
---
Once finished his meal, a confusion hanging over him all the while, Draco stood and made eye contact with Aleine, who sat with several of the older years, and gestured out the door. She nodded, talking animatedly with a seventh year.
Draco couldn't understand when his house had become so messed up. He supposed it could be a good thing, uniting the two houses involved in the biggest rivalry in Hogwarts. Still, it was a matter of pride.
"You got my letter," Aleine startled him by coming out a side door.
"I got it." He was still wary on the girl's intentions, she seemed harmless enough but obviously smart and, from what Draco had found out, the top student in her year.
"Come with me then." He froze for a moment, unsure, but followed her anyway. What was there to lose?
---
He was surprised, despite all thoughts on uniting houses, when she invited him into the Gryffindor Common Room. Though it came as no shock when she whispered the password, proving herself to Draco as less than naive.
"We're all staying away from her, we've been moved into the other girl's dorms - hey, Colin!" She called the only inhabitant of the Common Room over.
Draco sneered as the fifth year twitched. "What's Malfoy doing here?" He asked Aleine.
"He's helping Gin," She glared at Draco and he sighed inwardly, removing the sneer from his face. This was uncharted territory. And scary too, he glanced around, taking in the bright decor.
"How's Malfoy going to do that?"
"None of your fucking business." He remarked, unable to clear any condescension from his voice.
"Malfoy, be nice. Colin, you're taking Malfoy up, Ginny's angry with me, I told her to pucker up this morning."
"I'm not being led by this shrimp." Draco spat out, eyeing the short Gryffindor.
"Stop being such a prick, Malfoy, Colin is Ginny's friend." Draco shook his head but said no more. He seemed to be earning the title of 'prick' today.
"T-the girls dorms are this way," The Gryffindor led the way to the staircase on the right.
As soon as they were out of Aleine's hearing range, Draco spoke. "Keep your paws off Ginny if you want to keep them, stop asking her out."
Colin froze completely. "Are you her boyfriend?" He spoke quietly.
It caught Draco by surprise. "What makes you think that?"
"Last time I asked her she said she liked someone else, I just thought-"
"Something like that." He smiled involuntarily. There was an interesting thought.
There was an awkward silence that made Draco wondered why Pansy liked the wimp.
"That's it." He pointed to a door with a suspicious burn mark in the center. There was a pause. "If you hurt her I'll gut you." Draco pondered on the warning for a second. Maybe that was why she liked him.
"You can try." Draco sneered.
To his merit, all the shrimp did was walk towards the door and knock softly.
"Gin, you have a visitor."
For a minute Draco thought the room was empty from the lack of response but Creevey turned and smiled. "This is a good thing." He whispered, nodding.
Draco shook his head. That was a good thing?
"Can I let him in?"
Another silence.
"Go in."
Draco felt a small flutter in his stomach as he entered. The first thing he noticed was the room felt like a freezer. The second was Ginny sitting on the bed, her wand at her side.
"Hello." She said it with little conviction.
"What the fuck is this, Gin?" He realized these were the first proper words he'd spoken to the girl and wondered if they would come back and kick him in the balls.
She looked at him with a blank stare. "What?"
"Idiot," Draco dropped down onto the bed opposite her. He took the opportunity to get a good look. Ginny Weasley was normally small with a lot of energy. Now she just seemed small. Timid and quiet. "What went wrong?"
"Percy's dead." She said it emotionlessly, practiced, almost. Kind of like when Draco said Lucius wasn't his father.
"And you're throwing a temper tantrum?" He found he was sitting on a bra and made a face.
"This isn't a temper tantrum." She did sound angry. Defensive.
"I'm the king of temper tantrums and if this isn't one, I don't know what is." He smirked. "But you're grieving, and that's fine. Maybe you could do it a little less selfishly."
"I'm not selfish!" Ginny's voice raised. He was making progress.
"You're causing everyone a great deal of trouble, it seems rather selfish." He shrugged.
"He's dead!" She cried, a tear falling down her cheek.
"And he's not coming back." He finished for her.
"I loved him."
"He was your brother."
Ginny didn't fall apart, just sobbed slightly.
"Why don't we let other people into the dorm?" He asked gently.
"I miss him," Was her only response. Draco sighed.
---
Draco rubbed his brow. The day had gone particularly badly, he'd been called a prick three times by three different people, he'd been thrown into the lion's den and into a room with a grieving Gryffindor. As he slowly descended the stairs in said lion's den, he shook off the warm and fuzzy feeling he'd gained from talking to the grieving Gryffindor.
"She'll be fine." He told Ginny's friend and Creevey on the way out. They leapt up in surprise.
"Thank you!" Aleine called after him. He stopped.
"Oh, Creevey!" The two of them turned from their run to the dorms.
"Yeah?"
"I hear there's a ball coming up, I have a friend who wants to go with you, what say you?" It was a burst of spontaneous good will, he supposed, from which these words were coming.
"Okay," Came the shaky response.
"I'll fix it up then." With that he left, gladly escaping the overly excited Common Room.
---
Blaise had thankfully stopped learning the words to the ridiculous muggle song he was going to sing. Draco entered the Slytherin Common Room, feeling much safer there than in the red and gold room in the North Tower.
"Hey, Draco, where have you been?" The dark-haired girl flew past the seventh year prefect she'd been talking to. "He's boring as hell." She whispered to him and she slung an arm through his.
"Around." He answered, fondly swinging his arm. Pansy was one of his closest friends and he would do anything for her, though he'd never admit it.
"Around where?"
"Let's just say that Creevey will be your date to this mysterious ball." He grinned, awaiting her squeal.
It came exactly on time, ringing in his ears.
"Thank you!" She kissed him on the cheek.
Draco glared at Blaise who gave him the thumbs up. "Anything for the love struck maiden." He teased her.
Pansy screwed up her nose. "Not love, Draco, love waits for when my father decides who my husband will be."
It was a harsh pull back to reality. "You don't have to listen to him, you know?"
She just stared at him sadly. "I'm not you."
---
End of Chapter 1
Do I have happy voices reviewing? Ginny gets the next chapter, don't worry, Draco just needed this one. And you'll be finding out more about Percy next chapter, remember book five never happened.
---
The Truth Face to Face
Chapter One
"You realize she's going to hate you after this?" Draco asked dryly, watching Blaise mouthing the words.
"Shut your mouth, you're one to be giving out advice on love." Blaise didn't pause but to give him a sour look.
Draco scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You've been moping for days you stupid prick." His friend scribbled something down on the parchment.
"Piss off." The blond-haired boy turned away. He'd received a letter from Blaise's estranged girlfriend this morning. The rumors had been flying despite whatever warnings had been given out. Everyone knew something was going on with the Weasleys. Charlie Weasley had made a sudden disappearance earlier that week.
Draco wasn't sure what to think about the whole thing. He'd had no contact with Ginny since she'd stopped writing and he was in mixed feelings on what to do about it. Obviously it was out of her control, something had upset her, but Draco had never been the forgiving type. Maybe that had to change.
Change. Ever since the whole 'pen pal' deal had begun Draco had been changing and he wasn't sure if he liked it. Of course, Lucius had claim to a part of the reason why he was changing. It was as if he wasn't Draco Malfoy any more and had yet to assume another identity. That sounded a little naive now he looked back on it. It was safe to just assume that he was growing up, he decided.
The hallways of Hogwarts always felt welcoming when Draco was in another one of his 'moods' (a name courtesy of Blaise Zabini). He took a short cut to the Hall.
Dinner would be a good time to finally do something about the letter. Draco sauntered into the Great Hall, his usual smirk in place. He let his gaze wander to the Gryffindor table, noting the absence of Ginny and Colin Creevey. Weasley didn't look too happy, frowning at his food. Whatever it was, it was affecting the whole family.
"Good evening, Draco." Pansy slipped into the seat beside him, a small smile on her face. "I hear there's going to be a ball soon."
Draco managed a weak grin. Pansy'd had a crush on him since their fourth year. "Sounds interesting."
"Don't worry," She raised an eyebrow. "You're going to help me ask Colin Creevey."
He choked on his potato, covering his mouth immediately to avoid embarrassment. "Excuse me?" He gasped out.
"Don't be a prick, Draco." She said without looking at him. Why was everyone surprising him lately, was the world turning without his knowing? Plus it was the second time today someone had called him a prick, which didn't bother him too much, he tried his hardest after all.
"You and... Colin Creevey?" Draco asked, spearing another potato carefully.
"I think he's sweet, I'm tired of going out with boys like you, Draco."
"Boys like me?" He let his customary smirk cross his face.
"Oh yes," She rolled her eyes. "'Bad boys' with overly large egos."
"Are you, by any chance, intoxicated?"
"This is what I mean by calling you a prick, sarcasm, Draco, you use far too much of it."
"He's a Gryffindor." He commented, watching for her reaction. Why was it that all the Slytherins had suddenly gone soft? Maybe the Dark Lord had done it.
"He's male."
"He's a mudblood." He said, testing the waters with the issue. It was what he thought would bother her.
"I hear they're better in bed."
He sat back in surprise, almost toppling off his seat. "You hear a lot of things, Pansy." He shook his head.
"Don't feel slighted, I'm not comparing you two." Draco scowled.
---
Once finished his meal, a confusion hanging over him all the while, Draco stood and made eye contact with Aleine, who sat with several of the older years, and gestured out the door. She nodded, talking animatedly with a seventh year.
Draco couldn't understand when his house had become so messed up. He supposed it could be a good thing, uniting the two houses involved in the biggest rivalry in Hogwarts. Still, it was a matter of pride.
"You got my letter," Aleine startled him by coming out a side door.
"I got it." He was still wary on the girl's intentions, she seemed harmless enough but obviously smart and, from what Draco had found out, the top student in her year.
"Come with me then." He froze for a moment, unsure, but followed her anyway. What was there to lose?
---
He was surprised, despite all thoughts on uniting houses, when she invited him into the Gryffindor Common Room. Though it came as no shock when she whispered the password, proving herself to Draco as less than naive.
"We're all staying away from her, we've been moved into the other girl's dorms - hey, Colin!" She called the only inhabitant of the Common Room over.
Draco sneered as the fifth year twitched. "What's Malfoy doing here?" He asked Aleine.
"He's helping Gin," She glared at Draco and he sighed inwardly, removing the sneer from his face. This was uncharted territory. And scary too, he glanced around, taking in the bright decor.
"How's Malfoy going to do that?"
"None of your fucking business." He remarked, unable to clear any condescension from his voice.
"Malfoy, be nice. Colin, you're taking Malfoy up, Ginny's angry with me, I told her to pucker up this morning."
"I'm not being led by this shrimp." Draco spat out, eyeing the short Gryffindor.
"Stop being such a prick, Malfoy, Colin is Ginny's friend." Draco shook his head but said no more. He seemed to be earning the title of 'prick' today.
"T-the girls dorms are this way," The Gryffindor led the way to the staircase on the right.
As soon as they were out of Aleine's hearing range, Draco spoke. "Keep your paws off Ginny if you want to keep them, stop asking her out."
Colin froze completely. "Are you her boyfriend?" He spoke quietly.
It caught Draco by surprise. "What makes you think that?"
"Last time I asked her she said she liked someone else, I just thought-"
"Something like that." He smiled involuntarily. There was an interesting thought.
There was an awkward silence that made Draco wondered why Pansy liked the wimp.
"That's it." He pointed to a door with a suspicious burn mark in the center. There was a pause. "If you hurt her I'll gut you." Draco pondered on the warning for a second. Maybe that was why she liked him.
"You can try." Draco sneered.
To his merit, all the shrimp did was walk towards the door and knock softly.
"Gin, you have a visitor."
For a minute Draco thought the room was empty from the lack of response but Creevey turned and smiled. "This is a good thing." He whispered, nodding.
Draco shook his head. That was a good thing?
"Can I let him in?"
Another silence.
"Go in."
Draco felt a small flutter in his stomach as he entered. The first thing he noticed was the room felt like a freezer. The second was Ginny sitting on the bed, her wand at her side.
"Hello." She said it with little conviction.
"What the fuck is this, Gin?" He realized these were the first proper words he'd spoken to the girl and wondered if they would come back and kick him in the balls.
She looked at him with a blank stare. "What?"
"Idiot," Draco dropped down onto the bed opposite her. He took the opportunity to get a good look. Ginny Weasley was normally small with a lot of energy. Now she just seemed small. Timid and quiet. "What went wrong?"
"Percy's dead." She said it emotionlessly, practiced, almost. Kind of like when Draco said Lucius wasn't his father.
"And you're throwing a temper tantrum?" He found he was sitting on a bra and made a face.
"This isn't a temper tantrum." She did sound angry. Defensive.
"I'm the king of temper tantrums and if this isn't one, I don't know what is." He smirked. "But you're grieving, and that's fine. Maybe you could do it a little less selfishly."
"I'm not selfish!" Ginny's voice raised. He was making progress.
"You're causing everyone a great deal of trouble, it seems rather selfish." He shrugged.
"He's dead!" She cried, a tear falling down her cheek.
"And he's not coming back." He finished for her.
"I loved him."
"He was your brother."
Ginny didn't fall apart, just sobbed slightly.
"Why don't we let other people into the dorm?" He asked gently.
"I miss him," Was her only response. Draco sighed.
---
Draco rubbed his brow. The day had gone particularly badly, he'd been called a prick three times by three different people, he'd been thrown into the lion's den and into a room with a grieving Gryffindor. As he slowly descended the stairs in said lion's den, he shook off the warm and fuzzy feeling he'd gained from talking to the grieving Gryffindor.
"She'll be fine." He told Ginny's friend and Creevey on the way out. They leapt up in surprise.
"Thank you!" Aleine called after him. He stopped.
"Oh, Creevey!" The two of them turned from their run to the dorms.
"Yeah?"
"I hear there's a ball coming up, I have a friend who wants to go with you, what say you?" It was a burst of spontaneous good will, he supposed, from which these words were coming.
"Okay," Came the shaky response.
"I'll fix it up then." With that he left, gladly escaping the overly excited Common Room.
---
Blaise had thankfully stopped learning the words to the ridiculous muggle song he was going to sing. Draco entered the Slytherin Common Room, feeling much safer there than in the red and gold room in the North Tower.
"Hey, Draco, where have you been?" The dark-haired girl flew past the seventh year prefect she'd been talking to. "He's boring as hell." She whispered to him and she slung an arm through his.
"Around." He answered, fondly swinging his arm. Pansy was one of his closest friends and he would do anything for her, though he'd never admit it.
"Around where?"
"Let's just say that Creevey will be your date to this mysterious ball." He grinned, awaiting her squeal.
It came exactly on time, ringing in his ears.
"Thank you!" She kissed him on the cheek.
Draco glared at Blaise who gave him the thumbs up. "Anything for the love struck maiden." He teased her.
Pansy screwed up her nose. "Not love, Draco, love waits for when my father decides who my husband will be."
It was a harsh pull back to reality. "You don't have to listen to him, you know?"
She just stared at him sadly. "I'm not you."
---
End of Chapter 1
Do I have happy voices reviewing? Ginny gets the next chapter, don't worry, Draco just needed this one. And you'll be finding out more about Percy next chapter, remember book five never happened.