Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the idea (which I think is original, but ya never know). Anywho, the whole kitten-caboodle belongs to J. K. Rowling.

Chapter 6: The Naked Truth

Draco couldn't believe what he'd just said. How could he let his heart get involved when it was his head he needed to use? He wanted to see Ginny, but risking her life to do so when she wasn't even aware of it wasn't the answer. If the Death Eaters found him, they wouldn't spare Ginny's life just because they'd only been planning to kill one person that day.

Draco knew what the right thing to do was. He had to tell Ginny to leave. And he was planning to too. It was just...every time he saw her, the thought of her being in danger vanished and all he could think about was how happy he was to see her again and he couldn't remember why he'd left in the first place.

So, having her stay one night turned into two, and then three, and then a whole week had gone by without any intent of having her leave.

But, no matter how happy Draco was to see Ginny, he knew he couldn't get to close to her. It would only make leaving her that much harder. And it was obvious he'd have to leave sometime. Even if he didn't leave, she would. After all, as far as he knew Ginny was still shacking up with Potter, and how could he compete with The-Boy-Who-Lived?

After nearly a week of living in the cottage, Ginny stumbled downstairs at the same time she did every morning; eleven o'clock. You could set your watch by her.

"Afternoon, Irish," Draco smirked, not bothering to look up from the Daily Prophet he was reading.

But instead of her usual, singsongy greeting, Ginny stood at the foot of the stairs, staring at Draco before saying, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Draco glanced up at her and noticed what she was staring at. The cigarette in his hand.

It was a bad habit Draco had picked up years ago, and had only recently picked it up again to deal with the constant stress of basically being a dead man in the eyes of every dark wizard.

"Oh, honestly Irish, not this cancer talk again," Draco sighed, putting out the offending fag in a nearby ashtray.

"Well you will get cancer, and so will I," Ginny said in a very maternal tone, her hands on her hips. "And you don't want me dead, do you?"

"That wouldn't be a total loss." Draco muttered, quickly hiding behind his newspaper as Ginny glared daggers his way.

Giving up on her mission for a tobacco free Draco, Ginny sat down at the kitchen table and grabbed a piece of toast. After nibbling on it thoughtfully, she finally said, "You know, I've been here for a while, and I still haven't seen this art collection you were raving about."

"I wouldn't call it 'raving'," Draco remarked thoughtfully. "Just... humbly commenting."

Ginny raised an eyebrow at him, crossing her arms.

"Fine, follow me." Draco sighed, abandoning his paper and grabbing her hand. He drug her up the stairs, past his room, the bathroom, her room, and finally to the end of the hall where there were no other doors.

"And...this is the art collection...?" Ginny asked, gesturing to the plain, light blue walls and a window.

Draco sighed again, motioning up at the ceiling. There was a trapdoor, practically invisible if it wasn't pointed out. As soon as Ginny looked at it, the door opened up and a wooden ladder descended to the ground.

"So, you have your art in a hidden trap door. This is—what?—just another safety precaution?" Ginny teased as they both climbed the ladder.

Draco chose to ignore her, and she was quickly silenced once she got a good look at the room. It looked like any other attic, with a wooden floor and an inclined roof. But what was different with this attic was that there were paintings scattered everywhere—leaning up against the walls, laying on the floor, and one propped up on a wooden easel. This painting was what really caught her attention.

Taking a few steps closer, Ginny turned back to Draco and pointed wordlessly toward it.

"That's my sad attempt at copying the Ginevra de Benci." Draco said, blushing slightly and running his hand through his hair.

Ginny had never seen the real Ginevra de Benci, but she was pretty sure this was dead on. It was a woman sitting in front of a bunch of trees, shown from the chest up. Her brown hair was pinned back, millions of tiny curls framing her oval face.

Ginny leaned back, a thoughtful look on her face, before finally saying, "Is she suppose to look so angry?"

It was true. Whoever this Ginevra chick was, she didn't seem to like having to sit and be painted.

"That's the one thing I got right," Draco said. "Apparently, it's her wedding painting and she wasn't very happy about marrying someone three times her age."

Ginny smiled, looking around at the other paintings. There were more by da Vinci, van Gogh, and Picasso. But there were a few she didn't recognize. Draco noticed her studying these paintings and began to explain, but Ginny cut him off.

"I always saw you sketching in St. Mungo's, but I never knew you were actually talented." She said, looking at all of the pictures in amazement.

"I already had so many paintings, I figured; why not add a few by myself?" Draco shrugged.

"By yourself and of yourself." Ginny commented, glancing at a number of sketches of Draco.

"I was working on portraits, who else am I suppose to paint in the middle of no where?" Draco asked, gesturing around as his face reddened.

"You could paint me." Ginny said, turning around to look at him and smiling. "It'll give you a reason to look at someone besides yourself for a bit."

Draco's eyes widened slightly, and he tried to hide a grin as he said, "I am very insulted."

"Good," Ginny smirked. "Now will you get over your obvious obsession with yourself and paint me?"

"I paint humans, Irish," Draco said seriously. "Not Satan's offspring."

Ginny rolled her eyes as he added, "Besides, I'm not sure I can fit both your big head and your devil horns on one canvas."

"Weasley!" Draco yelled up the stairs the next morning.

Ginny came stumbling down them as usual, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"You're calling me 'Weasley'? What'd I do now?" She asked in a bored voice.

"Weasley, what did you do with my cigarettes?" he asked angrily. Ginny's tired eyes widened in surprise.

"What makes you think I did something with them?" she asked innocently.

"Because you're the one who's flying the tobacco-free banner around here." Draco growled.

"Only because they're bad for you!" Ginny said defensively.

"I knew you took them!" Draco shouted triumphantly.

"It's not like you'll die without them," Ginny muttered.

"I won't die, but I can't promise that someone else won't," Draco shot back, glaring at her.

"Fine, you want them back?" Ginny asked angrily, going to the cupboard and pulling something out. "Here," she said, shoving what could only be a lollypop into his hand.

"What the bloody hell is this?" Draco asked.

"It's a sucker, you ignorant prat." Ginny hissed. "You can put that in your mouth instead of a cigarette."

"Unless its nicotine flavored, don't count on it." Draco muttered angrily.

Draco searched the house from top to bottom, looking for his beloved cigarettes. Didn't she understand that he was stressed beyond belief and needed something to calm his nerves? That 'something' being, of course, his cancer giving friends.

Ginny came back from a day of shopping (for clothes, mostly, since the only ones she had had been sitting in a hospital locker for centuries and had developed a strange odor that wouldn't go away), to find a peculiar sight at the kitchen table.

Draco was slouching in a chair, his arms crossed calmly on the table. There was a disgruntled look on his face as his eyes stared down at a lollipop stick in his mouth. The strange thing was that the end of the stick was slightly burnt.

"...Do I want to know?" Ginny asked, pulling the stick out of his mouth and examining it closer.

"I mistook it for a cigarette." Draco muttered, his face like stone.

"...because you're crazy...?" Ginny offered kindly.

"Because I'm becoming bloody delirious from withdrawal!" Draco yelled angrily, glaring slightly up at Ginny.

"Look, if you want your cancer sticks back, just say so." Ginny said, crossing her arms.

"I want my cancer sticks back." Draco said desperately.

"No," she said.

"But you just said—"

"I'm going to go take a bath," Ginny said lazily, laying the burnt lollipop stick in front of Draco. "can I trust that you won't light anything else on fire while I'm gone?"

Draco glared at her smirking face and pouted childishly.

Ginny grabbed his lighter from the table, shouting, "Just in case!" over her shoulder as she started up the stairs, two at a time.

Draco sat at the table, still looking quite perturbed, for a while. How could she be so cruel? What had he ever done to make her take away his only means of stress relief? I mean, sure, he wasn't exactly pleasant to her back at school. He'd called her a few—rather creative, in his opinion—names, mocked her family, and wasn't particularly hospitable toward her friends, but, really, that was all in the past now!

He'd been nothing but wonderful toward her ever since she'd come to his cottage. Given, that was only a week, but that's longer then he'd ever been nice to someone before.

There was something extraordinary about this little Weasley. She had a strange effect on him—sort of like a memory charm. Whenever she was present, he forgot about the things he'd been worrying about, and the reasons why.

She also, when wearing or saying the right thing, made him blush. Now, for most people this is completely common, but not for a Malfoy. Blushing or being flustered in any way was a big no-no according to the Malfoy Creed. And just because he'd betrayed his family by becoming a double agent, and was probably disowned by now, didn't mean he would disregard the rules he'd been brought up on. Well, except for the one that read: Thou shalt never be anything but hostile toward muggle-lovers—lest they be of a higher station then thou (i.e. Ministry of Magic).

Draco's train of thought was interrupted by a strange sound. Well, to be fair, it was more pleasant rather then strange. It was music. The only reason it was peculiar at all was because Draco had no idea where it was coming from.

Almost cautiously, Draco got up from his seat and followed the sound of the music. He walked up the stairs, paying more attention to the music then where he was going. As he walked along the hall, Draco could hear that there was more then music, there was singing—a pure, almost raspy at times, voice that went perfectly with the strong piano music in the background.

Draco finally reached the door where the music was coming from, and pressed his ear up against it. He could now, just distantly, hear another voice. It was singing along with the lyrics of the song, seeming to be singing the words a quarter of a beat late—almost too lazy to catch up.

Draco knocked on the door twice, waiting for a response. But it seemed the music was too loud for the person inside to hear. So, very cautiously, he opened the door just enough to stick his head in. What he saw made his mouth drop.

Ginny was lying, naked, in a bathtub filled with steaming water. She was singing along, naked, to music that seemed to be coming from no where. And, her naked arm was resting against the side of the tub with a wand in her hand. She seemed to be conducting, naked, to the music, and Draco had a hunch that that was where the music was coming from. And, she was naked.

Draco's eyes were as wide as they could go as he watched Ginny's pale breast bob up and down with each breath. Her head was leaned back, resting against the edge of the tub, and her eyes were closed as she sang along with the music. Draco watched as Ginny lifted her hand out of the water to brush a stray curl from her face. Her skin seemed to be steaming when it emerged from the water, and Draco couldn't help but notice how her breast lifted up out of the water when she raised her arm like that.

Suddenly, before Draco could move, Ginny's eyes shot open and her head snapped in his direction. She must have felt his eyes on her.

Draco stood there, rooted on the spot, too shocked to move. Ginny, on the other hand, dropped her wand in the water as she attempted to cover up every inch of her body. Which, truth be told, was quite a difficult task. She ended up overbalancing and falling completely into the water, arms and legs flailing.

While her head was submerged, Draco got the feeling back in his legs and was able to slowly slip away, closing the door behind him.

Draco was beginning to walk away at a rather quick pace, but he wasn't fast enough. After a series of splashes and swearing, the bathroom door was wrenched open by an extremely wet—and rather red in the face—Weasley. Luckily, she had thrown on a bathrobe. Draco braced himself and turned around; plastering the most innocent smile he could muster on his face.

"Irish, babe, how are you?" He asked, laying it on thick.

Ginny took a few calming breaths, but her face just turned from red to scarlet.

"I'm going to say something that I didn't think I'd have to clarify," she said calmly. "Don't walk into the bathroom when someone else is in there!"

"I—I forgot it was the bathroom," Draco said truthfully.

"Oh, that's rich," Ginny said, putting her hands on her hips. This swift movement caused her robe to open a bit, revealing nearly half of her left breast. Draco couldn't help but let his eyes wander, and he noticed that flush from her face had traveled downward. But his gaze quickly went back to Ginny's face when she realized where he was looking and angrily crossed her arms over her chest.

"What makes you think you have the right to walk in on me naked?!" Ginny yelled.

"Honest, Ginny, I had no idea you were naked." Draco said, trying to calm her down.

Ginny glared at him, shaking back her wet hair in annoyance as it clung to her face. A single drop of water fell from a strand of her ginger locks and traveled down her chest, leaving a ghost trail in its wake.

"Draco!" Ginny yelled. His head snapped up so fast he could hear it crack. Damn it, he'd been staring at her chest again, and she looked angry.

"Wha?" was all that Draco could say.

"I asked you how long you'd been standing there." She said through gritted teeth.

Angry really was a good look on her. She was all flustered and glaring and wet—bloody hell, Draco, focus!

"I—uh—not long!" Draco said quickly, stumbling over his words as her glare increased. "Ginny, honest, I didn't mean to just stand there. It just...surprised me."

Ginny still looked angry beyond words, but, in vain, she tried to speak.

"I—you—you can't just—ARG!" she yelled, seeming too enraged to form complete sentences. Finally, throwing her hand up, and unintentionally revealing more of her chest to Draco, she yelled, "I'm going to bed!" and pushed past him, slamming the door to her room with a snap.

Draco rubbed the back of his neck in thought. He was definitely in some deep shit. Not just because Ginny was angry with him, but because now he knew that his plan to stay strictly friends with her was out the window.

Ahhh! School is eating me alive!!!!

::ahem:: sorry. But school is eating me alive. I have two essays to write, and a chapter of ::snore:: history to read, and so many things I think my head will explode! But I'm sure you all don't want to hear this.

Anyways, I muchos luffos all of yous guys, but I have some bad news. Well, it might be good news if you think my rambling is annoying. So, yea, school has magically made my me-time disappear, so I have to cut down the thank yous to my LOVERLY reviews to, like, a sentence. It's tearing me apart, but if I write you each a lovely, lovely paragraph, then I won't have time to write my History paper, and my teacher will kick my tiny little ass. And he's a pretty big dude, so, yea.

Krispykreme1468: heehee, 'cute' and 'aw' are the bestest compliments. And, totally off topic, but me gusta mucho Krispy Kreme. Now I want glazed doughnut. With sprinkles. And pie...

Gin: Harry annoys me a lot too. Welcome to the club. It's called the I Hate Harry Cause He's a Whinny Dumb-Ass Club. Not very creative, but that doesn't make us hate him any less.

QuirkyWriter: Thank Zeus you think this story has unexpected twists. I hate being predictable. Did you know that Draco would see Ginny naked this early in the story? Huzzah! Unpredictable!!!

TarynMalfoy88: Ah, Taryn. Taryn, Taryn, Taryn. I already feel like I know you so well, just because of your name. You don't happen to be an actress, live in LA, and have a Bengal Tiger living in your apartment, do you? No, I suppose that's just my Taryn. Le sigh.

Alee710: heehee, scenarios are fun. Did you think up the scenario of the author giving her own little 'don't smoke, damnit!' speech and then tying it all up with some good, clean nudity? No, I suppose not.

Actrez: heehee, nekkid. Heehee. That's the bestest word ever. It reminds me of our southern side of the family. They butcher words like nobody's business. Naked, wash, milk—when will the madness stop?!

Bigsmile737: Yea, I never liked Harry to begin with. I'm like, "Dude, what's with the hostility towards my loverly Draco?" Then he threw that 'Potter Stinks' button at Ron's head, and that was the point when I gave up all hope and began to hate him with a seeeeeeeething passion.

Sunflour: Yea, my mom's addicted to 7th Heaven. Luckily, that's on when I'm at school, so I don't have to suffer though it. Same with Dawson's Creek. So, when I'm sitting through my evil, evil Algebra classes and dying of boredom, I remember that I could either be here, or at home watching those cheesy happy endings. ::shiver::

Fcuking cathy: heehee, have you ever read the poem called 'Die Potter Die'? It's in the story Diaries of a Dungeon Dwelling Moron. Tis funny. Why am I plugging other people's stories like it's my job? We may never know...

Purus.flere: Finally! I know what your name means! Feels good. I wish I had an oober-cool name like you. I was thinking of changing it—but I'm too lazy to think up an oober-cool name. Le sigh.

Foags: lol, well, you know some of what happened while Ginny was there. Tis pretty racy—so who knows what'll happen next? Something dirty, let's hope. Muhahaha, only I know. I feel the power!!!

Prexus: No freakin' way! I had an American Girl doll too—well, almost. I saved up my money to by the Molly one, but then I went to the toy store and bought this cheap-ass Babysiters Club doll. Big time rip off. If I could do it again, I'd get the red-headed American Girl doll. Which one did you have?

Mo the Deatheater: heehee, yea, even though I'm all "Tobacco is bad, damnit!" I too think that Draco with a cigarette in his mouth is damn fine. Sure, maybe he'll die of lung cancer in his thirties, but we'll solve that problem when we come to it...

Evilkitty51: Woot! You are the man/woman! Shirley Temple indeed. My sister kinda looks like her. But no one can dance/sing/act like Shirley.

ginevraXmalfoy: Oh, no, please go on. "A slow, painful, and drawn out death..." That just sounds peachy-keen to me! Maybe cut off Harry's legs and chop them into tiny pieces with a rusty saw. And then mix it into a bowl of chili and make him eat it. Yummy...

Skanky Gryffindork: heehee, I'm watching South Park right now!!! It's the one where Cartman drinks Kenny's ashes. Sooooo good. By the way, I like your name. Tis mucho funny. Gryffindors can be skans too, god damnit!

Whooch: I'm so happy you guys think this story is new and refreshing. I was so scared there'd be a gillion other stories just like this. Thank God something I wrote was original.

WiDz: You care about Harry? Silly person. Don't worry, though, I won't kill him...yet. Muhahaha!

Persephone 4: heehee, I like what I'm hearing. J.K. Rowling really needs to consult with us before deciding who to kill off. I mean, honestly, who has a better idea of which character is loved (Draco!) and which isn't (Harry!)?

Brokentoy19: lol, yea, Draco and Ginny living in close quarters is going to be oober-fun to write. Already we have nudity, what next? Something dirty, let's hope.

Sinful delight: heehee, Ginny's breakup letter was cruel—and that's the way I like it. I loathe Harry. He's a smelly butt—I just like Draco better. Alls well.

Blatant Discontent: lol, no silly, not Curly Temple. Learn your entertainment! I hope you liked this chapter. Personally, I didn't, but alls well.

Kneh13: Thank God! Attention everyone: Ginny is not in Cho territory—repeat, she is not in Cho territory. It's all good, people, it's all good.

Dracosbaby7: I know, I wish I was Ginny right now too. Besides the whole having-to-go-out-with-Harry-for-a-bit thing, she has it made.

Jay jay the jet plane: heehee, it seems possible? Cool! Yea, I've read a couple of weird ones too. Something about Draco turning to a baby and Ginny taking care of him.... yea. Pretty damn weird.

Lauren: lol, don't worry. I don't kill Harry. I'm not that mean! Sorry I made you cry though—although I guess that's a good thing. Well, not good as in I'm happy you cried (definitely not!) but good as in that means I wrote it believably....that is so not a word.

The Good Girl: Yea, that movie did kick some major ass. It was so sad, though. And I was all, "No Jennifer Aniston! Don't do it! Don't make it angsty! Be funny—like Rachel Green. Channel Rachel Green!"

WantingGravity: omg, I love the Simpsons too! But—alas—I love South Park more. I suppose it's just that I get enough of the whole animated family scene with the Simpsons and Family Guy, and I just needed a couple of fourth graders killing Kenny and swearing their asses off. Le sigh.

Timra: lol, yea, Harry kinda is like Ginny's brother. Ewww, incest!!!! Bad mental image!!! Must...poke...out...own...eyes...

Hadhafang: haha, yea, I'd take Draco and Ginny over that dumbass Harry any day. ::tear:: no more Healer Kelley cause no more hospital. But fear not! Draco is still here, and he's hotter then ever!!!

AnitaBlake/Buffyfan: Yea, I loved writing long, inarticulate reviews. But, alas, school has once again taken over my life and I'm left with only enough time to say this: ::peppy smile:: Thanks for your review!

Straycat: Oh my freakin' gosh! I JUST watched the one about a lord of the rings video that turns out to be porn! And I loved the part where some other kids were playing Harry Potter, and Cartman called them stupid pansies. Heehee, we are stupid pansies. And damn proud!

Herbie: "Yo no comprendo." Of course! Muchos gracias. Yo hablo un poco espanol. Mi espanol.... how do you say 'sucks ass' in Spanish?

NOTE DAMMIT!: Um, yea, hi. So, thanks to everyone who's reviewed and read my story so far, cause y'all rock more then my socks. You also rock my shoes and my coat and my hand puppet Mr. Hanky. ::sigh:: Oh, I how I love South Park....um, I've lost my thread.... anways, thanks muchos!!!!!

If you want me to e-mail you when I update, just give me you e-mail address in the review and I'd be happy to do it :)