Disclaimer: I am not nor do I claim to be JKR. This is just me shamelessly borrowing from her.. if I'm just borrowing, does that mean I have to give them back?

Author's etc.: Ack! I am so sorry for not writing sooner. But sometimes muses' take vacations at the most inopportune times. Hopefully my old readers will forgive me, and my new readers will never have to endure it.

Chapter Ten

"Hey Draco!" Ginny shouted in greeting as she spotted him leaning against the Pitch stands, waiting for her.

"Hey yourself, Little One." He replied. Letting her give him a light hug. He didn't mind. It seemed natural for some odd reason.

"How was your break? Rake in any good presents? Villas? Small countries? Diamond mines?" She grinned at him.

"Eh, could have been better. Terribly busy with work. Funny, how most people think that being the only male heir to the Malfoy estate is all rainbows and kneazles. It isn't really, well, at least not every day. Barristers made me sign about a thousand different forms and year-end budgets had to be reviewed, not to mention the..." He could almost see her eyes glaze over.

"Forgive me, let's try that again. Holiday was dull and lonely, nobody gave me anything of interest, present company excluded. Thanks by the way." He leaned in and gave her a small kiss on the cheek without thinking about it.

For Christmas, Ginny had made him a new t-shirt to run in. She was very proud of it. It had taken her a whole morning going through her collection of Classics books to find the right saying. It looked like all his other shirts except for the phrase on the front, which read: "Wit is educated insolence."

Ginny had also received a present from Draco. It had been under the Christmas tree at the Burrow on Christmas morning and she had been very reluctant to open it in front of everyone when she saw whose handwriting was on the label. However, bullied into it by the Dream Team, and not wanting to appear suspicious, she tore it open for everyone to see. It was a stuffed animal, a Badger more precisely. A note around the neck simply said, 'From your favourite Hufflepuff'. She had burst out laughing and had garnered strange looks from everyone in the room.

"You too." She smirked at him. "I always knew one day that you would get in touch with your inner Hufflepuff. Though, I never guessed so quickly." She finished, chuckling quietly.

Without warning she took off. Leaping up and then flying high up into the air. Draco followed suit, and they were soon playing a lively game of high altitude tag. Both had missed practice over the holiday.

An hour later, they were back on the ground, sitting propped against the Pitch bleachers.

"Hey Gin, I had an idea over the break."

"Yea, what's that?"

"Well, how would you like to join me at the Slytherin table tomorrow for breakfast."

"Are you off your block? We'd get beaten to a pulp! Well, you'd certainly get beaten to a pulp. I'm not quite sure about me."

"Let me rephrase it then. How about Red Feather join me at breakfast? You know, stir up the crowd a little bit, get them used to seeing a red- tail around, just in case we're spotted on the grounds. Everyone will just assume you're my new Christmas present, and think nothing of it."

"I'm your new Christmas present?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

He fought the urge to roll his eyes. "You know what I mean Gin. Plus, it'll give you more practice on concentration."

She grinned at him. "Well, since you put it that way, on behalf of Red Feather I accept the invitation. Now how are we going to do this?"

They spent the next half-hour or so planning the following morning and then, reluctantly headed back to their own dorms and to bed.

The next morning dawned bright and chilly and students were eager to get downstairs for a warm bowl of oatmeal and a hot cup of tea. Ginny tagged along with the Trio but slipped out of sight when they got to the main floor. Draco met her in a side corridor and ushered her over to a large cupboard. She sneaked into it and changed into Red Feather. Draco then casually opened the door, carefully checking to make sure the coast was clear, and let Red Feather hop onto his outstretched arm.

"You ready?" He asked.

The bird nodded.

"We'll only stay a half-hour at the most. I figure you may have trouble concentrating with all those people around."

Red Feather nipped his finger.

"Oww! Okay, okay, you'll do fine. I take it back. Just don't bite, you witch."

Draco proceeded to the Great Hall, letting Red Feather hop up his arm to rest on his shoulder.

He made his way over to the Slytherin table and acted the same as always, eating breakfast and drinking his tea. Occasionally, he would stroke the feathers of the bird, or offer it a bit of toast. He spoke quietly to it.

The rest of the student body had taken notice of Malfoy's new pet immediately and watched as it took off to frolic with the owls when they had come in with the post. None had ever seen quite a bird before, as they are not native to the British Isles. There was a great deal of whispering around the Hall as students wondered what type it was, and how much it had cost. Some even hypothesized that it was a messenger for Voldemort, bred for carrying secret communique between Death Eaters. Well, just Ron Weasley thought that, but nevertheless it was thought. They were all focused so intently on the new feathered inhabitant of Hogwarts that no one, not even Ron, noticed that there was an empty spot at the Gryffindor table.

When Red Feather had made her impromptu flight with the owls. Draco looked toward the Head table to see if Professor Dumbledore had noticed. It seemed he had.

'That man doesn't miss a thing.' Draco thought as he took in the Headmaster's smile and twinkling eyes as he watched the red-tailed hawk swoop lower and lower, skimming the tops the heads of students. She finally found her way back to Draco's outstretched arm and then to his shoulder, where she ruffled her feathers and preened. Draco muttered to her.

"Show-off."

She tilted her head towards him and blinked innocently a couple of times, as if to say;

'Who me?'

He refrained from rolling his eyes at her. He had been doing that a lot lately, it seemed, insufferable chit, she was sometimes.

After he had finished his breakfast, he rose to leave the Hall. On his way out he came up against Weasley, followed by Granger and Potter.

'What now?' he thought to himself.

"Nice bird, you got there, Ferret. Never pegged you for a bird type person, always pictured you more on the level with toads and snakes."

"Yeah, well, I guess you assume too much, don't you Weasel. Now if you don't mind, move!" Draco started walking out the doorway as Ron backed aside.

"No problem, I'd just keep an eye on the bird if I were you, wouldn't want anything to happen to it, eh?" Draco turned and faced him and said carefully.

"Oh really? And if something does happen to her, it's not me you should be worried about; it's her that I'd be scared of." He left the comment at that and walked away down towards his rooms.

When the hallway was empty, Ginny jumped off his shoulder and landed with her feet on the ground, changing back into herself as she straightened up.

"If that git wasn't my brother, I'd have no problem whatsoever popping him one good." She uttered in disbelief. "I can't believe he said that stuff. How thick can you get?"

Draco just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. Why bother wasting precious speech on that sorry topic.

"Well, that was fun anyway. I better get going if I want to get to Ancient Runes, I'll owl you later!" Ginny took off, leaving Draco standing there by himself. He watched her until she turned a corner and then left for Potions.

The month and a half leading up to their testing date went by quick as lightening. They practiced almost every other night behind the Quidditch pitch, often beginning there but covering ground quickly and flying around Hogsmeade and into the hills beyond it. A couple times they flew all the way out to the sea to test their stamina. It had been a hard trip and was even more difficult on the return journey. They had returned exhausted and had slept in past noon on the following day, luckily they had done the trips on Saturdays so no one noticed if they had a lie-in on Sunday mornings. Red Feather also made the odd appearance in the Great Hall, or in corridors of Hogwarts riding on Draco's shoulder, students were now used to seeing the great bird of prey, and her worry of being caught lessened.

As their skill with their Animagi grew, so too did their own relationship with each other. It was so unassuming and natural that they barely noticed it anymore. It was just something that grew from spending so much time together and enduring so many successes and failures. They were barely conscious of it, themselves.

It was very different from most teenage relationships, though, and they probably would have noticed if either cared to examine it. One didn't find them sneaking off into broom closets to snog, or making puppy-eyes at each other across the Great Hall. Their relationship with each other was based in friendship, encouragement, fun, and acknowledgment. They both accepted the other for who they were. No assumptions and no disguises stood between them. It was simple, and would have continued to be, if only it weren't for everyone else...

Author's etc: Sorry about the mild cliffie, promise the next chp will be up soon! Tim Horton's Doughnuts for everyone who reviews! – cheers! sweetp

Note: Ginny's t-shirt quote is by Aristotle.