(A/N –I'm not dead. Sorry for not updating for so long…
Thanks for all the reviews. I know there haven't been that many but it is more than I expected. So thanks again and continue reviewing!)
About twenty-five minutes before the guests were due to arrive, Ginny and Draco went upstairs to get dressed.
They both walked into the bedroom, and Ginny quickly grabbed the bag she had hidden her clothes and other stuff she needed in, and headed for another bathroom.
"Hey," said Draco just as she was about to go through the door. She stopped short and turned to face him.
"What?" she asked sweetly, hoping he wouldn't ask her what was in the bag.
"Why don't you change in here…" he asked.
Ginny shrugged. "I dunno." She turned and headed out the door again. Draco shrugged and went on with getting dressed.
He pulled on a black wife-beater and a dark green silk shirt over top, which he left open. He then pulled on a pair of extremely baggy black jeans.
He went downstairs and started getting out bowls and filling them with crisps and other munchy snacks.
Upstairs, Ginny was in the bathroom getting changed. She put on the purple tube top and black skirt. She then put on her boots; "hooker boots," and laced them up the sides of her calves to her knees.
She magically curled her hair, and the pulled back two strands from the front, pinning them at the back. She fixed up her makeup and studied her reflection.
All of this had taken her about 20 minutes. She wanted to show Draco her outfit before the others arrived, so she hurried downstairs.
As she descended the final stairs, Draco turned from the counter. Ginny laughed as his jaw hit the floor. Eyes wide, he walked over to her, covering her mouth with his own and pushing her against the wall.
He'd never seen her dressed like this before.
She willingly followed his lead, easily leaning up against the wall. She slid her hands around to his back and under his shirt. After several moments of this there were three fairly loud popping sounds as Harry, Ron, and Hermione apparated into the kitchen. The couple broke apart.
"Uh oh," Hermione whispered quietly before grabbing Ron by the collar and pulling him backwards, out of reach of Draco. "I thought we agreed no attacking Draco tonight, remember?" she said with authority.
Ron glared at Draco but remained silent. Hermione cautiously let go of his shirt, and he remained where he was.
Hermione smiled widely at Ginny. "Hi," she said.
"Hey," replied Ginny. "Thanks for coming. How is France?"
The girls walked into the den chatting about France, leaving the three former rivals alone in the kitchen.
"Hi," Said Harry.
Draco smiled slightly. "Hey. Thanks for coming."
"Oh, no problem. What's been happening around here?"
Ron nudged Harry in the ribs with his elbow. "Stop talking to him!" he whispered. "He could use it against you!"
Harry rolled his eyes and continued trying to have a decent conversation with the young man in front of him. Ron shook his head and went into the den to sit with Hermione and his sister.
"Just ignore him," said Harry. "He tends to hold grudges."
Draco laughed. "I noticed. You want to sit?" he asked, nodding his head towards the den.
Harry shrugged. "Sure," he said. They followed the rest of the group into the den.
The den was quite large, with warm green walls and carpet. It was filled with black leather couches and armchairs. It also contained the fireplace that was hooked up to the floo network. Luna Lovegood was standing on the hearth with soot in her hair, along with her wand.
"Daddy wants me to owl him and tell him if there's going to be parental supervision. Is there?" she asked sweetly.
"Well…my dad's dead and my mum's gone on vacation…so no," replied Draco.
"Oh…" said Luna slowly. "But, your dad's not really dead though."
Draco looked strangely at her, and Ginny's eyes widened.
"What?" asked Draco.
"Well, Daddy says that the death eaters all pretended to be dead so that they could escape from Azkaban. It's in The Quibbler," she said. She fished around in her hair for a moment before pulling out a rolled up magazine, and passing it to Draco.
He unrolled it and looked down at it skeptically. When he say the image on the cover, he paled, jumped backwards and dropped the magazine to the floor.
Harry picked it up and looked at it, with much the same reaction.
"What the hell…" Ginny stood up and picked up the magazine. She too paled, but remained staring at the picture, never blinking.
Hermione stood and crossed the room, snatching the magazine from her friend's hands and looking at the cover.
"Oh, for fuck's sakes." On the cover was a picture of Tom Riddle at age 16, easily recognizable to anyone who'd ever seen him, at any point in his life. The memories that the picture brought to the three traumatized teenagers was obviously overwhelming.
Hermione pulled her wand out of her pocket and lit the magazine on fire, using a cold flame spell, and letting it burn in her hand. She dropped the ashes into a garbage can.
Draco wrapped his arms around Ginny, holding her close and comforting her. "Let's just forget about it. We can think about it later, ok?" Ginny whispered.
Draco nodded.
Harry was standing still with his eyes closed tightly. Hermione gave him a warm hug, and he relaxed. Ginny smiled. "Shall we get on with this party, then?"
As if hearing her signal, there was a whoosh sound and people began apparating into the fireplace. Within a few minutes, everyone they invited had arrived.