Chapter Two

Ginny rolled over, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. And yelped when she felt a sharp pain on her hip. She groaned.

She had forgotten, for a blissful while, what had happened. But now it all came flooding back to her. The Spooks. The no-name secret agency. 02-23. 07-16. The Crest. Draco Malfoy.

She shot straight up in bed, once again feeling the Crest. Ouch. She was in his apartment. Sleeping in a bed he owned. In a pair of his borrowed pajamas.

The sheets huddled around her were silver silk that shined in the sunlight. Looking over at a bedside clock, it read 2:52 p.m. She slid out of the bed and padded over to a full-length mirror sitting in a corner.

They had arrived at Draco's home that morning at close to 6 a.m. She had been so tired that she hadn't taken the time to look around at the place or notice what he had given her to wear to sleep in. Now, almost nine hours later, she stood staring at her reflection thinking that she looked like a Christmas ornament.

Her short, chin-length red curls bounced innocently around her face while a set of forest green silk pajamas clung to her body. Merlin, she hated silk. The pants were too long and baggy, as was the shirt. In fact, the last three buttons of the long-sleeved button-up were undone.

Green and red. Jeez.

She would have changed back into the clothes she was wearing last night, but she couldn't find them. They were gone from the floor where they had previously been strewn. Ginny walked out of her new bedroom and down the hall to where she thought she remembered the kitchen and living room being.

When she entered the kitchen, she found Draco already there, already dressed. He had on black slacks with polished black shoes and a white button up shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to just below his elbows and the top two buttons were undone, showing some of his chest. His mid-back length hair swung in a low ponytail, shorter bits of it falling around his face as he leaned over a newspaper.

He looked like he was concentrating awfully hard.

Ginny, being the brilliant person she was, opened her mouth and said, "Where are my clothes?"

If that won't get a guy's attention, nothing will.

Draco looked up, eyes wide with a deer-in-headlights look. "W-what?"

Ginny blushed, then frowned, realizing the stupidity of what she had said. But she repeated it anyways. "Where are my clothes?"

After a stunned moment, Draco pulled himself together. "They're being cleaned. They should be done shortly."

"Oh." A short pause.

"Where can I find a coffee cup?" she asked as she noticed a coffee pot sitting on the counter.

"The cabinet above and to the right of the sink." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

He watched as she made her way around him where he was sitting to the cabinet behind him. He had to admit to himself, she looked good in his clothes. That was always something he liked – seeing a girl in his clothes. The shirt was too long for her, so the bottom three buttons were undone. What she didn't realize was that every time she moved, her well-toned stomach showed in the gap.

Then she raised up to get a coffee cup, showing most her midriff.

He smirked.

She turned around and smoothed the shirt down, ignoring the sharp little stabs in her hip. And froze when she saw the look on his face.

"What?" she said, obviously not pleased.

The smirk widened.

"Nothing," he said, returning his gaze to the newspaper and brushing some of the hair out of his face.

She got her black coffee and sat down opposite him at the round kitchen table. He sighed and folded the paper back up, once again looking at her.

"I had a meeting with the Director this morning. We didn't want to wake you, it being so soon and all. He didn't expect to have an assignment for us already."

She just looked at him.

"We both agreed that, since we're living together and working together, we should put on the façade of dating. It would eliminate most uncomfortable questions. Do you have a problem with that?"

She just sat there, shocked. He was proposing that they fake-date? What was wrong with him? Although, they had been getting along rather nicely. He seemed less snobbish than their childhood days.

Ginny nodded, taking a scalding sip of her drink.

"Okay. Our cover story is that after you, you know, disappeared, you went to America. Sort of dropped off the face of the earth. I was visiting America for some unknown reason, and we happened to run in to each other. We hit it off after a few scathing remarks, and you decided to move in with me. Okay?"

"Why were you visiting America for an unknown reason?"

Draco's face became a careful mask where before it had been almost amiable. "Most people are convinced that I am on the Dark Lord's side. An 'unknown reason' would fit in perfectly with this."

"Well, how do you explain us 'hitting it off'?"

Very, very careful face. "After your disappearing act…Ginny, most people thought you went off the deep end and turned to the Dark. They couldn't accept that you could just quit."

Ginny's face darkened, and she looked down at the swirling black. She tried to squelch the anger that was threatening to burst over the edge. Her decisions were none of the wizarding world's damn business.

"Oh," she managed to squeak.

"Why are you on the Light?" she asked suddenly.

It was Draco's turn to go all angsty.

He only said two words. "My father."

It was apparent to Ginny that that was the end of that topic.

She threw back the last of her coffee and stood up.

"Shower?" she asked.

"Please do," he said.

She gave him a cutting look. "Where?"

Draco ignored the look. "The door across from yours. There's some salve to help ease any discomfort in your hip you might be feeling. There should also be a robe in there that you can wear if your clothes have not arrived by the time you're done."

Ginny walked down the hall and stopped by the door Draco had mentioned. She turned the handle and pushed the door open. She swept her eyes over the entire room quickly in a controlled expertise kind of way from years of being a killer. She was used to being an observer, and old habits die hard.

The bathroom was beautiful, glowing golden with the afternoon sun peaking through the high windows. It was smaller than she would have thought Draco capable of owning. The whole room seemed to be done in off-white marble, making the sunlight even more prominent.

She looked through the clear glass door to the two-person shower and noticed that there was no soap of any kind. After making her soap selections from under the sink and finding the white robe, she started her shower.

God, she hated these doors. She stood under the torrid water and watched her reflection in the mirror across from her. It was disconcerting, because she couldn't hide from herself. She was forced to see herself as she really was…an empty shell. Her solemn eyes looked out and across to their empty-looking doubles. No feelings, no remorse about what she did for a living.

Ginny stood like that until the glass doors fogged up and she could no longer see herself. She sighed, coming out of her daze.

She cleaned herself up, changed the patch on her hip, and slipped into the fluffy white robe. She then opened the door and peered tentatively out into the hall. She stepped out as Draco was coming from the end of the hall that she hadn't been down.

He stopped when he saw her. He looked at her for a moment with an expression she couldn't place before speaking.

"The assignment that the Director had for us this morning was simple. I don't know why he gave it to us," he looked off for a moment in deep thought. "Maybe it's a multi-staged mission. Anyway, we're supposed to meet someone for dinner at a classy, high dollar place. At 5:30. It's 4:00 right now. Since you're not going to have time to collect something from your many apartments, I took the liberty of having a house elf bring you a dress, shoes, and make-up. They're in your room."

"Thanks," Ginny said, clutching the robe at the base of her neck. "What are we supposed to be meeting this person for?"

"We're meeting a Mr. Harman and his wife. He is supposedly a major dark artifact dealer. I will pose as a young prospective client and you will pose as my snotty, high maintenance girlfriend."

"Okay," she said, nodding.

He nodded back and continued past her down the hallway. Draco called back to her, "Try to be ready by five."

She went into her new room, closed the door, and faced the bed. Lying on it was a simple black tea length dress with strappy stilettos. Lying next to the dress was a lush black satin cloak and a small bag that Ginny supposed make-up was in.

One hour. Ginny sighed and began to get ready.


a/n) I meant for this to be posted a looooong time ago, and for this chapter to be much longer. But my computer went psycho and decided not to let me open Word on it ever again. Pissed me off soooo bad. So I've had to fight with my Mom for control of the "family computer."

Spring break is next week, so I hope to update this and my other story again. I have to completely read through both of them to get the feel and the storyline back in my head. Keep reviewing!

Yours truly,

Peanut Butter