Chapter 4

Diagon alley

The leaky cauldron, Diagon ally.

August 8 th, 2004. 9 o'clock am.

The next morning Ginny, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Charlie and Mrs Weasley all wake up early to go to Diagon Alley. Ginny tucks Draco's list in her pocket with the small sack of money that he gave her to use and she follows everyone to the fireplace to floo there. When they arrive in the Leaky Cauldron everyone in the small pub automatically trains their eyes on Harry. Ginny just rolls her eyes and taps her mom on the shoulder.

''Hey Mum, I've got some things to do. Can I meet you guys back here at like noon?'' Mrs Weasley nods absentmindedly and sort of waves Ginny on before turning back to the rest of the group. Ginny rolls her eyes again and saunters out of the pub and out to Diagon Alley.

The first thing she does is go to Flourish and Blotts to order the art things for Draco. He had said that she could keep the extra galleons for payment of her troubles but she didn't know that she would still have almost 75 galleons when she had finished ordering his supplies. She almost refuses to use it all but she thinks about it and, with a smirk, decides that it should be payment for all the hell he had put her and her family through. She laughs a little evilly and decides to browse a bit... She looks through the various books and such before finding the romance novels. She glances around to make sure there is no one she knows before sauntering down the isle, searching for her favorite series. She walks her fingers along the spines of the books and lets out a happy gasp when she finds the book set she is looking for.

'' Leather and Corset Laces...'' She whispers the title to herself, grabbing all five of the paperback set, the first of which has a man and woman in a rather passionate embrace that glance up and wink at her every few minuets. She laughs and heads for the counter.

At the front of the store she runs her hand along the glass counter, looking down at the stationaries on display with vague interest. She lifts her hand from the glass and just as she is about to turn to pay, she notices the most adorable stationary she has ever seen! She lets out an excited squeal and a giggle and leans over the display to get a better look. The parchment is cut into 13 inch pieces and along the top of each sheet is a 1 inch strip where three kittens are frolicking on each sheet. The cashier steps over to her and smiles at her obvious delight.

''Do you like them Ma'am?'' The cashier asks twinkling at her from behind the counter. Ginny looks up and nods excitedly.

''I love them! Kittens are my favorites...'' She says, turning her attention back to the parchment. The cashier nods and pulls the box out, setting it on the counter for Ginny to see. ''How much?'' She asks, reaching out to gently stroke the enchanted kittens.

''Three-hundred sheets for a Galleon.'' He says evenly. Ginny nods and smiles at him before pulling a Galleon out of Draco's money purse and setting it on the counter. She moves over slightly and starts looking through the quills, laughing at the gaudy peacock quills like Lockhart had in her first year and the golden feathered phoenix quills. She finally chooses one of the unbreakable, golden-tipped quills and happily pays for all of her things.

Ginny steps into the cool air of the new shop and shakes a hand through her wind blown hair. She looks around with interest and smiles as a young chestnut haired girl comes from the back of the shop.

''Hello! Welcome to my humble store! How may I help you Ma'am?'' The girl asks with a heavy accent that Ginny cant quite place. Ginny smiles and steps over to the girl behind the counter.

''What sort of shop is this?'' Ginny ask, leaning over the counter and glancing around. The girl behind the counter smiles and waves a hand indicating the large selection of shelves.

''This is a Chocolate specialty store... I can find the perfect chocolate for anyone.'' She says with confidence. Ginny perks up, thinking of Draco.

''Really now? ... Hmm. Maybe you can help me then.'' Ginny says, with a certain twinkle in her eye. The girl smiles back at Ginny.

''Ah! Of course! A gift I suppose? A special someone?'' Ginny nods.

''Yes, I suppose you could call him that... How could I figure out what his favorite would be?'' Ginny asks turning her attention to the girl behind the counter.

''Hold on a minute and I'll be right back.'' The girl says, disappearing into the back again. Ginny wanders away from the counter and begins exploring the shop.

Along the walls of the shop are shelves and shelves of various types of chocolate. Everything from raspberry filled to blood flavored to chocolate that tastes like a four course meal... Ginny laughs at some and shudders at others, (mainly the blood filled ones). She watches some of the enchanted ones as they move around and she even finds a tank full of chocolate snakes with stripes in various different flavors. She jumps slightly when she hears a book being slammed down on the front counter.

''Alright, now what you do is... come over here so I can show you silly!You can't do it from all the way over there...'' Ginny giggles and heads back over to the counter. ''Good. Now, hold your hand over the book and think about the young man that the gift is for. Think of everything that makes him who he is... Good! Good. Now, open your eyes.'' Ginny complies and find the book settled open now, showing a pile of chocolates in the shape of Galleons. She laughs out loud. It just figures...

''Cool... Can I try one before I buy them?'' She asks, looking a bit closer at the picture. The girl automatically sets a large tray of them in front of her. Ginny grins and takes one of the chocolates wrapped in gold foil. As the chocolate melts across Ginny's tongue, she tries to place the taste. The chocolate is like nothing she has ever tasted before, she cant quite place the flavor but it definitely seems familiar to her. She shuts her eyes and tries to pick out the flavor, thinking of everything she can that it might be... ''Chocolate and... a rainy day?...'' She laughs. ''How can a rainy day be a flavor?'' She asks turning back to the girl.

''Romani secrets...'' the girl whispers playfully. Ginny laughs again.

''Ah! You're a Gypsy then... that explains it.'' She says, pulling the coin purse out again. ''I'll take a pound of them... I want them to last a while.''

Ginny looks at her watch and gasps when it reads 11:45. She hadn't realized that so much time had passed and she quickly heads for the Leaky Cauldron to meet everyone else for lunch. She pulls her new trunk behind her, filled with all her purchases of the day and the last of the Galleons from Draco. Once inside the little pub, Ginny finds a booth and buys herself a butterbeer, watching carefully for her family. She watches the clock on the wall as it moves from lunch, to tea time to nap time and her good mood sours dramatically. She looks at the Muggle watch that Harry had given her the previous year. 3 o'clock. Ginny rolls her eyes. Of course they would forget about her. She sighs, deeply annoyed, and takes her trunk over to Tom (the bartender) for him to watch until she gets back. Tom smilingly agrees and Ginny steps back out into Diagon alley.

Once back in Diagon alley, Ginny searches the streets ahead of her for redheads and finds them a ways off. She heads in their direction and quickly catches up with them. When she reaches them and falls into step behind them, no one notices. She rolls her eyes.

''Do none of you care that I have been sitting in the pub for 3 hours waiting for you all?'' Everyone turns to look at her. Mrs Weasley speaks up immediately.

''Oh Ginny dear, I completely forgot about the time! Oh well, you're here now, thats what matters.'' Ginny gawks at her family and doesn't move when they all start heading for the next store.

''Look, I'm sure you guys don't need me around, I'm gonna go back to the burrow alright?'' She says, turning to walk back to the Leaky Cauldron before anyone even has a chance to realize that she had even said anything. She makes it about 30 feet from her family before a tremendous explosion knocks her to the ground. The air thickens with smoke and ash and Ginny is faintly aware of screaming. She stands carefully and turns to look at the smoking building behind her. She watches as a group of figures dressed from head to toe in black step out of the wreckage, their faces covered with skeletal white masks.

Chaos breaks out.

Ginny's chest tightens in fear. She looks around her but cannot find her family anywhere. She heads for an alley way leading off to her left, limping painfully as she realizes that she has twisted her ankle. She make her way as quickly as she can down the dark alley and peers around the corner, carefully hiding from the Death eaters. Ginny feels the ash burning her eyes and throat as she slips through the chaos that had broken forth at the arrival of the death eaters.

Moments later, a swarm of Aurors suddenly appear and begin sending curses everywhere. Ginny is forced to dodge a few and she just barely make it back to the leaky cauldron before the gate to Diagon Alley is shut by an Auror. Ginny turns to Tom for her things and a pinch of floo powder. Tom seemed quite nervous. But then again, who wouldn't be? Ginny smiled to him and gave him a reassuring pat on the arm before dragging her trunk into the fireplace.

Once back in the burrow, Ginny collapses out of the fireplace coughing hard. She looks up and her eyes fall on Charlie, laying on the sofa with her mother hovering over his unconscious form. Ginny's eyes grow wide as she sees the blood splattered across the front of his robes and the tears in her mother's eyes as she tries to clean him up.

''Charlie! What happened to him?'' Ginny exclaims, announcing her arrival to the room.

''Charlie was caught with shards from the explosion... Harry carried him all the way back to the leaky cauldron and held him in the fireplace to get him home.'' Ginny looks over at Harry, who is staring at the floorboards with an angry expression on his face. She can tell the signs now and this is nothing new... Every time there was an attack anywhere by death eaters, Harry would get angry. He seems to be building his hatred for Voldemort enough for him to kill Riddle once and for all. Ginny looks back over at Charlie and her mother. She can tell that her mother is scared but she refuses to let herself comfort her. Instead she kisses Charlie gently on the cheek and turns to take her trunk upstairs. As Ginny reaches the top of the stairs she begins to feel the weight of what just happened hammer squarely on her shoulders. She feels a tear slide down her cheek and feels the sobs clutching at her throat, begging to be let free.

The sob tears past Ginny's throat and she falls to her knees with her face buried in her hands. Out of Percy's room comes a very worried looking Bill. He stoops down next to Ginny and puts his arms around her.

''Ginny... Ginny, What's wrong?'' He asks gently stroking her hair as she cries against him. She tries to answer him but all she can do is point downstairs and cry. He looks that way and dashes down the stairs to help their mother. Ginny sits for a moment more, silently berating herself for crying and trying to calm herself. When she finally stills herself and rests her head on the side of her trunk, she hears a tentative call from the open bedroom door.

''Ginny?'' Ginny lifts her head in shock. She had momentarily forgotten that Draco is still at the Burrow. She gets to her feet again and steps over to the bedroom door. Draco is watching the door with a look that Ginny has never seen on his face before. Concern. ''Ginny, what's wrong? Has something happened?'' Ginny can still do nothing but nod. She steps over to him and pulls back the covers on the bed. She grabs Draco's wand from his bag and helps him to his feet. ''Ginny,Talk to me. What happened? Where are we going?'' Ginny says nothing, only helps him out of the room and down the stairs. He had grown a great deal stronger since he had healed his arm of the poison so her job is much easier. The two of them make it down stairs and Draco finally sees Ginny's problem. Charlie is still laying on the sofa, covered in blood. Mrs Weasley had not been able to heal him and he is quickly fading. Ginny shoves Draco's wand into his hand and begs him with her eyes to help.

''Please Draco. You know so much about healing...'' She pleads quietly. Draco stares into her eyes for a moment before setting his lips into a tight line and turning to Ginny's brother. When Molly sees Draco advancing on them with a wand, she throws herself over her son's body and stares evilly up at Draco.

''Get away from him! Don't you dare hurt him!'' Molly exclaims hysterically. Draco glares at her like she is a bug on the wall.

''Do you want him to live or not Woman?!'' Ginny steps forward and gently pulls her distraught mother away so that Draco can properly see Charlie. Ginny quietly reassures her mother and Draco kneels next to Charlie. He reaches out and rips open Charlie's already shredded robes to see the wound properly. He carefully pulls the torn robes away from the wound and examines the shards left in the boy's belly. A few glass slivers remain in the wound and Draco meticulously begins extracting each and every shard, sending them all to the waste bin. Half an hour later, he is sweating from his effort and panting slightly from the exertion of being out of bed. He passes his wand over the wound again, searching for internal injuries to heal. He mends three crushed ribs and a punctured lung, along with the external injuries from the glass shards before he finally sits back on his heals in exhaustion. With one, final swipe of Draco's wand, the scars disappear, leaving Charlie's stomach as perfectly smooth and tan as before. Everyone watches as Charlie's eyes flutter open and snap shut again with a groan.

''Bloody death eaters... Bloody lights...'' Charlie squeezes his eyes shut tighter and everyone's faces lift. Ginny suddenly jumps from her place on the floor and throws her arms around Draco's neck. One of his arms instinctively wraps around her waist and the other hits the floor as he falls backward. Ginny is giggling in sheer joy and everyone is greeting Charlie back to the world of the waking.

''Oy Woman!! I'm still hurt you know...'' Ginny jumps back off of him and grins wide.

''Oh Draco! You're wonderful!'' Ginny throws herself at him again and plants a huge kiss on his cheek. Everyone stares at her and she grins around bashfully.

''Yeah yeah... tell me something I don't know.'' He says with only the slightest bit less malice than usual. ''Right then... Can I go back upstairs now?'' Bill stands abruptly.

''Yeah, of course... I'll help you get back up.'' The family watches him leave the room. They suddenly seems to have a different view of the boy. Before, they were only keeping him because he couldn't be moved but now... Now they were glad they had taken care of him. Bill helps Draco struggle to his feet and Ginny pauses only to kiss Charlie before scampering after them. When Bill and Draco get back to the bedroom and get Draco situated, Ginny stands in the door shyly but with a smile from ear to ear. Bill pats Draco on the shoulder before leaving. ''Thank you Draco. You have no idea what that meant to out family.'' Bill grins over at Ginny and glides to the door, kissing her on the top of her head before leaving again. Draco glances at her and makes gaging noises once Bill has left.

''Ugh... Family bonding... should have left the little bugger to rot... Although I did get a little kiss out of it...'' Draco smirks at the look on Ginny's face and chuckles. ''Oh come on Phoenix, you know you want me...''

''Shove it Dragon.'' She traipses over to the desk and flops down in her chair. Her and Draco just stare at each other for a moment before Ginny finally averts her eyes and begins looking around the room.

''So. Did you enjoy spending my money today?'' Draco asks with a slight sneer. Ginny grins impishly and looks back over at him.

''Of course I did.'' She replies.

''Well, what did you get then?'' Ginny runs out into the hall and grabs her trunk from where she had left it a bit before, dragging it back into the room and setting it at the foot of the bed.

''Ah... a new trunk I see... I figured that would be something you would get.'' He says, watching her open the trunk and start pulling out her purchases of the day. She pulls out her new robes first. Two of them are school robes and the third are dress robes. She holds them up and grins cheekily at him.

''Model them for me?'' He asks, actually sounding as tho he is interested. Ginny gives him a playfully searching alert but accepts his request and traipses across the hall to change for him. The first one she tries on is her school robes. Having worn hand-me-down robes her entire life, Ginny's robes had never quite fit her properly. These, however, had been made specially for her and hug her form gloriously.

''Well? School robes. What do you think?'' Ginny is now standing in front of Draco, spinning slowly to show off the robes. His face reveals no emotion as he scrutinizes her appearance.

''Not bad... for second rate tailor anyway. Someone with your body should wear the best. Tho they are definitely better than those rags you usually wear... Next.'' Ginny raises an eyebrow at his words but says nothing as she steps out of the room and back in a few moments later wearing her second pair of school robes. Draco scrutinizes these just as hard. ''Not bad.... Hold on. Come over here for a minuet.'' Ginny walks over apprehensively within arm reach of Draco. He grabs her around the waist and pulls her over. She expects him to try something very Malfoy-ish but he merely begins picking at the seam of her robe. ''humph ... bad tailoring. I wouldn't have stood for it. Oh well... Next.'' Ginny peers down at the seam as she walks out of the room to change again, trying to see what he had seen.

Her dress robes are considerably different than her school robes. The neckline is so wide that each edge keeps trying to fall off her shoulders, the torso of the gown clings tightly to her figure and flares again after reaching a little bit below her hips. The sleeves are long and tapper along her arms, ending in little diamond shapes that cover the back of her hands, ending on both sides in a ring that slips over the middle finger of each hand. The material is a soft, crimson chenille fabric. Ginny steps back into the hall and steps the last few feet into the room. Draco stares as she enters and she grins at him as she spins.

''Not bad... not bad at all considering the poor quality.'' He looks Ginny up and down a few times, scrutinizing the dress. The shoulder falls slightly and Draco stares as Ginny reaches up to fix it. She sees his extra attention and glares at him a bit before striding from the room and across the hall to change.

Ginny unknowingly leaves the door open a bit to both rooms, leaving a free view for Draco as she changes back into her normal clothes. Almost against his will, he finds himself watching her. His heart speeds up slightly at the sight of her bare skin and his body starts reacting to her half naked form against his will. She isn't freckly like he had assumed, instead her skin is smooth and creamy colored, tho very pale. Draco is captured by her perfectly curved body. She is no longer skinny and bony like she had been the previous year... No, the littlest Weasley had filled out in just the right places and Draco feels himself nearly overcome by a fit of passion. He shuts his eyes and shakes his head. I can't believe I'm thinking this about a Weasley. What has gotten into you Draco?! The two of you even have nicknames for each other! Grr... This house is getting to you Draco... Ah... But where else could I go... No where... No where else would be safe. I hope my mother is alright... I swear... if that stupid bastard lays one hand on her... I'll kill him.

Ginny slips her shirt on and prances out of the little room that she had been changing in. Once she is back in Draco's room, she carefully folds the robes and sets them in the base of her trunk under his scrutiny. She smiles up at him and is slightly startled by the intense look in his eyes as he watches her.

''Draco?'' She says timidly. His eyes are stormy and he is watching her intently.

''Yes Little Phoenix?'' He replies, his voice huskier than usual. Ginny shivers slightly at the sound.

''Um... Would you like to see the rest of the stuff I got today or...'' He suddenly seems to break out of his odd trance.

''Right. Sorry. I must be a little tired. Please continue.'' He says shaking his head and settling himself deeper under the covers. Ginny nods and blushes slightly, very unnerved by his reaction.

''Well. At first when I found out how much you had given me I almost convinced myself not to use any of it... But I decided to but you a present instead.'' She says pulling a large sack out of the trunk and handing it to him. He quirks an eyebrow and takes the bag, carefully opening it and drawing out one of the little chocolate Galleons. He looks at her and she beams proudly at him. ''Its chocolate. The girl at the chocolate shop helped me chose them for you with a spell to find the perfect flavor for you.'' she says, watching him open the chocolate wearily. He sniffs it and looks at her suspiciously before taking a timid bite. She watches his face relax dramatically and his face break into a grin. ''You like?'' She asks happily. He nods enthusiastically.

''You'll have to show me this place as soon as I'm better...'' He says. Ginny laughs and agrees.