Author's Notes: I hope the delay wasn't too long. I've been away for about two weeks. This has been typed up for awhile, but my beta, Tristan2 is away at the moment as well, so this isn't beta read. I hope there aren't too many mistakes.
Disclaimer: Only the plot and Professor Packard are mine.
Miss Cellophane
Ginny wandered aimlessly down the halls for a good five minutes, wondering which way she should go.
It was surprising how much time was still left until her next class – it had felt like an eternity had passed in the Room of Requirement with Draco.
'Draco,' she thought, then she pushed that direction of her mind away for the moment and tried to concentrate on things that would actually make sense to her.
There were still the other books to get on the list, and it might be better to take them out at separate times – it would not be prudent to take out a ton of books about the Dark Arts all at one time. Ron would get suspicious if he saw – anyone would. Even if Ron, Harry, and Hermione were in their own world, the Keeper tried to keep one eye on Ginny some of the time.
But Ginny didn't feel like walking around a musty library at that moment. Although she did want to deaden her senses to the sensations that had been rushing through her only moments before, she needed time to think by herself.
So, she found herself walking to the Entrance Hall to go outside. September was coming to a graceful, colorful close, and Ginny inhaled the crisp air that was swirling around with more verve than usual. It seemed like it was going to be a cold winter, which she was not looking forward to, as she despised being cold in any fashion. The only reason Ginny appreciated the turn of fall into winter was because of the brightly hued leaves that fell from the trees around Hogwarts.
Spying a large orange one, Ginny picked it up and twirled the stem around absently in her fingers. The brown veins of the leaf in her hand were still thick with the reminiscence of the water that had flown through it, and Ginny resolved to keep it. She had shunted most of her childhood aside as soon as possible – in favor of tumbling with the older boys – but Molly Weasley insisted that Ginny continue to make her "Leafy Sheaves". They were cards of parchment with the large, beautiful leaves imprinted on them. A weepy Molly informed Ginny that they were "One of the only vestiges left of her babies, and that if Ginny knew what was good for her, she would continue to make them for her Mummy."
Once Ron had tried to make his own "Leafy Sheave", but he had not gotten the hang of how to make the imprint of the leaf on the parchment. Since children were not able to use magic, and Ginny often wanted to make her cards in secret, she had begged her father to let her have her own supply of Stickysap (one of the many uses for Stinksap, which came from mimbulus mimbletoniae, Neville would discover). But the sticky substance, so much like Muggle Super Glue – except worse – had to be handled with care. Ron ended up getting one hand stuck in his hair, and the other stuck to his face. The Twins had tormented Ron with renditions of the "If You're Happy and You Know It" song ("If you're happy and you know it touch your head! If you're happy and you know it, touch your face! Hey, Ron must be ecstatic – he can't stop doing either!"), and he had a rather embarrassing bald spot until Bill secretly did a Hair-Growing Charm on him. Needless to say, Ron hadn't gone near the stuff since.
Ginny chuckled at the memories and walked closer to the lake. She was about to sit down near the edge when a figure a little way away caught her eye. A disheveled blonde was busy at work picking up rocks. Brushing her hair out of her face, only to have the wind stubbornly throw it back, Ginny walked toward Luna.
"Looking for stones to skip?" Ginny asked the girl. The rocks bulging out of her hands were mostly the same – all small, gray, flat, and smooth.
"No. Looking for Flintwomps," she said distractedly, not looking at Ginny.
Ginny began to chuckle.
"Oh, sorry."
"Nothing to apologize for, Ginny Weasley. It was an honest mistake. Have you relayed my message to Colin? Did it help?"
Ginny nodded resolutely.
"Just now you've reminded me to thank you. It was great advice."
"You're welcome. To repay me, you can help me look for Flintwomps for the rest of lunch."
Ginny's eyes widened. Then she smiled and shook her head.
"Sure, Luna."
Turning away from the girl's bent back; Ginny crouched low and picked over some of the stones.
"Wait – what exactly am I looking for?"
Ginny poked through the sandy earth and dusted some of the rocks off; she didn't receive an answer.
"Luna?"
When Ginny turned to the side to look at her fellow sixth-year, she found that the wide-eyed girl was staring at her.
"Er, something the matter?"
"I was joking, Ginny Weasley," she answered. "About helping me."
Ginny wrinkled an eyebrow and began to rise. "So you don't want me to help?"
"Help would be nice. I was joking, though. I like to look for things alone, I'm used to it, but companionship is sometimes nice. But we must not be at it too long – classes will start up soon." She turned away from Ginny. "Flintwomps look just like regular skipping stones. Except they breathe and have many, tiny little legs."
Ginny looked at Luna's back once more and smiled. "Have you found any yet?"
"No," said Luna resolutely. "But they are there, just hiding. And now that you are looking for them too, they might try to hide even more now."
"Should I stop?" Ginny asked her voice full of confusion.
"No," Luna answered. "After hiding for a long time they get bored – and tired. They will come out sometime. You will see."
Twenty minutes later the pair had not found any Flintwomps, but they had a good supply of skipping stones.
"It's too bad," Ginny said, with an actual note of disappointment in her voice. "I was looking forward to finding some."
"Another time," Luna assured her. "If you want to come out again we will find them. Or we will find something else. You never know."
Ginny looked at Luna and nodded. The girl was definitely quirkier once one got to know her, but she was also wiser, and nicer than anyone gave her credit for. And she had a quality about her that made anything seem possible.
Heading back up the castle, they passed by the Greenhouse and Ginny realized how much ground they had covered. Seeing a figure in the large windows, designed to give the plants optimum sunlight, Ginny saw Neville's familiar figure watching her companion and her leaving the grounds.
Ginny gestured for Neville to come with them and looked at Luna to get her to help, but Luna was busy counting the stones they had picked up and something about sending them by tawny owl to her father. It was just as well, though, since Neville gestured back down at the plants in the various pots around him. He often did volunteer work there, but since he was so good at it and came so often, Professor Sprout gave him extra credit for it. From the look of Neville's gesticulations, Ginny noted that he was going to spend a few more minutes there.
She waved goodbye and saw him wave back after a slight pause and then return to his work.
"What do you have next?" Ginny asked Luna when they reached the doors. She held the door open for the other girl as her hands were full.
"I'm not sure, but it's not with you."
Ginny was becoming accustomed to Luna's blunt manner of speech and knew not to be offended. "Yeah, I know. We only have Care of Magical Creatures together, right?"
"Right."
They began walking up the main staircase. Ginny knew where Luna would turn off to go to her own dormitory, but of course she would not tell Luna that.
"I guess I'll see you later, then," Ginny said, unsure of how to say goodbye to her new friend.
"Of course. I will save you a space on the grass when we have our next class together."
Luna walked off, apparently still thinking about her rocks and Ginny smiled and headed off to get her own books.
When she came back down the stairs, she realized that she might not see Colin until after her next class, since she had Arithmancy. Luckily, Professor Vector hadn't assigned too much homework, as there was still a matter of a Potions essay that wouldn't die to finish up, and other assignments to complete. Not to mention the 'extra-curricular' work that she needed to go to the library for. Thinking about it a little more, Ginny decided that she might as well save getting those books for the weekend; maybe Saturday afternoon. It would be easy to get away from Colin's attentions – and Ron's as well, if he wasn't doing something with Hermione.
Never had Ginny been so eager for Hogsmeade visits. During those times, it would be easiest for her to stay behind – away from Ron's prying eyes. An added addition was that Hermione would probably take up most of his time, though with what, Ginny chose not to think about. But that was a distant hope for now. Proof of that came when Colin bounded up to Ginny.
"I feel like I haven't seen you in ages," he remarked, grinning at her. "Being away from you for too long makes me pine."
"Make sure your needles don't fall inside the building," Ginny replied evenly, "or Filch will have you in shackles faster than you can say 'Mummy'."
"Yes, Mummy," Colin retorted, swinging his arms.
Ginny raised an eyebrow.
"You're in a good mood."
"And I owe it all to you, Ginny-dear," her friend told her. "That Divination homework you helped me with was pure genius. I'm sure to get full N.E.W.T.s next year if you keep it up."
"So the old bat liked it?"
"Yes, the esteemed professor liked it," answered Colin, holding the Charms door open. "She even read it aloud in class."
"Great job in Divination, Colin!" said Mavis Butters, running in the classroom to retrieve her fallen wand.
Colin smiled broadly.
"Yeah, the red silk sheets strangling you were inspired," piped up another Gryffindor.
Ginny gave Colin a shrewd look.
"You do realize that no one in Gryffindor has red silk sheets, don't you?"
Colin walked past Ginny to get to his chair.
"I think your Inner Eye needs a good cleaning spell, Ginny."
"You should listen to your little friend, Colin," said an uptight voice from aside.
Colin's fists clenched and he pasted a tight smile on his face and turned.
"I'm sorry, what was that, Gavin?"
Gavin sat down and put his briefcase on the table. Opening it up with a sharp 'click!' from his wand he addressed Colin.
"You'll never get anywhere by telling tales. It's bad enough that you're trying to exercise your…well, I'm sorry to say so, but your rather mundane, commonplace abilities in a branch of magic as imprecise as Divination." He gave Ginny a winning smile. "One day – if you're ever up to it, of course – you should join Ginevra and me in our Arithmancy class. You're sure to find it more stimulating than any photograph or crystal ball!" He gave Ginny a wink as if they shared some great Arithmantic secret. Then he looked back at Colin. "But of course that's just a word of advice." He looked back down at his books.
Ginny thought that Colin was going to throw Gavin out of the window.
But instead, Colin handled the situation maturely and simply replied,
"And your advice is always welcome, Swotright. Oh, I mean Wotright, Wotright, of course!" Colin amended when Gavin looked up sharply at the word swot. "How silly and mundane of me to mistake you for anything less than the paragon for all that are perfect and admirable. Because you were never that kid who was beat up on the playground or enjoyed spankings from Mummy when he got his trousers dirty, were you, Gavin?"
Gavin gaped at Colin. "Of…of course not! What on earth do you –?"
"Let's begin, class! Let's begin!" squeaked Flitwick from atop his pile of books.
Ginny grinned like a Cheshire cat as she sat down next to Colin.
"'Enjoyed spankings from Mummy?'" Ginny whispered, opening her text.
Colin shrugged nonchalantly and picked up his wand, while inclining his head at a beaming Mavis who gave him a thumbs-up.
"C'mon; can't you just see it?"
Ginny chuckled quietly and began skimming over the instructions.
"Where's that Wotright bloke?" Ron asked, spearing peas onto his fork.
Harry smirked at Hermione when she reddened a little and Colin and Ginny grinned madly at each other.
"He's…he's indisposed," Ginny said, trying violently not to laugh at the boy who was seated as far away as dignity would permit.
"Yeah. He went to see his mother," Colin answered.
By this time, it was hard for the pair not to be under the table with laughter.
"This isn't funny," Hermione said.
"I don't mind," Ron put in. "He's usually as close to us as possible."
"Or as close to Hermione as possible…or as close as you'll let him come to Hermione," said Harry.
"Why does he look like that?" Hermione questioned Colin and Ginny.
"You mean like he's got a stick up his bum?" Mavis rejoined, listening in. She was staying away from Parvati who had yet to forgive her clumsiness with the jug of pumpkin juice. "I see no difference."
Colin and Ginny snickered.
"You should leave him alone! It's a sad day when people make fun of others for being intelligent. You should appreciate him, instead. He's the kind of person that's made Head Boy," Hermione chastised with a stern look on her face.
"Why do you care so much if he becomes Head Boy?" Ron asked with annoyance, putting his chicken down. Harry shook his head. Mavis made vulgar motions that included Gavin and a stick; Colin laughed appreciatively. "There's no need to fret over him."
"I'm not fretting for him!" Hermione argued, turning redder. "I'm sticking up for him. Stop laughing, Ginny!"
"Ah, you're just sore because a tightwad like Wotright is sweet on you," Ron insisted. "But I would highly advise that you not put him on like you are. Giving him hope will only make it worse."
"He's not sweet on anyone!" Hermione insisted, though she had no proof of anything otherwise. "He simply looks up to me as a role model."
"So he wants to be Head Girl?" Ron asked innocently. Harry snorted loudly in his cup and Hermione cut her eyes at him.
"No more than you," Hermione shot back.
Ron put his hands up in defense. "It's understandable that you think you need to help the man out, Hermione – I too see the resemblance between him and House Elf –"
Harry laughed outright at that.
"- but while there's an S.P.E.W., there isn't a G.R.E.W….or whatever it would be if you tried to save his sick life."
Hermione crossed her arms huffily.
"If I'd known that you felt this way about people having important roles in school, I would have thought more about being in a relationship with you, Ronald Weasley."
Ron was aghast.
"Are you mad? Are you really questioning going out with me because of a freaky little sixth-year who wears too-tight pants?"
Ginny shook her head sadly.
"Tact, Ron. Tact."
"I didn't say anything, Ron. You did enough talking for the both of us."
Ron threw his hands up to the heavens. "This is insane! Now you're going to put on that act that you get when you're angry but trying not to show it."
"I'm not angry."
"Yes, you are!"
"If I am, it's your fault!"
"Enough!" Harry shouted. "Hermione, we're sorry that we teased Gavin. He deserves more than that. It won't happen again. Ron, we should respect Gavin and not make fun of him. No matter how much of a tightwad he may or may not be. All better?"
"Hardly," Hermione shot back, but she stopped sulking. "It won't be better until all of you –" she gave her best friends, Ginny, Colin and Mavis a hard look "- get over your jealousy of Gavin."
"Over Gavin?" Ron mouthed to Ginny. Ginny kicked him in the shin.
"Sorry," Ginny mumbled, trying to sound as contrite as she could. Colin nodded, though he and Mavis were sharing a wicked smile.
"I mean it's understandable if he's a bit…high-strung," Hermione continued, eating once again, "but being Head Boy takes a lot out of you. You have to supervise every little thing – some people are terrible at following the simplest of directions and need all kinds of micromanagement. But then if you try, they get all snippy with you and call you all sorts of names." Once more she looked blackly at the people around her.
"Has our own, venerable Head Boy been giving you any trouble?" Harry asked suspiciously.
Ginny looked at them curiously.
"Who is Head Boy this year? I never bothered to ask once I realized that it wasn't you or Ron."
"It's Malfoy," Ron spat. "And he'd better not be messing with you."
Hermione shook her head, albeit reluctantly.
"Surprisingly, no. He still gives me the nastiest looks," Ron growled. "But we pretty much ignore each other. I don't even think I've said one word to him during a Prefects meeting – we just stick to nodding and gestures. And when we set up the meetings, it's by owl."
"Good," Ron and Harry said together.
"But he must have been in a bit of a pet today," Harry commented with a small smile on his face, looking at Hermione, green orbs intent.
"Understatement…very big understatement," Hermione replied. "He kept terrifying poor Gavin and all of the younger prefects into silence! I almost yelled at him for it, until he looked at the Prefect meeting supervisor and shut up. I swear that they were still shaking, though."
"Why's he upset?" Ginny asked, trying not to sound too eager. "When was your Prefect meeting?"
"On Thursdays we have it last period, which is really too bad because I'd wanted to take a course then, but it wouldn't fit in with the schedule."
"Only Hermione would be upset that she has a free period instead of class more than one time during the week," Ron jibed.
"It's not a free period!" The brunette insisted. "It's real work; changes that you might not notice are being implemented all of the time. For one thing," she said with a spark in her eye, "we got the second-floor corridor lav shut up – you know, Myrtle's toilet."
Harry and Ron's heads popped up with sudden excitement.
"Really?!" Harry said, overjoyed. "That's great!"
"I had no idea that Moaning Myrtle's toilet bothered you so much, Harry. Is it because that one doesn't have couches?" Ginny said slyly. "If you want me to tell you of a really good one though, go past the statue of Germaine the Laugh on the fourth floor…"
Harry had the grace to blush.
"It's not like that…"
"Myrtle's always had a thing for our Harry, here," Ron informed her.
Ginny shrugged. "But how does that matter if you don't go in there?"
The three seventh-years looked at each other.
"Well…in second-year, we made the mistake – once…of going in there. Ever since, Myrtle's never let up on asking for Harry to visit her. Sometimes she floods the loo if Harry doesn't stop in there now and then."
Understanding the way Ginny's mind worked, Harry went on quickly, "And we'd tell you why we went in there in the first place, except we wouldn't want to bore you with the details."
Ginny wanted to argue that she would not find the tale boring in any way, but she let it rest – for the moment. Eating in silence for a few moments while Colin chatted with Mavis, Ginny recalled when Hermione met with Draco.
"Wait, so you met with Malfoy last period?"
Hermione nodded.
"After lunch?"
Another nod.
"Why would he be in a pet?" Ginny asked, looking at her plate. Was it because of what had transpired in the Room of Requirement?
Hermione looked sideways at Ron and Harry; Harry nodded slightly, and Hermione went fishing in her pocket for something.
When it was placed on the table, Ginny had to suppress a moan.
Instead she asked, "So…er…is this the newest Prophet?" She flipped through the pages weakly.
Hermione nodded emphatically. "Turn to page DP2 – it's the cover story."
What Ginny had not noticed in the Room of Requirement was that a large, in color photo of Malfoy Manor was posted on the front page of the newspaper.
Colin eyed the picture interestedly.
"Couldn't have done better myself," he announced.
Ginny gave him a small smile and opened it to the right page; but she didn't look at it.
Ron looked at her oddly.
"Well, go on and read it!" he ordered. "This is one thing we don't mind showing you!"
Hermione elbowed him in the shoulder.
"Geez, woman; I didn't mean anything by it."
"You never do."
Ginny let the lovebirds squabble good-naturedly while she pretended to read the article. She had her fair share reading the tasteless drivel in the presence of Draco. When she was "finished", she looked up.
"Rita Skeeter is a piece of work," she settled for saying.
Hermione's eyes blazed furiously.
"I know! After I thought that hateful cow was reformed, she goes and writes something like this! 'Mere, Muggles'…She has no respect for what Muggle-borns contribute to wizarding society! And even if that poor family had nothing to do with magic at all, they still shouldn't be spoken about in such a brazen fashion. It's unforgivable! If I had my hands on her right now…" Hermione looked as if she was possessed by a malevolent spirit. "What the editors at the Prophet were thinking, I'll never know!"
Ginny agreed wholeheartedly on that point.
"Wasn't she working for Witch Weekly, though?" she asked no one in particular, nodding her head in Colin's direction. "We were just reading an article from there the other day, and it was by her."
Hermione shook her head 'no'.
"Well, I've heard that she doesn't really work anywhere right now. After her disgusting piece covering the Tri-Wizard Tournament, she quit her previous job and settled for freelance work – remember the exposé she did with Harry in your fourth-year? That was for The Quibbler. She goes wherever there's pay. I suppose, though," Hermione added with a sigh, looking at the paper, "that people settle for whatever is controversial instead of what's decent."
"The whole thing wasn't bad," Ron contested, grinning at Harry.
"Yeah. I loved the part about the world getting a grand tour of Malfoy Manor. If I could buy a ticket to that show, I'd spend all the money I've got."
Hermione looked at him sharply.
"Well, it's aurors only, so I guess that's not an option."
"Calm, down, 'Mione; there's no way I'd get in anyway."
Ginny fingered the gold tablecloth.
"All the same…" she said, thinking of Draco for some reason "Isn't the idea of a Ministry raid a little frightening?"
"Sure!" Harry exclaimed. "I can't imagine all that Lucius Malfoy's hiding away in his ferret-hole."
There was no point in her stating that the article painted Draco Malfoy in a bad light also. It sounded ludicrous even to her ears.
'Besides,' she thought, 'I doubt I'll feel that way the next time he insults me.'
"Then again," Harry added thoughtfully, "I doubt that Lucius Malfoy would be so stupid as to leave Dark artifacts just lying around."
Ron nodded mournfully. "Yeah, that's too bad."
The conversation continued along that same vein for awhile, but Ginny remained nervous that Draco might look across the Hall and see her with the paper opened in front of her.
"Thanks, Hermione," she said, pushing the article to the older girl. "It was definitely informative."
Colin looked up and grabbed at the paper.
"Would you mind if I kept it, Hermione – or at least borrowed it? The pictures in there might come in handy."
"All you want to do is gawk at Malfoy's house," Ginny protested. The paper was in the air, with Hermione reaching for it, and Colin still grabbing for it. Part of it was still in Ginny's hands.
"Actually, I need it," Hermione informed Colin. "But you can have it for now."
Ginny rolled her eyes. Looking back at the Slytherin table, she was startled to see Draco looking directly at them. Letting go of the paper as if it burned, Ginny noticed Draco get up and leave dinner with a furious look on his face.
"Wonder what's eating him," Colin commented, happily munching on treacle tart, the paper secure in his lap.
Knowing that the moment had been coming, but dreading it all the same, Ginny trudged to the Room of Requirement later that night to see if Draco was there.
They had not agreed on making the ever-changing room their permanent hiding place, but Ginny did not want to go all the way to the Ravenclaw staff room only to find out that he had been much closer the entire time. Bringing back thoughts of how the room looked earlier, Ginny found the same doorknob and entered the darkened room. He was there.
Ginny walked inside, and saw him looking pensively at the fire. It seemed to be a favorite hobby of his. Whenever he was troubled he seemed to find some kind of solace in watching the flames jump and snap at each other – it must have been a comfort to know that something else had a more chaotic existence than him.
Situating herself on the opposite side of the mantelpiece from him, Ginny tried to think of something to say. He was angry – he was always angry – and he probably suspected her of giving up his secrets to Hermione and the rest of the trio. Not that he had really told her anything, Ginny thought with mild irritation. There was also that nagging image in the back of her mind of the two of them sitting so close only hours before.
"I hope your chat at dinner had you rested up for what we'll be doing tonight."
"I thought we were supposed to trust each other," Ginny said calmly. "Jumping to conclusions isn't exactly a vote of confidence."
"And you expect me to believe that I wasn't the interesting topic of your conversation?" Draco's tone was unbelieving.
"No," Ginny conceded. "We were talking about you. But I couldn't do anything about it. Hermione's subscribed to a bunch of newspapers and read the article. If you were watching carefully, you would have seen that I was giving it back to her."
Draco rolled his eyes in an undignified manner, some of his anger fading after listening to Ginny's matter-of-fact honesty. "How could I forget? You've got your own copy."
Ginny only patted her pocket.
They stood in silence for a time.
Then, "What are we doing tonight?" Ginny asked.
Draco seemed to have to suppress swelling with excitement. His eyes blazed with the thrill of a plan that he had concocted in his Defense class. He could care less about whatever agenda Packard had. The Prefect meeting had changed his mind about lying low for a spell. If the woman wanted to be difficult, then he could play at that also. He looked at Ginny and wondered if she was up to the challenge he had in store. He had no idea if the goody-goody had ever done something of the nature he was about to inform her of, and Ginny only seemed to have a will of her own against him; the only reason for that being because she was usually too furious with him or too flustered by his actions to be coy. But she would have to do.
"We're sneaking into the library and taking the book."
Ginny's eyes narrowed.
"You told me to inform you before I did anything. That's what I'm doing."
Ginny was not appeased.
"Prefects will be patrolling all over the school."
"During the Prefect meeting today, Packard said that since it's the beginning of the year, she'll be going around with the new prefects and teaching them the ropes."
"Professor Packard is going to be on patrol tonight?" Ginny asked incredulously.
Draco only nodded, the intense glint in his eye deepening.
The redhead eyed him with the beginnings of anxiety.
"D'you have a plan?"
"Of course," he said dangerously. "Don't get caught."
Ginny looked at him blandly.
"This should be interesting."
"What are you getting up to tonight, Ron?" Ginny asked as she fell into place next to him on the sofa. "Well, besides making sure that Hermione's not keeping your nose too close to the grindstone."
Ron grunted with unappreciation at Ginny's mocking. A few textbooks that he needed for homework and some that he didn't were before him on the table.
"Can you believe that the year's only just begun and Hermione's already ordering me to study for N.E.W.T.s?"
"You can't blame her," Ginny said, defending her, "In your OWL year, you and Harry hardly studied until almost the last minute. These are ten times more important than OWLs."
Ron only grunted. "I've only heard that about ten times."
"Why isn't she here to 'oversee' you? I know that Hermione likes to keep an eye on you."
Ron gave Ginny another sour look. "Hermione and Harry are off at the library stealing all of the NEWT preparation books from all of the other seventh-years. She needed Harry to help lug the stuff back here, and I'm on probation, so I have to stay behind."
"Probation?" Ginny asked her brother.
He nodded. "I didn't make up my schedule like I was supposed to."
"I find it hard to believe that Harry did," Ginny admitted. "He's just as much a slacker as you are."
"Hey, we're not slackers! And Harry ran off to the library before Hermione could get around to asking him about his own schedule."
"So I suppose it's going to be another all-nighter hitting the books?" Ginny asked.
Ron shrugged. "I guess so."
Ginny patted him on the back. "How sad for you."
Ron put his quill on the wooden table and looked at Ginny suspiciously.
"Why? Have you got a hot date or something? Who is it, then?"
Ginny only grinned. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Don't be annoying, Ginny; that's why I'm asking you."
"And I'm not saying a word."
"Well it's not like you can go anywhere," Ron informed his sister. "Hogsmeade visits don't begin for another month."
"I don't need Hogsmeade to get what I want," the seventh-year replied cryptically.
"Ginny!" gasped Ron, feeling very much scandalized.
Amused by the fact that Ron had no idea what she really meant, Ginny began to laugh.
"Calm down, Ron – you don't know what I'm talking about."
"Damn right I do! It's not like, like…you know…like Hermione spends all of her time in front of musty old books! We do…get up to other stuff. I know what you're thinking about, Ginny –" Ron sputtered, scandalized; he got even redder when Ginny laughed harder.
"You're so gullible, Ron. We're probably just going to nick a butterbeer or something," Ginny lied easily, feeling only the remotest twinge of guilt.
Ron sat up. "Where do you plan on nicking aforementioned butterbeer?"
"The same place you, Hermione and Harry got it from," Ginny shot back, reminding Ron that she had not yet forgotten about the clanking bag from the night before.
Ron scowled and returned to his books. "Whatever."
Satisfied that her brother was just going to be doing work for the night, and that she had properly befuddled him, Ginny got up and headed for her room.
"Don't get up to anything you shouldn't, Ginny!" Ron called after her. "Or I'll tell Mum on you!"
About forty-five minutes later, Ginny decided that she was ready to emerge and make her thieving debut.
She had changed into darker, more comfortable clothes in the event that she would be forced to run if she were caught – and Ginny was sure that she would be.
Creeping down the stairs, Ginny peeked ahead of her to see if anyone was still in the Common Room.
'Blissfully empty,' she noted.
However, when she passed by the same chair Ron had been in earlier, she saw that he was still there, only sleeping. Ginny crouched next to him and smiled a little; Ron's low, soft snores proved that he had been in that state for awhile, and would probably not get up for another long while. Patting him benevolently on the head, Ginny rose from her crouch and looked momentarily at his finished schedule.
'Poor Ron,' she thought, with a hint of a smirk.
The only days that he had free were Thursday and Friday afternoons, and of course weekends. Ginny even saw that some of the Saturdays and Sundays that had blobs of color in them saying things like: Potions Revision, 2:00. Realizing with relief that Hermione would be out of Hogwarts by the time that she would be taking her own N.E.W.T.s, Ginny opened the portrait into the dark, desolate halls to meet Draco.
'He'd better be right where he said he'd be,' Ginny thought worriedly.
Every time the two of them tried to meet up in the night, it had been a hassle, so Draco decided that it would be best for Ginny to return to her Common Room and meet him in the library later. In the meantime, Draco hid out inside the library. The only problem would be that he would still be in his uniform – but that would not matter if they were not caught; Ginny would be the only one to see it. The best part of the plan, Ginny thought, making her way closer to the room, was that Draco could open the doors for her, and not risk Ginny making a lot of noise. As well kept as Filch kept the castle, Draco reckoned that Filch purposely left the library doors un-oiled and creaky to defer any students from sneaking in.
When she reached the double doors, Ginny nervously checked and double checked her watch to see if the appointed time that Draco was to open the doors had come. She peeked a few times through the round windows, but all she could see was the inky black of the night. It was terribly unnerving just standing out in the open. If any prefect should happen to patrol by…
"Hurry up, Weasley," a sharp whisper sounded from behind her back.
Ginny seized up, startled, and then met the cool gray eyes of Draco Malfoy.
"Come on," he repeated.
Ginny nodded, looked once more into the empty, torch-lit halls, and crept inside.
The doors shut with a dull thud, causing a deep echo to sound throughout the room.
Draco dusted a piece of imaginary lint off of his shoulder and eyed Ginny by almost nonexistent light.
"At least you're on time for something." He finished primping. "Fine; let's go." He began to walk off, but stopped when Ginny called after him.
"Hang on," she said in a lower voice than he had spoken in. "My eyes have to adjust to the light a bit. I can barely see anything."
When looking through the small windows, Ginny thought that there was no light at all in the library. On entering, she noticed that in the last row of books there were a few slanted rays of moonlight spilling in, though it didn't do much.
She wanted to sit down on one of the wooden chairs propped upside down on the various tables, but was afraid of the noise that might result. Instead, she fidgeted around on her feet while waiting to get accustomed to the dark.
"So…" she said, trying to make small talk. "Was it very difficult to stay here without anyone noticing you?"
Ginny couldn't yet see his eyes, but she was sure that he was rolling them by the tone of his response.
"If I had gotten noticed, I wouldn't be here right now. But, no, it wasn't so hard. I just stayed as much to myself as possible so that no one would notice me. Maybe this should have been your job, Weasley."
Ginny refrained from hitting him – mostly because she didn't know where his face was in the dark.
"Let's go, then," she said instead, fighting back immense irritation.
As they made their way through the various aisles and shelves, the unease that had abated in Ginny's nerves began to rise again. The closer to the Restricted Section they came, the quicker Draco began to walk. He could barely contain his excitement at doing something against Packard that he paid no mind to the clicking of his school shoes on the floor.
"We're close," he whispered to Ginny, looking over her shoulder to meet her eyes.
Although he was not purposely trying to be comforting, the steadfast look in Draco's eyes did just that to Ginny. She nodded and crept closer to him, wanting to feel as confident as he did.
When the sign that read 'Restricted Section loomed in front of them in Madam Pince's stern calligraphy, they ventured inside.
"Where should we begin…?" Ginny asked, rolling her wrists around. She took a look down the aisle and almost gasped. It was huge! There was no way that they could find the book without risking the light of one of their wands; and even then, how would they be able to cover it all?
But Draco was not deterred. "At the beginning, Weasley. Lumos. The name of the book is Disguises, Lies, and Curses. The author is Virgil Tonningsham – look for the letter't'. Not so hard, is it?"
For the next twenty minutes the pair sifted through the dense archives and tombs piled on top of each other. As organized as Madame Pince claimed to be, there were authors from the beginning of the alphabet at the middle, and authors from the end of the alphabet at the beginning. More than once Draco or Ginny would spy a book with a surname of't', just to discover that the next book in line belonged to the 'h's.
"We're never going to find it, Malfoy. I think it's purposely been hidden deep into the Library just to annoy us."
Ginny quietly pushed a dust ridden tome back into place and crossed her arms.
"Maybe we should just wait until tomorrow and see if we get permission from Packard."
Draco's face looked more sinister by the faint glow of his wand light.
"I refuse to ask her for anything."
"You aren't doing any of the asking. I am. And I think that bumbling around in the dark is stupid," Ginny argued. "We've been here for at least half an hour – something should have turned up by now. Why don't we just go to bed –?"
Draco stared at Ginny with utter disgust. "It figures that simply browsing through a library would be too much for the Littlest Weasley. Go on, then. I'm staying here until I find it." He turned away from her and peered at another almost indecipherable title. "My apologies for keeping you up past your bedtime."
Ginny remained silent for a moment and then sighed gustily. She continued to make her way down the aisle and went on the opposite side of the bookshelf that Draco was on. Ginny eyed Draco between the slits of the books while continuing her search at the same time.
"Where did you hear of this book in the first place?" asked Ginny curiously. It was hardly the time or place to ask questions, but Ginny figured that even talking to Draco was better than continuing on in the brooding monotony that the whole night had been so far.
"My father," Draco answered in clipped tones.
"Your father gives you books on the Dark Arts?" Ginny badgered unbelievingly. It was something that she would have assumed anyway, but to hear it straight from Draco's mouth was something else.
"He didn't give me this one, I found it," replied Draco distantly.
'Not this one, but surely others,' Ginny thought accusatorily.
"You snoop through your father's things?" she asked instead. "I don't know if I could do that, myself."
At that question Draco paused in his perusal and met Ginny's ever-curious brown eyes.
"Why are you so shocked, Weasley?" he asked the Gryffindor, silver eyes taunting. "Because I dared to look through my father's things? Or because I dared to look through Lucius Malfoy the Death Eater's things?"
Draco held Ginny's eyes and dared her to answer his question. But Ginny backed down.
Looking once more at the bookcase until she could feel Draco's eyes move away from her, Ginny wondered about what childhood in Malfoy Mansion must be like. Most kids pretended to be adventurers in their house: they would search nooks and crannies that had been long forgotten by their parents, and probably find something relatively exciting. Malfoy children discovered books on the Dark Arts.
'That's a sad thing,' Ginny admitted. Then she shook her head; she had no time for sympathies with Malfoys. 'Se, Sp., Sv, Sw., Te, Ten., To. …To. !'
"Draco!" she said loudly, deliriously excited over her finding.
But when Draco looked up to face Ginny, he saw her quickly turn her head away from him, and then back again.
"Did you hear that?" she whispered suddenly.
She could have sworn that she heard a dull thud sound somewhere in the library.
The blond boy glared at her, but his eyebrow rose at the use of his first name.
"No, I didn't hear anything. Go lie under your covers if you're afraid of the dark." Ginny listened for any more sounds, but she heard nothing. She shook her head once more.
"Malfoy!" she repeated quietly.
This time Draco looked furious, and he opened his mouth to give her a scathing reprimand for continually bothering him, but the sound of footsteps stopped him.
He paused at the same time Ginny did and looked at her once more, reevaluating what she asked him once more. She wanted to ask him what the sound meant, but he answered for her before she spoke.
"Shit," he cursed. "Someone's here."
Ginny paled with fear, but her mind continued to work.
"But we haven't got the book! We're so close! Look!" she insisted, holding up a book, "I just found the To.'s, so it's somewhere near here…"
"Let's go," Draco insisted. "We'll come back another time."
"If we could just have another two minutes…!"
Draco peered at Ginny with eyes of slate through the bookshelf.
"Get your bloody priorities straight, Weasley! Do you want to get caught?" he whispered harshly.
The sound of dull steps continued on toward them. Ginny shook her head emphatically.
"Then let's get the hell out of here!"
At the sound of an even closer thud, Draco grabbed Ginny's hand and yanked her toward him. At the same time, Ginny been tried to force the book back into place: when Draco jerked her, the book fell with a horrible thump on the floor. Ginny's body was pressed into Draco's, and she could see a flash of panic and fury intermingled in his eyes.
"You bloody fool!" she knew he wanted to declare, but he dare not risk getting heard. With more insistence, the steps that had halted at the sound of the fallen book began to pick up in speed.
Draco began to run. Cursing almost inaudibly, he remembered to call his wand light off.
At first, he had to pull Ginny after him, but soon she ran of her own accord but soon the muffled steps of her rubber soles were running at the same rate as the clips of his black shoes. Ginny's heart was beating so fast that she swore the person chasing them could hear it, and that's how they knew where she and Draco were. Then Ginny grabbed her arm out of Draco's grasp and pointed it at his feet.
"What the hell are you doing?" he said hollowly.
"Silencio," Ginny whispered to Draco's shoes. Understanding dawned in his eyes and they continued to twist their way back up to the entrance of the library, with no more telltale clippings of Draco's shoes, Ginny's hand making its way back to Draco's.
After what seemed like ages, but was really only the span of a few moments, Ginny spied the dim torchlight of the halls through the front doors of the library.
Pushing through them as quietly but quickly as possible, Draco and Ginny left the library.
Soon they were faced with another problem.
Ginny was panting with something more akin to fright than exertion; her hand was shaking inside of Draco's, but she was too out of it to remember that she vowed never to let anyone see her fear.
"We've got to find a place to hide…" Draco whispered. "We're right out in the open. Any prefect could find us right here."
Ginny nodded and began to head off in the direction of a classroom. The pair ran to the closest classroom, but it was locked – and neither wanted to risk using his wand. After making their way steadily down the hall, they eventually found an unlocked one and pulled it open. Draco hurriedly ushered Ginny inside, closed it, and looked through the small window to the outside corridors.
After a moment of nothing happening, when he felt the tension begin to ease, and felt it was safe enough to speak he let out a long breath.
"That was too fucking close…"
Ginny nodded in agreement.
"If this room had been locked, we could have just found a good broom closet," she told him, beginning to regain some of her own composure.
Draco smirked at her and Ginny belatedly understood the implications of what someone meant when the wanted to find a 'good broom closet'.
"Indeed."
Ginny froze.
Draco had not spoken.
Turning around, Ginny looked up to the front of the classroom and saw a golden nameplate gleaming in the dark. It was all she could do to suppress a gasp. She could feel Draco tense completely beside her.
"Good evening, Ms. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy."
They said nothing.
"I bid you good evening. What do you say in return?"
Draco's body was taut and strained as he paused, and then gave a curt bow. Ginny only continued to stare at the figure sitting calmly in the dark. She could feel all of the blood rushing to her face as horror and surprise crept in. Draco cleared his throat and seemed hesitant to say a word. At last he gave a frozen glare at the figure and opened his mouth to speak.
"Good evening, Professor Packard."
That's it for now. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please review!