Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.

Chapter 5- Miscellaneous Muggle Objects

Ron hated this. He hated it with a passion. He hated lying to his best friend, he hated that his sister agreed to this in the first place, and he hated being convinced into going along with it.

There was one thing he did love, however: torturing Malfoy. Hermione had told him to stay away from anything illegal. "Nothing illegal," Ron scoffed. "What the bloody hell do you want me to do?" he asked and Hermione just glared at him after that. She had known just as well that Ron would have very much liked to throw Malfoy into the ocean, never to be seen again. It was the only real way to protect Ginny from this monstrosity, yet it seemed he'd have to go through with his sister's version of things.

"Where's Ron?" Ron heard Ginny ask, pacing inside with the rest of her family. Inside the kitchen Ron could hear another conversation going on.

"My baby girl is not going out with a slime ball Malfoy, whether she agreed to it or not," Arthur said to Molly firmly. "I'm going to call it off," he said, taking two steps towards the kitchen door before being caught by Molly, who held onto his arm.

"Come on, Arthur," Molly said. "It's Ginny's choice. You know you can't force her."

"Watch me," he said. Grimness was written across his face. Arthur didn't trust this event anymore than Ron, which was a relief to the latter.

"Maybe he's changed Arthur," Molly said, going back to getting drinks for all her sons. They were all spending the night over, and she thought it a bit extreme to wait up for Ginny, who Molly had always been sure could take care of herself.

"Changed my arse, Molly, he's just like Lucius, and will always be like Lucius. I don't want Ginny sucked into that."

"I know, dear, but it's just one date."

"Just one date? Molly, do you realize what could happen on just one date? All it takes is that little—" Ron didn't get to silently cheer on his dad as he heard a pop somewhere nearby. He had his own plans which had to be executed away from the house.

Ron walked briskly to the source of the noise, seeing a blonde haired man his age, coming from the garden area, looking clean and sharp. Hair slicked back as usual, causing Ron's stomach to cringe with a feeling of ill will. There was something about the usual appearance that made Ron all the more skeptical of Draco. Ron moved quickly towards him and had Draco pinned to a tree before he could do anything. "Get off me!" he demanded.

"Not until you get it into your skull what's going to happen tonight," Ron said firmly, his arm just below Draco's chin.

"Oh, you don't think I can handle Ginny on my own," Draco asked with a smirk. "Trust me, Weasley, I can handle any girl. All it takes is a few glasses of wine and—"

"Shut it!" Ron said, Draco doing just that as he felt a wand being pushed into his stomach. "You won't touch my sister in any way."

"A gentleman has to help a lady step in and out of certain places," Draco said calmly, deadly.

"You won't, because you're not a gentleman," Ron said with the same force as the wand digging further into Draco's stomach. "You will take Ginny to dinner to a place of your choice, but it better be somewhere nice," Ron continued instructions. "Then you will bring her home, no later than ten."

"Why ten?" Draco asked, seething, though unarmed, his own wand too far behind him as his arms couldn't move. Besides that, Draco was pretty sure that the rest of the Weasleys would stop the date if they thought he might do the same to Ginny.

"Because I don't want to stay up too late," Ron said.

"You're waiting up for her?" Draco asked, taken aback by the fact.

"Yes, so you better be here by then," Ron said, loosening up and taking a few steps back. "Don't you have flowers for her?" he asked, though his demeanor didn't change as his free hand clenched into a fist.

Draco was just as angry as Ron, but more since he couldn't do anything to the redhead than at what had happened. "I do," Draco said, walking straight past Ron and towards the front door of the Burrow, taking out his wand and allowing some flowers to appear.

Ron stepped behind him as Bill answered the door. "Can I help you?" Bill asked, his tall frame filling the doorframe as he looked pointedly down at Draco.

Draco was wondering if this was supposed to be some method to make him back out, but a Malfoy never gave into pressure like this. "I'm here to pick up Ginny," he said. He saw the only girl in the room leave, going to his left and through a door.

"Come in," Bill said without a smile. The older red head reminded Draco very much of a member of the posters they used for recruiting Aurors. With his hair in a ponytail and a wolf fang currently adorning his ear and his arms crossed in front of him, Draco would have called the whole thing off if pride hadn't been such a factor. "Hey Ron," he added, seeing his youngest brother coming in behind Draco.

Draco resisted a nervous gulp as he stepped into the room, recognizing all but one of its occupants. "Hi, Draco Malfoy," he said to the stout one. He looked more like the twins than the one who had answered the door.

"Charlie Weasley," he said, holding out a hand and crushing Draco's hand.

"Good to meet you," Draco said, again going against what he wanted to do and settling for placing the hand in his pocket, hoping not to have any of the others try that.

"Have a seat," Arthur said, more of a command than an invitation. Draco took a seat away from any of the Weasley boys, each of them in a stance more intimidating than the next, but all staring down Draco. None the less, he looked calm and collected, sitting back in the chair and crossing his right ankle over his other knee.

Sitting in the chair next to Draco, Arthur picked up a shiny thing that Draco didn't recognize. "Muggles are quite interesting," Arthur said, taking the pieces of the odd looking thing apart. "They come up with such… intricate things, don't you think?"

Great, Draco thought. Talking about Muggles already."Yes sir," Draco answered. "They would have to, since they can't accomplish something as easy as a little magic," Draco added in a snide tone.

"I suppose so, I suppose so," Arthur said, putting the small pieces back together, clicking one part as it made a loud noise, causing Draco to duck, as the other boys stayed put.

"Holy mother of Merlin!" Draco exclaimed.

"What in the name of—" Molly started from the kitchen as she came in.

"Molly," Arthur interrupted, opening the chamber to the pistol. "Molly, dear, I think I'm going to have to get some more of those billuts," Arthur said, spinning it around.

"Haven't I told you not to play around with that thing?" she asked.

"Yes, sorry dear," Arthur said without the usual fear of his wife. Instead his eyes were on Draco, who was still trying to catch his breath from the sudden shock.

Ginny came out then, looking immaculate as she would for anyone else, though her clothing was a little more modest. Something Arthur had insisted on when she got there. Ginny had been wearing a skirt that went down to her knees and a cotton three-quartered sleeve shirt that cut just low enough. Ginny hadn't seen anything wrong with it, but Arthur insisted she would be too cold. Now she had grey slacks and a black turtleneck sweater, which her father finally agreed to her wearing out.

"Hi," Ginny said with a smile, not for actual excitement but for having heard what had been going on. It was better than she could have even imagined, Draco's normally pale face looking whiter than ever before as her father set the pistol aside. "How are you?"

"Good," Draco said quickly, standing up. "You look great," he said, carefully choosing his words and thinking he was okay since none of the men in the room started attacking him. "I brought you these," he said, pulling out a bouquet of wild flowers.

"Oh how sweet," Ginny said, acting the perfect picture of innocence, taking the flowers and smelling them.

"And for you Mrs. Weasley." Draco handed a smaller flower arrangement to the older woman receiving the first warm and sincere smile of the evening.

"Oh thank you dear," Molly said, glad to see someone was as chivalrous as she had tried to teach her own boys to be. "Would you look at these? So beautiful," she finished with a small sigh at his kindness. "I'll just put these in water," Molly added, waiting for Ginny to hand hers over and make her way to find a vase.

"You ready?" Draco asked, looking around at all the thugs, ready to do something that he wasn't looking forward to knowing of.

"Sure," Ginny said, grabbing her coat. She walked towards the door, where Arthur had already gone to open for the two.

"Have a good time," he said to his daughter, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"I'll see you later, sir," Draco said respectfully.

Arthur just glared as Draco stepped out, shutting the door behind the two, though Draco noticed eyes peeking out the window. He rolled his eyes as he took Ginny away from the Burrow.

It wasn't until the two were out of sight that the seven Weasley men went back to their seats. "Did anyone else want to just kick him out and keep Ginny here?" Charlie asked.

The other six raised their hands.

Silence was bliss, Ginny thought as Draco had tried a few times to start conversation. Each time it had begun with "I have been looking at..." or "My latest ventures include…", each one a phrase that made her know to tune out quickly and simply nod her head politely every so often.

Pansy wasn't this difficult to impress, Draco thought as he sat back and took a sip of his water, figuring that if there was any signs of alcohol tonight, there might be a more gruesome post-date experience than he would care to have. "So you work at Quidditch Monthly now?"

"Yes," Ginny said, picking up a piece of bread and buttering it lightly.

"How long have you been doing that?"

"Four years now."

"Why?"

"Why what?" Ginny asked, setting the bread down. It seemed like Draco was actually attempting a topic that didn't revolve around himself.

"Why have you been there for so long?" Draco asked, grabbing a piece of the bread himself.

"Because it's a good job," Ginny said with a shrug. "I get by, and there's always the chance of getting a job in one of the foreign offices."

"So you want to travel," Draco said, reading into the last bit.

"I don't know. It would be nice to have the option, though, don't you think?"

Draco had always had the privilege to travel. Anywhere he wanted on a whim. Never had he been restricted by time, family, money, or connection to keep him in one place any longer than he wanted to be there. He knew the Weasleys had traveled to a few places too, but that was all luck and Draco knew it. "Yes," Draco admitted. He grabbed his drink and took a sip, setting it back down again and looking over at Ginny. He had seen her all through school. Draco hadn't missed a day in a short skirt or a more revealing top. Even if he did despise the Weasleys at the time, Draco couldn't deny that Ginny had some very feminine qualities. The only girls he never had been able to admit that about were generally Muggle-born.

Hermione had never had anything that seemed appeasing to the eye, even after Draco didn't let the blood factor dominate his thinking. He had been thankful to his father for one thing in the long run: that he had kept him from knowing anything about the going-on of Deatheaters. Draco had figured some little things out, but not enough to be convicted of everything when everyone seemed so keen on imprisoning anyone they could get their hands on. Especially Potter.

"What about you?" Ginny asked, giving a polite smile to the waitress as she set down the house salad in front of Ginny. "What's it like being the most influential men in financing Quidditch today?"

Draco laughed a bit. Ginny found it strange to not hear it mixed with contempt. "Has the interview begun then?"

"Oh, no I didn't mean that," Ginny corrected herself, laughing along with him. "It's not in my job description anyway."

Draco shrugged in response to Ginny's earlier question. "I don't really have anything else to do with the money," he said.

"Why don't you donate some of it?"

"I have," Draco said. "A bit at least."

"So inherited the family fortune already? Didn't your mother even see it first?" Ginny asked.

"She did, before she died," Draco said solemnly.

Ginny had known of Lucius's death, since it was publicized after the incident. It had involved Harry and everything else that had been going on between Deatheaters and the Ministry at the time. "I'm sorry, I didn't know," Ginny said, feeling like an idiot.

"It's okay," Draco said, stabbing into some lettuce and looking intently into his salad.

"When?"

"A couple years after I graduated," Draco mentioned. He hadn't really talked about this before, and he wasn't sure that he wanted to share anymore than a time range with someone who hadn't even warmed up to him yet, let alone his family.

"So, what do you do for Christmas?" Ginny asked. The holiday was fast approaching and it had been on Ginny's mind since she needed to do her shopping.

"Nothing really," Draco said. Over the last few years he had adjusted to this. His family had never really gotten close to any of the extended relatives, and any that he had known were dead. "I was thinking about going somewhere nice this year, but I haven't decided yet."

Ginny's heart pulled, tugged, and wretched as he said so. It's Draco, she told herself, preoccupying her lips with some of her salad instead of saying the first thing that popped into her mind.

They spent the rest of dinner in silence. It wasn't as big a relief to Ginny this time. Draco had become a human in her eyes, a person who would have to spend Christmas alone. The one holiday you were supposed to be surrounded by friends and family. Ginny started to think of what Christmas might be like without her own parents, and started to tear up at the idea. Still, she had six older brothers to fill that gap.

By the time Draco was dropping her off (at 9:20 pm) Ginny had decided. She didn't care what Ron or anyone else said. Draco wasn't going to be alone on Christmas day.

A/N: There you go. Probably the most fun chapter to write on this one so far! GO WEASLEYS! Anyway, I hope you all liked it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please Review if you did! Tell me what was good, what needs work, or just what you thought in general. Get good karma…. Review!

Thank you:

HP-Scriptor: Looks like you're the only one with good karma this round… Thank you for writing one so detailed! I appreciate the time you put into it. We'll answer all your points in this case. : D

- Thank you! I'll try and fix that error in writing, and find better wording when I get a chance.

- Yes I did mean Hedwig, funny how you can pass something like that up so easily!

- I'm glad you recognized it as such! I love the fact that girls make such a big deal about the guy participating… hehehe

- Draco wasn't 'wooing' Ginny. He was dancing with her, and in the process happened to catch some positive attention. I think she liked 'him' because of the mystery (hence not asking for a name) and he liked getting some good attention, which is why he asks her out. It all loops around to him having a mask on!

- Thanks. I like the idea of him maturing somewhat, but it wouldn't be the same if it wasn't actually the condescending Malfoy we all know and hate! I mean love (yeah right)

- I wanted to show more of Ron in this chapter, but I might go and add onto the last one. He was probably thinking he could scare Malfoy out of the date. Didn't work as he hoped, I guess.

Thanks again for reviewing! Take care of your character ;) Lots and lots of bed rest….