Nessa-First of all, is that a Wicked allusion? Thank you very much, here's your chapter!
Blackrose-You predicted me too well! Now I'll have to have them disown her!
DeceptiveKindness-Do you think this is intense?
Nyah, Sarahamanda, Priz, Julia Bartlett-Thank you!
Crimson Gold-Trust me, Molly will freak eventually. I didn't post every week…. Thank you!
Chapter Seventeen
Back in the courtyard, Luna hummed "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" while Hermione looked, exasperated, at a clueless Ginny.
"You mean you've no idea he fancies you?" she said, incredulously.
Ginny shook her head slowly. "It isn't as if it matters now-I mean to say, with Lucius and all-nothing's going to happen."
"So you're really serious about this Lucius thing, then, are you?"
"Well, yes-and Harry knows that."
"That doesn't necessarily stop him fancying you."
"He won't try anything-No one is that thick."
Hermione sighed. "I know, Ginny, I just thought someone should let you know." She looked around the courtyard awkwardly. So what did happen last night, anyway?"
Ginny blushed. "We barely even spoke, least of all about Voldemort."
Hermione shook her head. "You're in over your head."
"Do you love him?" Luna asked, making Ginny and Hermione jump-they'd all but forgotten she was there.
Ginny was silent for a long moment before answering. "Yes, I do."
"You should tell him," Luna said, as if that settled everything, "He'd like to know."
"Er-thank you," Ginny said, blushing.
Ginny looked up from her werewolf essay at the exact moment that Hades collided with the common room window. She shook her head and retrieved him, wondering where one of Voldemort's most feared Death Eaters had gotten such a clumsy owl. She sat back down to read her letter.
Dear Ginny-
I'm sorry to do this on such short notice, but I've got to go to Romania for YKW-something about liasing with the vampires. I won't know for sure until I get there.
Anyway, I probably won't write for a while, but I'll pop into the common room when I can to keep you up to date.
She pulled out her revealer and rubbed it over the entire letter to find:
I hope you've recovered your walking ability. You still seemed a bit
shaky when I left you at the gate last night. Much Love-LM
Ginny laughed, remember the painful waddle she had adopted after the previous night's activities. Her own laughter helped to alleviate the weight that ha settled in her stomach upon reading Lucius' letter. Vampires working for Voldemort could mean nothing good.
She looked up and jumped. Lucius' head was sitting in the fire. For a moment, she was certain she was mistaken. She knelt in front of the fire.
"Lucius?" She asked. He grinned. "What are you doing here?"
"Just dropped in to say good-bye. Are you alone?"
Ginny nodded. "Everyone's gone to bed."
"Good." Lucius said, climbing out of the fire and brushing off his robes, "I trust you got my letter?"
"I did. How long are you going to be gone?"
"Not long. A week or two, maybe. You'll still see me. I can Apparate into the Forest from Romania."
"Isn't that awfully risky?"
He shook his head. "They'll expect me to be popping in and out, besides which, they don't trust anyone who stays around for too long."
"So why is this good-bye if you'll be popping in?"
"Because, for the next two weeks, I'll only be able to see you in the fire or in Dumbledore's presence."
Unexpectedly, Ginny smiled. "I suppose that means that we'll be having a really good time once you get back."
Lucius grinned wolfishly. "If you keep making remarks like that, I may have to come up with a way to get around Dumbledore." He kissed her fiercely. "I'll just be off, then."
Ginny stepped forward as he moved toward the fire. "Lucius?"
He turned back to her. "Yes?"
"I love you."
He cupped her cheek with his hand. "And I love you." He kissed her again, gently but passionately, and he was gone.
"Vampires?" Hermione hissed over a copy of A Guide to Advanced Defense Against Dark Creatures. "He's going to liase with vampires?"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "For the third time, yes. He's going to Romania to liase with the vampires."
Ginny, Ron, Harry, and Hermione were in the library discussing the new developments in Voldemort's plan of which Ginny had learned the previous night.
"But," Ron said shakily, "aren't vampires really dangerous?"
Hermione snorted. "No, they're perfectly safe. You just have to relieve yourself of all your blood before you meet up with them," she said sarcastically, flipping through pages in the monstrous book.
"News travels quickly around here, doesn't it?" said a bright voice behind the students.
Ginny whipped around. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Happy Christmas, Professor."
Professor Lupin smiled down at her. "Professor Dumbledore and I would like a word, Ginny."
TBC
