Of Firelight and Story Night

Do You Trust Me?

By: Monica

Ginny looked around at everyone. Her red hair blew backwards in the cool, night breeze. The old man nodded towards her. She sighed and whispered, "A story I'll never forget…"

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"Nice day…"

"I guess so…"

Ginny sighed dramatically at Harry's answer. Ever since summer started, Harry had been unhappy. He would sulk around the Number Twelve Grimmauld Place and occasionally throw fits of anger.

"And I thought girls were the ones with mood swings…" she mumbled to herself.

"What was that?"

"I did not say a word…"

"Oh…" and with that Harry stood up and walked away.

Ginny was about to pull all her crimson hair out. She couldn't understand Harry anymore. He was so…random these days. Yesterday, he was seen throwing a fit and shooting anyone who tried to talk to him dark glares. Now today he was in his depressed mood and didn't want to talk to anyone.

"Oh Harry…"

Ginny sighed and then shook her head. Pulling herself up, she went back inside. The Grimmauld Place was buzzing with noise. Ginny's mom was dashing everywhere with her wand. Tonight there would be an Order's meeting so Mrs. Weasley had to tidy the place up. Unfortunately for the poor lady, it wasn't that easy with Fred and George running around with their new prank, Explobles.

"FRED! GEORGE! If you don't stop right now, then I'll hex and curse you 'til you boys start to cry!" Molly roared.

George grinned a silly smile and blew a blue bubble. "We'll stop soon, mum. Are you not proud of us? We'll make more than Knuts out of this!"

The blue bubble exploded and blue goo flew everywhere, splattering the walls and paintings…and unfortunately, Mrs. Weasley. George licked his fingers and whipped out his wand. "Scourgify! Mum, the goo tastes good…you have to say that!"

Molly's cheeks turned red as she began to huff and puff. Fred and George laughed nervously and began to back away. They knew from experience what happened if you drove a Weasley, especially a Mother Weasley, over the edge of madness. "We got to go…"

Fred finished George's sentence, "Go fill out sheets for our shop!"

They both began to sprint upstairs but were stopped by a red beam of light whizzing past them.

"YOU TWO ARE FOOLS! STUPEFY! STUPEFY!"

"ARGH!"

"CRAP!"

Ginny watched amused as her mother began to walk slowly toward the twins with a menacing look on her face. The twins, who were lying on the floor side by side, were shooting their mother angelic smiles and pouts. "DON'T YOU GIVE ME THAT!"

Fred and George winced as their mother pointed her wand at them. "This will tell you boys not to mess with me!"

Ginny decided at that point to step in. "Wait mum! I got a trick that'll teach them once and for all not to mess with you…or me!"

Molly looked at her daughter suspiciously. "And tell me Virginia, what hex or spell will you use?"

Ginny's eyes sparkled in mischief. "I used this hex on Malfoy last year!"

Her mother's eyes flashed with worry. "Well Ginny, if you used it on Malfoy last year, I think this spell will be-"

Molly didn't get to finish her words for Ginny had already waved her wand, unleashing the Bat-Bogey Hex on the twins.

"GINNNNNNYYYYYYY!"

"YOU BAD WITCH!"

Ginny laughed and jumped up and down in delight as bogies began to grow all over Fred's and George's face. Seconds later, the bogies turned into bat-like bogies and began to attack. Molly rubbed her eyes and sighed. Sometimes she wondered why she wanted many kids. Molly looked down at her twins who were screaming for Ginny to release the spell. She shook her head and just walked to the kitchen leaving a hysterical Ginny and a pair of Bat-Bogey Hexed twins. Luckily for Fred and George, Hermione had come down to see who was causing the entire racket downstairs. "I CAN'T READ A BOOK THANKS TO YOU ALL!" she bellowed after she released the twins from the hex. Fred and George smiled sheepishly at her and then ran upstairs while Ginny darted into the kitchen. "Weasleys…" Hermione muttered, climbing the stairs.

Yes, it was definitely a typical, loud afternoon.

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However, that night was quite different. The atmosphere of the old house was tense, and many older wizards and witches of the Order were running around. Molly stood by the door often, waiting for another member to come knocking on the door. The Golden Trio along with Ginny sat hidden on the stairs, whispering quietly.

"There goes Snape…still don't know why he's in the Order…the git-OW!"

"Ron!" Hermione hissed.

Ron growled as he rubbed his red arm.

"Shhh…look, there's McGonagall with Lupin," Harry pointed out.

"OW!" Ginny exclaimed, rubbing her back.

Fred and George looked down at the teenagers that they bumped into. "Well, well…looks like we have some kids who want to spy on the Order, eh Fred?" George questioned, grinning.

"Yah George…what should we do? Scream?" Fred suggested. Both of them began to laugh quietly.

Ginny's eyes narrowed. "Scream and I'll put the Bad-Bogey Hex on you two!"

Fred and George's laughter ceased immediately from the afternoon memory. They grunted and pulled out something from their pockets; Extendable Ears. "Use it well!" George grunted. Ginny smiled at her brothers as they walked off. "Let's go!" Ginny exclaimed.

After testing and getting the device to work, the trio and Ginny sat near the door of the kitchen, listening intently through the extendable ears. They could only hear bits of the conversation, but it was good enough.

"Yes, he will be with us."

"-proved that he can be…"

"Trust? Psh!"

"-true…"

"-closed! Blaise, you can go to your room now."

Ginny and the trio gasped and scrambled away from the door toward their bedrooms. They immediately closed their bedroom doors and jumped into the beds. A couple minutes passed and then the house became silent. Ginny turned and tossed on her bed for a while before looking over at Hermione. She frowned when she saw that her best friend was asleep. The thought of Blaise, Blaise Zabini, a Slytherin, sleeping in the Order's house was quite disturbing to her. She didn't know whether he was trustworthy or worse than Malfoy. Blaise had always been the mysterious character at school. He was only known to be Malfoy's trusted friend. Ginny whimpered slightly; she had a feeling that something was going to change around here because of him. Whether the change was positive or negative, she didn't know. She turned, laid on her back, and closed her eyes, trying to get some sleep.

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A small scream awoke Ginny Weasley from her dreamless slumber. She turned over to see Hermione getting up quickly and scurrying off. Ginny hurriedly got up and ran to the room where the scream came from. There was a small group of people huddled around a bed. Ginny pushed her way through until she reached the center. She blinked as she saw Blaise sitting on the bed with an angry frown on his face.

"I TOLD you all to GET OUT! I'm fine! I'm not Potter for Merlin's sake!" Blaise bellowed.

Harry's eyes flashed as he gritted his teeth. Hermione and Ron put a comforting hand on his shoulders to restrain him from attacking. Dumbledore nodded slightly; there was a look of worry in his eyes. Molly started to wave the people out of the room. Ginny however, stayed. Dumbledore looked at her curiously but decided to not ask. He exited the room with a flourish of his robes. Blaise peered at Ginny and then coldly asked, "Why are you still here Weasley? Did I not just tell all of you to get out?"

Ginny flushed slightly but bravely replied, "You can tell me about your dream you know…I won't tell a soul…"

Blaise's eyebrows rose. "And how will I know that you will keep your vow?"

Ginny thought for a moment before saying, "At times, you need to trust folks even if you don't know him or her well. To trust strangers means to trust your sense and heart. Do you trust me?"

Blaise snorted. "You think that Slytherins have a heart? What a shock Weasley. Well, I don't trust red heads."

"You're just saying what your mind is telling you to say. Say what your heart wants to say." Ginny stated clearly.

Blaise glared at her and hissed, "Get out!"

Ginny glared back and muttered coldly, "We think Slytherins have no heart for they're too weak and scared to open up and let us care for them!" She then turned and headed for the door.

Blaise grabbed her wrist tightly and pulled her back around. "You don't know a thing Weasley! ZILCH!"

Her eyes hardened and then softened slowly. "I can know if you just drop your pride and tell me…"

Blaise dropped her wrist and buried his head in his arms. "You don't know a thing…how's it like to be the son of deatheaters…the strain from the dark lord…and now…now I'm being a traitor…a traitor to the one thing I believed in…a traitor to my kind…though there's a moment where fear and dreams must collide."

He shuddered and closed his eyes. Ginny hesitantly put an arm around his shoulders. It shook slightly from the contact but then relaxed. After an awkward moment of silence, Blaise slowly leaned in closer to the redhead's warm arms. "I'll be here to listen…" Ginny whispered before drifting off to sleep.

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Ginny awoke the next morning with a letter next to her. Yawning, she unrolled it and read it silently.

Saying thank you is harder than writing it

B.Z.

The letter was short and wasn't signed with sincerely or love, but it meant the world to Ginny anyways. She got up and skipped downstairs. Ginny had accomplished something not many people can; getting a dark, cold-hearted Slytherin to open up. She passed Hermione and flashed a huge smile.

Hermione looked at her quizzically before asking, "Why so glad Ginny?"

Ginny skipped off and shouted, "Just some thing!"

Turning a corner, she crashed into someone and fell down. Her eyes met crystal blue ones, "Blaise!" Ginny exclaimed, surprised.

Blaise pushed himself up and helped Ginny off the floor. "Hello Weasley," he said in an odd tone. They both smiled shyly at each other and walked away in the opposite direction.

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Stars twinkled and sparkled next to the glowing moon. Ginny took in the fresh, night air while sitting on a log outside. She couldn't help but feel butterflies in her stomach every time she thought of Blaise. He made her feel…useful; not useful in a slave way, but useful in a friend and listener way. She didn't feel that way around her brothers or the Golden Trio a lot.

A noise startled her from behind. She jumped and twirled around, drawing her wand and pointing it to the darkness. "Who's there?"

"Calm down Weasley…" Blaise said as he came out of the darkness.

Ginny let out a sigh and put her wand down. "What's Blaise doing out so late?" she thought suspiciously before saying, "You scared me…"

"Of course," Blaise stated, grinning. He then walked over to the tall, brick wall and began to run his hands over it. Ginny walked over to him with a curious look in her eye. "What must you rub this wall?"

"I need to see if this wall can be climbed."

Ginny gapped at him. "What!"

Blaise turned to stare at her. "Do you Weasleys have bad ears? I said-"

"I heard what you said!" Ginny snapped. "But what do you mean by climb? Are you going to climb over this wall?"

"Yes Weasley…is that bad to you?"

Ginny's face turned an ugly shade of red. "YES!" she screamed. "Why must you leave? We can't trust you at all! You just lied to Dumbledore so you can get clues to tell your lord!"

Blaise leaned over and placed a small, chaste kiss on her cheek. "Do you trust me?"

Ginny blinked as she remembered how she had asked him that same question. "How can I-"

"At times, you need to trust folks even if you don't know him or her well. To trust strangers means to trust your sense and heart. Do you trust me?" Blaise interrupted, his eyes glittering in the dark. He smirked at her as she started to fume.

"He's using my own words against me…" Ginny glared at him but whispered, "I-I guess I do…"

Blaise smirked again and began to climb the wall. "If you trust me, then you'll know that I'll come back in two weeks, four days, nine hours, and forty seven and one-half minutes, and I'm not a spy. You'll work out what I'm doing. You always have ways…Ginny." He winked at her and jumped over the wall, his black robes swishing behind him in the wind.

Ginny looked back up at the moonlit sky, laughing silently at how he exaggerated the time. Brushing her fingers against her cheek, she smiled. "I do trust you Blaise…I do…"

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A chuckle came from a man sitting on one of the logs. Ginny opened her eyes and stared at the young adult with black hair and sky-blue eyes. He stared back at her, eyes twinkling. Then he winked at her causing Ginny to blush. The old man noticed the exchange between the two young adults and smiled. Already, friendships and stronger bonds were forming between both sides. He was proud that the young Weasley had made a truce with the mysterious, quiet Slytherin.

The old man grabbed a stick and handed it to Ginny. She stared at the stick for a while, marveling at its warmth and beauty. Then she closed her eyes and threw it into the fire.

The flames grew higher; almost over their heads. Witches and wizards glanced nervously at each other, wondering who would be next to tell a tale.

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Author's Note: This will be a series of short stories if you haven't guessed yet. These short stories will involve different pairings and characters. If you do not agree with a certain pairing that I wrote, do not flame please. These stories I wrote were based on the topics I received in writing contests. This one had these requirements:

Dialogue in one-syllable words only

Story setting in the summer

Romance

Thanks to these people who were kind enough to review the prologue out of the 30 people who came to this fan fiction: Junesky, LucidRose, Slick92, and Ariana the musical genius.

Until next time,

Monica