Ginny sat on the grass near the lake, staring vacantly into the water. There was too much going on, and she didn't feel like she could handle everything. Engrossed in thought, she didn't realize how much time had passed, and again was startled by the presence of someone else.

"Ginny?"

Ginny let out a soft gasp, turning around. "Drac-," Looking up into the eyes of the person before her, she cursed herself internally. "Hey Seamus."

Seamus furrowed his brow at her earlier mistake, but said nothing about it. "We didn't see you at dinner, and when I asked Ron about it, he, uh," Seamus shifted nervously, as if searching for the right words, "didn't know."

Ginny laughed softly, but it sounded sad. "Well, maybe he didn't care to know. I did ask him not to follow me."

"Is something wrong?" Seamus asked concernedly, squatting next to her.

"Well, no not reall-," Ginny sharply caught her breath as she turned her head and saw how close Seamus was to her.

A moment passed like that, Seamus staring into her eyes as if making a decision. Then he slowly raised his hand to her face.

"Ginny," Seamus whispered reverently, haltingly, stroking her cheek. "Your brother doesn't appreciate you fully… he doesn't accept you for what you are now. He still sees a little girl… But that's not what I see anymore…"

Ginny said nothing, her eyes widening in alarm as she felt him lean toward her. He gently brushed her lips with his own. She couldn't think about her problems any longer, not with someone else right in front of her that seemed ready to accept her for who she really was. Tentatively, she returned the kiss, moving her hand to his shoulder.

Pulling away after a few seconds, Seamus beamed at her, and then helped her to her feet. "It's really getting cold out here. We should go in."

Ginny was still in an amount of shock, and said nothing more as Seamus took her hand and lead her back to the castle.

Draco had barely entered the castle when a low voice called to him. Sighing, he walked to the corner it was coming from to see Lantur sitting on a bench there. She looked tired, with deep bags under her eyes, and he felt a small jolt of sympathy that he quashed immediately. It wasn't his fault they were here, now was it?

"Draco… I can understand how you might be, ah, reluctant to help us, but-,"

"Oh, I wouldn't call it reluctance," Draco said lightly. "I believe I tend more toward self preservation, if you must give a name to not wanting to be horribly maimed and killed."

"And I understand this," Lantur said gently. "But what will you do if you run?"

Nonplussed, Draco stared at her. "I'll be alive. I count that as a major pro to running away."

"And when you have nowhere else to run?"

"Everyone dies, eventually. I suppose I'll join the masses." Draco felt mildly gratified by Lantur's shocked expression at his nonchalant statement.

"Not everyone needs to die at the hands of an evil maniac. You could stop this!"

"And how," Draco said silkily, "Do you propose I go about that? And why are you asking me, of all people? Why not go ask Potter to save the world… again?"

"Because Harry Potter was not destined to be the next Merlin. Because Harry Potter is just a boy like yourself. And because this doesn't involve Harry Potter; not directly, anyway."

Draco slowly sat next to her. "I fail to see how Voldemort doesn't want to involve his greatest enemy in his next great attempt at world domination. If I was Harry, I'd want a cameo at the very least, if not a supporting role."

Lantur regarded his face solemnly. "You really think this is funny?"

"My sense of humor is warped, or so I've been told."

"Obviously." Lantur glanced skyward, as if looking for patience. "The reason Voldemort doesn't particularly care about Harry anymore is because Harry is no longer his 'greatest enemy', as you put it. You are."

Draco said nothing for a minute, and then returned his gaze to Lantur. "Well, I guess I'll have to pack sooner than I thought, won't I? I wonder how Italy is at this time of year…"

Lantur ignored his comments pointedly, continuing on. "So you see, Draco, you really don't have a huge choice in this."

"Well, that's nothing new."

"He will find you, and he will hurt you, unless you find him first. Do you still have the phrase: 'The early bird gets the worm'?

Draco stood. "Sure, but am I the bird or the worm?" Nodding over his shoulder out the open doors, he motioned to a spot over the far edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Over trees in the distance, all sounds of wildlife could be heard, from thundering hooves of centaurs to wild screeching from birds. But the most disturbing thing was the smoke that roiled across the sky slowly, moving in no specific direction. It seemed like a marker for something to Draco… But of course, he mused, it could be a marker for someone.

Lantur gasped, jumping to her feet. "I must tell Dumbledore immediately, and then Predak and I must go."

"Who's running now?" Draco asked with a smirk.

"Draco, you know we don't have the option of staying in the danger of this… Just think about what I've said."

With that, Lantur took off in the direction of Dumbledore's office, her long skirts flapping behind her. Draco leaned against the doors, hearing the scream of students just noticing the smoke. He watched it carefully for a minute, feeling his newly constructed world breaking down around him and then turned back to the corridors. It was time to have a chat with his godfather.

"Ginny! Where the hell have you been?"

Ginny sighed. Not back a full minute, but then she had been bombarded with similar questions since Seamus had entered through the portrait hole with her in tow. Ron walked forward, staring quizzically at her hand, still intertwined with Seamus'.

"Oh, hell-,"

"Ron," Harry interrupted, stepping forward. He whispered urgently in his ear a moment, and Ron grimaced but nodded his head.

"So, Ginny, why didn't you tell us where you were going? I was, er, um, worried." All this was spoken through gritted teeth, and Ginny thought it was a wonder Ron's earlier tirade had been staved off.

"I was sitting by the lake and fell asleep." Ginny improvised. It wasn't entirely a lie, she told herself.

"Ginny, we were really worried when you didn't show up to dinner," Hermione said.

Ron turned and looked squarely at Hermione. "No, I was worried. All you did was sit and do homework, as always!"

"Ron! Will you stop being so childish?" Hermione sighed. "I thought we were over this whole-,"

"Guys!" Harry yelled. "If you are going to fight again over why you aren't getting together, please do it elsewhere!"

"Who said anything about that?" Ron asked suspiciously

Throughout this entire interaction, Ginny, Seamus, and a gaggle of studying third years watched the confrontation with mixed emotions. Seamus looked confused, Ginny looked bored, and the third years looked like they wanted to have this filmed.

"You know what, Ron? Maybe I did turn you down for a reason!" With that, Hermione spun around, grabbed an unsuspecting Harry, and kissed him soundly on the lips.

Ginny's eyes widened, Seamus' jaw dropped, and the third years let out a remarkably concurrent gasp.

"Oh, I see what you were trying to do, Harry!" Ron was now livid, but hurt and betrayal could be seen in his eyes.

Harry still looked shocked, but was waving his arms wildly now, denying any previous knowledge. Hermione said nothing, but her cheeks had colored tremendously.

"Ron, I'm sorry, I don't know where that came from, but Harry didn't do anything wrong!" Hermione said, wringing her hands.

"Shut up," Ron said wearily, sinking down into an armchair. "Just shut up." The anger had leaked out of his eyes, and now he looked broken.

"I'm so sorry Ron," Hermione whispered. Her eyes started to mist over, and with a sob she grabbed her bag and ran out of the room.

Harry looked after her uncertainly, and then back at Ron, who shook his head. "Go after her."

Harry took a few steps in Ron's direction, but Ron stopped him with another shake of his head. "Just go."

With a last glance at his hurt best friend, Harry turned and followed Hermione out of the room.

There was nothing to be said. Ginny walked over to Ron, forgetting their previous argument. "Oh, Ron…"

Ron looked lost. "Ginny, those were my two best friends… I don't… I can't believe they would…"

"Shh," Ginny soothed, stroking his hair like their mother used to do when they were younger. Their earlier argument was forgotten. "It'll be alright, Ron. It'll be alright."

Seamus walked up slowly. "Come on Ron, let's get you upstairs."

Ron said nothing, just stood and walked to his room, leaving Ginny and Seamus there, staring at each other.

"Seamus," Ginny said softly. "It's been a really long day, and I think I'm just going to go on to bed."

"Yeah," Seamus said, looking dubiously at the portrait hole. "Yeah, alright, we'll talk tomorrow." Before Ginny could protest, he'd leaned in and gave her a swift peck on the cheek. "Tomorrow, we'll figure everything out."

Seamus followed the way Ron had gone, and Ginny looked into the fire. If she'd started the day off confused, now she was downright mystified. Sighing, she turned to the girls' dormitories. Maybe she should just worry about all this tomorrow.

"Whomever it is, know that I likely have something more important than your troubles at the moment."

Draco nearly groaned at his godfather's usual kind welcome, but settled for flinging the door open a bit more harshly than was strictly necessary.

Snape's scowl in the direction of the door changed to one of mild surprise as he saw who had come calling.

"Draco," Snape said, standing and moving to the front of his desk. "To what do I owe the honor?" Since the end of the war, Draco had never come to speak with his godfather for any reason.

"Not to what," Draco mused aloud. "To whom."

Snape said nothing, but frowned a bit in Draco's direction.

Draco sat in one of the chairs in front of Snape's desk, noting with a grimace how uncomfortable they were.

Snape seemed amused by Draco's reaction to his chairs. "Draco, I understand there are thing about the war you'd rather forget," Here he paused, shaking his head minutely as if to clear it, "But I had anticipated your coming to me with any questions about what transpired over the last several years. I was disillusioned by your avoidance of me at all costs."

Draco was taken aback by Snape's straightforwardness. "Why would I come to a Death Eater for advice?"

"You followed one for five years."

Draco scowled at that. "That was different."

Snape looked at Draco incredulously. "You truly think so?"

Draco shifted uncomfortably. He was beginning to regret coming here, but there was nowhere else to turn. "What was done is finished now. I couldn't go to you because I knew that you would tell my father."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "When I was a spy for Dumbledore?"

"A spy?" Draco frowned. "For how long?"

"Years."

Draco's mind was reeling with this new information. At the same time, he was beginning to anger. He hadn't been alone?

"You were a spy," Draco said silkily, "And someone I could go to for help. And no one told me?"

Snape looked at Draco. "You weren't aware? I'd thought you'd known since the Fall."

"I'd thought you had done what I did!"

"And switched on the spur of the moment?" Snape shook his head. "I'd orchestrated the scenario in the Order's favour."

"What Order?"

Snape looked at Draco oddly. "Why don't you know these things? Did you never wonder?"

"No one told me anything!"

"It was your business to find out."

Draco said nothing. He was processing this new information. However, he still needed to get advice for his current dilemma.

"I need to speak with you."

Snape waved his hand carelessly in front of the fireplace, where two comfy looking armchairs materialized. "It is my bet that this will take a fair amount of time."

Draco's eyes widened. "Wandless magic? I know you had mentioned something about no foolish wand waving, but I had no idea."

"Yes…" Snape said, moving to one of the armchairs. "It is gratifying to know that someone besides Granger has paid attention at some point."

Draco also sat. "Where to begin?"

The two wizards began what looked to be a long chat, the fireplace crackling between them.

AN: Oh, don't shoot me about Seamus, not now when I've just figured out how to write a decent lengthened chapter! The story is still DG, but did you really expect one instance of Draco being relatively nice would cause Ginny to swear off all other human contact? Come now. We all know how unrealistic that is. If anyone wants to know my further reasoning for putting it in, do ask and I'll be more than happy to clarify it for you.

Kerichi- I like Draco. Full stop. I don't even mind the snarkiness : D But it's always nice to have him nice, wouldn't you agree? ; )

Pia- I'm glad to hear you weren't disappointed! I too prefer a happy ending, but I do understand that there are some stories that must be tempered with grief to fully understand the conclusion. And your suggestions are very helpful indeed. I don't find them confusing at all, and please don't stop giving them!

Padfoot in Purple- It's great to hear something so uplifting! And because I was so worried about Draco's character, it's also great to hear that I've managed to keep him relatively "in" character as well! I will say that at the time chapter five went up, your impression was dead on, but I did decide to add a few scenes for length, which is why it's taken a bit longer than expected to put this chapter up.

Embellished- Hmmm…. Is Draco ever that simple? Heh heh...

Wow… I've really reached an impasse. Please review, preferably with a suggestion or two, and hopefully the next chapter won't take as long to write.