Chapter Thirteen: Blame Polyjuice

Draco and Ginevra had met in the North Tower entrance. It was a round little foyer at the base of the tower that had a door to the outside as well as a door to the first level corridors that connected the North wing with the rest of the school. They were standing there, looking at each other, neither really sure what to say or do. Ginevra swallowed hard. Draco glanced down the corridor and nodded, clenching and unclenching his fists as he looked back at Ginevra. She nodded in return.

Both deciding that the best way to do this was to just do it, they stepped toward each other and began snogging, hard. All their nerves, fear, pain, loneliness, tension, and anger made it easier than they had thought it would be. Neither lost sight of why they were doing it or the plan they had in place, but they both found release in it as well. And of course, how could they pass up the opportunity to bait each other?

She shoved him up against the wall, hard, and he groaned as she pressed herself against him. "Not enjoying this, are you Red?" He whispered in her ear before biting it. He spun her so she was against the wall halfway around the room, 'accidentally' kicking the door open as they settled just next to it.

"Not any more than you are, Blue." She brought her knee up gently but firmly between his legs and he growled. His hand left her shoulder and made its way to her thigh as he moved his leg around her knee. He settled her leg around his waist, a position that had her skirt up at her hips, and he slid his hand up until his fingers found the elastic of her knickers. She groaned and bit her lip before crashing back into his and pushing him away as much with her hips as with her hands and they were back on the other side of the door, pushing it a little more open on their way.

She tore open his shirt and ran her hands up his chest and he growled again. He reached down with both hands, grabbing her behind the knees while simultaneously spinning in place so that she was up against the wall again with both legs wrapped around him, settling in just the perfect position. He kissed her deeply and hotly while exploring her legs before moving to open her shirt.

"I am NOT doing it here!" She almost yelled in his ear, as though they had discussed this already.

"Come on, no one ever comes this way." He was nibbling at her neck.

"NO! The stones are too cold." Her voice almost trailed off as he traveled her collar bone with his lips.

"Then we'll leave your clothes on." He was going to leave a mark on her shoulder. Oh well, her shirt would cover it.

"You know that won't work." Her breath hitched as his hand travelled up her back.

"FINE!" He pulled away from her so fast she almost ended up sitting on the floor. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the room so fast she could barely keep her balance. As they disappeared down the corridor two Hufflepuffs watched in horror. The rumors were true. They had just seen proof! No one had ever actually seen anything before, but they had! It took them a moment to recover but the whole school knew in less than half an hour.

Draco pulled Ginevra into an empty classroom just around the corner. They stood there a moment just staring at each other and trying to catch their breaths. Eventually she brought her hands to her face, backed against the wall, and slid to a sitting postion. Once down, she dropped her hands and sighed. He ran his fingers through his hair, turned around, and paced once or twice before sitting next to her.

"Well, that went well." Ginevra gave a half hearted chuckle.

"Yeah."

They sat in silence for quite a while. Neither knew what to say. They had both enjoyed it. It had felt good to release all that energy. Both had found it difficult to refrain from continueing once in private. Both understood that their desire was purely physical, after all, they would both still hesitate to call themselves friends. They were barely more than civil to each other. Sure, they worked well together, and sure, they technicaly cared what happened to the other as one would a friend, but one of the biggest dangers of this deal they had made was that one might kill the other before the Dark Lord had a chance to. Clashing personalities, or their case dangerously similar personalities, did not effect physical attraction, or desire for that matter, especially when engaged in that type of physical activity. Draco wondered how far she would go. Ginevra was ashamed to realize she didn't know if she would have stopped. They both realized that if this worked, if they became death eaters upon this pretence... It was fortunate that neither of them had managed to reach this stage in their musings sooner, for as soon he did he looked at his watch and realized that it was almost curfew.

"If this is going to work you have to be back exactly at curfew." His voice was tight, clipped.

She nodded. He stood and offered her his hand. She took it and he helped her up. They looked each other in the eye for a moment before she straightened her appearance, turned and walked out.

She reached the entrance to Gryffindor tower and steeled herself for what was about to come. Even the fat lady looked disdainfully at her. She said the password and entered.

"WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME WERE YOU THINKING?" She heard Ron yelling before she saw him.

She sighed. "Thinking when, brother dearest?" She used her best annoyed, indifferent, and bored tone of voice.

"MALFOY? YOU SHAGGED MALFOY?" She wondered how he could breath. Harry looked like he had fainted, just regained consciousness, and was about to faint again. Hermione looked as though she had swallowed a hippogriff.

"It really isn't any of your business, is it?" Ginevra sounded indignant and as though Ron was dangerously close to pushing her too far. "What do you care anyway? It isn't like you care about me. The only time you ever act like you do is if you think I'm acting too much like a Slytherin. Are you afraid I'll shame the Weasley name? How does that make you any different than Lucious? Are you afraid I'll dishonor the Gryffindors? What? It surely isn't that you're worried about me!" Her voice was pure ice. "Oh wait. I know. You're worried that I'll whisper secrets in Draco's ear. Is that it?"

Ron was deathly pale. Hermione was looking back and forth between the siblings so quickly it was a wonder she wasn't dizzy. She kept trying to say something but no sound came out. Harry looked as though he was trying to convince himself this was just a nightmare.

Finally Ron spoke. "I'm flooing mum. Right now. You're going to go home. You can't stay here. I'm flooing mum." For once in her life Ginevra couldn't read her brother. She couldn't tell if what she had said had finally gotten through or if he had finally become so angry he was calm. It didn't really matter either way.

She collapsed. She just fell to the floor. She honestly looked as though the force of the tears she wanted to shed was so great her body would not allow one tear to escape lest it loose control and be torn to pieces. Perhaps this time she wasn't acting. "You can't. Don't make me go home. Please. School is all I have. Classes are all I have." She spoke in a whisper but everyone who was in the common room, which was almost the entire house, heard every word.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE YOU SHAGGED MALFOY!" So it had been anger. He had been zombie-like a moment ago out of anger.

The tears came. There was no sobbing, just a cascade of tears flowing down her face so thick that she thought she would drown. They were real. "I didn't shag anyone." There was no quiver in her voice.

Ron sputtered. "BUT YOU JUST SAID..."

She tried to look up at him, but she couldn't see. The tears were still flowing. "I was just mad. I was just hurt. I just, the only time you pay attention to me is when you believe the rumors and for maybe a day after. When was I supposed to have done this?" She truly did paint a pathetic picture.

Ron looked as though the world was coming to an end. He was so thoroughly confused. He had never seen anyone look so innocent and pathetic before in his life. He was also trying very hard not to believe that what she had said was true. Harry looked as though the first ray of sunlight had pierced the dark clouds in a hundred years. He was looking up at Ginevra as though the fate of his world rested upon her ability to prove her innoncence. Hermione looked as though she was racing through every 'mode' she had trying to find the appropriate one.

"Tonight, you were seen by a couple of Hufflepuffs at nine in the North Tower entrance," a faceless voice in the crowd offered when no one spoke.

Ginevra's tears had slowed some but were still falling. She looked confused. "But, I was in detention with Snape all night. It began at eight."

A humungous sigh of relief was heard to escape Harry. He stood up with a shaky smile. "You see Ron? She didn't do it."

Hermione looked pensive. "Someone could have used the polyjuice potion to incriminate her..."

Ron still looked sceptical. "You say you were in detention. You have been acting funny all year. How do we know you're telling the truth?"

Ginevra jumped to her feet. Her tears had almost stopped but they returned full force. "ASK HIM! YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME GO DOWN TO SNAPE AND BLOODY ASK HIM!" She had never been this angry in her life.

"It's after curfew. We can ask him..." Hermione began in her prefect tone of voice. She didn't get to finish her sentence, however, because Ron had grabbed his sister by the wrist and was dragging her out the portrait hole.

Harry and Hermione scrambled out after them.

Ron walked so quickly that Ginevra never really got used to the movement and was barely on her feet. She was half bent over, mostly sideways, stumbling over her own feet as he dragged her along, pulling so hard on her wrist she knew he was going to leave a bruise and her shoulder would be sore for a week. She didn't care. She was still crying. The sobbing had finally begun. Harry and Hermione had to run to keep up.

Ron burst through the door to Snape's office without even knocking. The professor had been warned about what was going on tonight and knew he was supposed to be Ginevra's allabi, but the way they entered sincerely shocked and apalled him. He was genuinely concerned for the girl. He could tell all the emotional pain in her eyes was real, and the way she grabbed her shoulder with her free hand when Ron stopped and she was finally able to right herself made him pale with cold fury. He maintained composure, however, and merely raised an eyebrow.

"Did or did not my sister have detention with you this evening," Ron bit out in a barely contained tone.

"She did indeed. And why is that so important that you feel the need to rudely barge into my office after hours?"

Ron had released her wrist and she had stopped rubbing her shoulder to massage her wrist. He had visibly relaxed to the point that Hermione was afraid he would collapse. "No reason sir," he said weakly with very poorly contained relief.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for each of you for being out after hours. Another detention for Ms. Weasley for giving her brother adequate reason to doubt her word. I do not want to know what you were accused of," Snape addressed Ginevra, "but if it was sufficiently horrible and your reputation sufficiently questionable that it warrents this behavior, you obviously deserve it." He sneered and nodded their dismissal. She caught him flick his eyes to her wrist and back. She nodded. She knew he had been asking about more than just the wrist.

They walked back to Gryffindor tower in silence. Ginevra had allowed Harry to wrap his arm around her and she layed her head on his shoulder with her eyes closed as he guided her footsteps. The crying had stopped but she was very weak and tired from the effort.

Once back in the common room, which was now empty, Ron turned toward his sister. He spoke in the softest and most sincere tone she had ever heard him use. "I'm sorry Gin. I had no reason to doubt you. You are right. We do get stuck in our own world. I have no excuse for ignoring you. I'm sorry."

Hermione looked tired and weary. Harry actually looked happy. It wasn't right. Sure, Hermione was entitled to be tired of all the drama that had been going on all year, and yeah, she looked as exhausted with Ron as she did with Ginevra, but she didn't look as though she knew Ginevra's words earlier had been as much about her as they had been about Ron. She looked as though she thought this was a family matter that needed to be worked out. And Harry. Harry had no right to be happy! Relieved, fine, but happy was going too far. He wasn't the least bit sorry that he had believed Ginevra capable of shagging the enemy, no, he was just happy it had turned out the way he wanted it to. All that mattered to him was that his little angel was still an angel even though he had never taken the time to actually make sure she was his. She supposed he figured there was time enough for that after she grew up, after the war, after the danger was gone. And Ron's apology, it was too little too late.

She turned and walked upstairs without a word.