A/N: Thank you to Swimfan and Nickel, again. Thank you to all my readers too. Not much to say so I guess I should get on with it then.

Disclaimer: blah, blah, blah,

As Ginny lied awake in her moderately warm bed the reason why she was running earlier suddenly hit her. She smacked her head, "Shit." She was supposed to meet up with Colleen and Tara. They were going to be so pissed at her. Oh, well they would just have to get over it. Ginny had just had the best night ever and there was no way anyone was going to make her feel bad about having it.

She was unsure of whether to tell any of her friends that she had kissed Draco, or even hung out with him at all. Sure, everyone in school had seen her and Draco kiss but her good friends later found out that it was a bet. Ginny didn't know why, but another major reason she was iffy on the subject was how Draco felt about it. She was actually concerned if he wouldn't want people to know he had been voluntarily spending his evening with a Weasely. It was sort of dumb but she still thought it.

Judging by the small amount of light outside Ginny guessed that it was pretty early. Seeing as how she was completely awake anyway she got to work. Her usual homework didn't take her long at all, about an hour or so which wasn't out of the ordinary one way or the other. But then she got to the meter long essay on Sage Root. Not only did she not know anything about sage root personally, her potions textbook didn't mention more than a paragraph on it. And on top of that, the paragraph had nothing to do with how sage root affects one's life. Ginny stared at it for little bit and then packed up her stuff that was littered about her bed saying, "off to the library."

She took a seat at one of the many uncomfortable chairs at one of the many wooden tables and began her work. Luckily enough she had found a text book titled, "Everything you wanted to know about Roots," and then subtitled, "and some things you didn't." And that title proved quite true because the first sentence Ginny read said, "Roots help everything from the whiteness of your teeth the hardness of your wizard's…." and she stopped right there and immediately looked up sage root in the index. Unfortunately this book too, didn't really mention sage root.

Ginny closed her eyes in a brief moment of silent frustration and then she felt someone put their cold hands over her eyes. "Guess who?" they asked in a faux voice.

"Hmm…" Ginny wondered silently. "Ron," she said as she took the hands off her eyes and looked up into her brother's eyes.

"You're good." Ron took a seat opposite her.

"No, you just have really cold hands."

"Fine. Anyway, I haven't sat down to talk to you in a while."

"That's very true."

"So…"

"So…what? There's a reason we don't really talk. There's nothing to talk about."

"Not true. We could talk about you." Ron leaned back in his chair and looked at his little sister.

"What about me."

"Hmm…besides the whole Malfoy thing, which I'm sorta kinda over. We could discuss your lovely run in with Pansy Parkinson."

"Oh that. Well, what have you heard?"

"That you smacked her across the head with a textbook and Snape gave you detention for a month," he responded in an almost disinterested voice.

"Close. I only have detention for 2 weeks and I got a meter long essay to do."

"No way," he laughed.

"Way."

"Sad to have missed it. So, did you start detention last night then?"

"No, why?"

"Because you were out pretty late."

'Damn,' she thought. 'I need to think before I talk.' "You know me. I party into the wee hours of the morning."

"I was out too, so I guess I can't really say anything but I will all the same."

"What were you doing?" Ginny raised her eyebrow.

"I was with Mary, not that you needed to know."

"I would've found out anyway."

"Look Gin, I know you don't want to talk about it and I know that it's really not my place to say,"

"But you will anyway."

"Why are talking to Malfoy."

"Besides the fact that I find him interesting and a decent person to talk to?"

"See, Harry is dead set against you hanging around him and I want to know why you just won't hear him out on it."

"I have. It's the same crap that he says about Malfoy every day. Besides, why should I have to bend to Harry anyway?"

Ron let out a little sigh and bowed his head. He knew his sister was as stubborn as him so this persuasion was doomed to begin with. "Okay, Gin."

Ginny paused a minute, "what's okay?"

"I won't complain about Malfoy anymore."

"What?"

"What I'm saying is that I am going to be openly okay about you and Malfoy thing. But only as friends, anymore of that snogging business I knock his bloody head off."

"Really?"

"Yes. You may not believe it but I only have the best intentions, Gin. I got to go, but I'll talk to you later."

"What about Harry?" she said bitterly.

"Well, let's just count on him being Harry. Bye sis." And with that Ron got up and walked out the library with a shocked Ginny left behind.

Draco darted out of the store into the rain. The uneven street was mostly one massive puddle. He kept his head down and his collar up. He ran until he got the alley he was looking for. A black cat with a huge gray spot was trying to keep out of the pouring rain. He saw the green door with the many rusted holes. Some voices could be heard inside and Draco swallowed his fear and walked on in.

"Who're you?" a fat man standing the corner asked gruffly.

"No one," Draco responded as he whipped as his wand and knocked the man unconscious. He walked up the passed outman and searched him. "God, did you ever hear of a shower?" Draco asked. The rank smell of the man was making him nauseous. Draco found a wand and broke it. Then he found the man's ID card and snatched it. He looked on the back of it and scrawled there in the most horrible handwriting was, "Vomit flavored beans."

He continued on through the room that was narrow enough to be a hallway and made it to the other door. He tried the knob, but it was locked. He did every locking spell he could think of and then he remembered the ID card. "Vomit flavored beans," he said in a voice similar to the fat smelly man from before. The door opened a crack and a light came through, Draco peered in to see how many people where in the room. He counted 7 but wasn't sure. Then before he knew what had happened he felt someone push into the room and then he felt the sensation of cold steel to the back his neck.

"What're you doin' boy?" This man smelt just as bad the one before Draco noted. He looked around the room where all the men were brandishing some sort of weapon but none of them had wands out which Draco found weird. "You deaf?" The man smacked Draco on the back of the head. "Who're you?"

Draco didn't say a word and the impatient man got another malodorous fatty to get him a chair and some rope. 'Damn it I hate rope burn,' he thought to himself. However they didn't check him for weapons so Draco still had his wand. Once those idiots had finally gotten him the chair the real questioning began. They were pretty violent and slapped him a bunch of times. For some reason these men had it in their heads that Draco worked for 'Lou' who ever that was. He stayed quiet. Finally the men got really angry.

"Fine, you wan' it your way? Joe!"

Joe came up to Draco and took his cigarette out his mouth. Then he tore Draco's shirt and stabbed him with the still light cigarette. Draco stared straight at the man the whole time. Being impressed Joe called for some other guy, George. George had a slightly more threatening device. Smack! The chain came slamming across his face with a terrible force.

A/N: what a lovely cliffie. Review or Draco dies! MUHAHAH! (just kidding. or am I?)