The Devils Triangle

Chapter 7: Two Sides to Every Story

"Malfoy," Ginny growled as she exited Gryffindor tower.

"Young Lady," Draco nodded to her and raised one eyebrow cautiously, trying to determine the cause of her mood.

"Which route would you like to patrol?" he asked.

"Just lead. I'll follow," she said blankly.

"Alright, I like to start in the dungeons and work my way up to the Astronomy Tower."

"Whatever."

After several minutes of trying to make polite conversation and receiving short, terse and sometimes rude answers, Draco gave up. The next half hour passed in complete silence as they made their way around the dungeons. Draco finally snapped.

"Weasley! This is going to be a miserable evening if you don't snap out of your strop! This could be fun if you'd let it!" he almost pouted.

"Humpf!"

"What's wrong? What could I have possibly done? I've barely seen you and haven't spoken to you all week… or is that the problem?"

"You were just your normal self," she grumbled.

Draco stopped and grabbed Ginny by both shoulders forcing her to face him.

"What… did… I… do?" he hissed and refused to release her.

"You're torturing that poor little violet eyed girl, just because she's Muggleborn!"

Draco was shocked. "Astrid? This is about the Mudblood monster? Weaslette, you have no idea what you're talking about!"

"She was crying her eyes out for her mother and you were yelling at her! She doesn't belong in Slytherin house, and you were absolutely horrid to her."

Draco smiled. "Try telling her that. She's Slytherin to the core and proud of it. Did you see when she was sorted? The Sorting Hat didn't even touch her head before it called 'Slytherin'; the last time that happened was for me."

"It could still be a mistake… she was crying!"

"Of course she was crying! It's a very effective tool for a pretty little girl! I'm probably the first person she's ever encountered who didn't fall for it," Draco sighed heavily. "Ginny, I'm going tell you this once, and then I'm going to expect you to stay out of Slytherin politics. These children are not good little Gryffs who follow orders and do what they're told. They're Slytherin. Every one of them is cunning and ambitious; they all want to be top of the heap, master of all he surveys, alpha dog… whatever you want to call it. They require a firm hand or they'll walk all over you."

"Why did you have to attack her in the Great Hall last night?" Ginny countered.

"I didn't attack her… she attacked me! I was trying to put an end to it!"

"Oh, right! That little girl is a match for you? What could she possibly do to you? Why would she attack you?"

"What could she do to me?" Draco pondered for a moment. "This stays between you and me, Ginny; if your brother or Potter catches wind of this you're dead. Understand?" Ginny nodded.

"First, she came up to me at dinner and said, 'Malfoy you're so pretty, you should be a girl.' Then, she hexed me and I grew breasts. She was about to hex me again to make another part of anatomy shrink when I grabbed her and forced her to the hospital wing so she could help Madame Pomfrey reverse the spell. If it hadn't been for my robes you would have seen that I was sporting a pair of large breasts. Huge! Bigger than yours!"

"Mine aren't big, I'm just small!" Ginny snapped defensively.

Draco realized there was no way he could comment further on this subject without landing in deep trouble, so he let it drop.

"When you enter Slytherin house as a Mudblood you have to go on the offensive; she's doing that admirably. She's taking on me."

"Then why do you hate her?"

"I don't hate her. Quite the contrary, I may have to marry the little Mudblood someday. She's a nightmare, and she reminds me of ME!"

Ginny stared at Draco blankly.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm torn, I don't know if I want to comment on the arrogance of you wanting to marry someone just like yourself, or on the shock I'm in that you'd consider marrying a Muggleborn."

"It was a joke Weasley, not meant to be taken seriously at all," he said dryly. "But at least you're out of your strop and thinking of ways to insult me… that's an improvement!" he added brightly.

"How can she know so much magic if she's Muggleborn?"

Draco shrugged. "Apparently her parents have strong ties to the wizarding world. She was raised properly… doesn't behave like a muggle at all."

Ginny growled and Draco smirked.

"Perhaps we should change the subject before your strop returns," Draco quipped.

Ginny wasn't entirely convinced, but she was willing to give Draco the benefit of the doubt for the moment.

Ginny grinned. "So… umm… did you enjoy having breasts?"

"Oh! It was brilliant! I tried to get Madame Pomfrey to let me keep them overnight, but she wouldn't hear of it! Did I mention they were HUGE?"

Ginny giggled uncontrollably. He may be the evil Draco Malfoy, but he's still a sixteen year old boy!

"Sshhh! Here we go!" Draco said suddenly, holding his finger up to his lips.

Draco withdrew his wand and whipped open the door to a nearby broom cupboard.

"I say, I'm afraid I'll have to interrupt. Five points from Hufflepuff, ten points from Ravenclaw. It's very rude making the girl do all the work like that! Bad form! Be on your way!" Draco was clearly enjoying this.

The startled couple gathered their clothes and ran without bothering to fully clothe themselves. Ginny didn't know what she was expecting to see, but it wasn't that.

"They weren't snogging! They were… they were… oh my!"

"I believe the word you're looking for is shagging," Draco said dryly, but he was obviously amused by Ginny's state.

"It was very rude of us to interrupt!"

Draco laughed heartily. "Yes, it was! That's what makes this fun!"

"I know them! I'll never be able to look them in the eye again!"

"Don't worry, they'll be busy avoiding you for quite a while too."

"Does that happen often?"

"You can get quite the sexual education on this job if you look hard enough. Just wait 'til we catch two blokes going at it! That'll teach you something your mother never meant you to know!" Draco cringed.

"Oh my!" Ginny eyes suddenly got very bright. "Let's find another one!"

"Weaslette, I knew you had potential!"

The rest of the evening flew by as they enthusiastically ferreted out snoggers and shaggers. (No pun intended.) Draco showed Ginny parts of the castle she never knew existed. Ginny never imagined Draco Malfoy could be this much fun; Ginny laughed and laughed. Occasionally Draco's cool exterior would fall and he'd laugh as well, but mostly he just calmly observed Ginny.

Before she realized the time, Ginny found herself back at the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Oh, you didn't have to walk me all the way back. It's a long way to the dungeons."

Draco shrugged; he'd been quiet for a while now. He was looking at her with a softness in his eyes she hadn't seen before… she liked it.

"Look. It seems we missed a snogger or two," Ginny said, trying to sound authoritative as Harry snuck past them with a guilty grin. "Potter, what have you been up to?"

"Nothing," Harry said innocently. "Gin, I'm wide awake, you want to stay up with me for a while?"

"Sure, I'll be right in." When Ginny turned back to Draco the soft gaze had disappeared.

"Good night, Ginny," and without another word, Draco left.

"'Night Draco," Ginny said, puzzled by his sudden departure.

Ginny returned to the common room and Harry.

"Sit here, Gin," Harry said patting his lap.

Ginny settled herself comfortably in the chair with Harry, leaning against his chest, resting her head on his shoulder while nestling into his neck. She felt herself relax immediately; it was always such a relief to be next to Harry. Harry seemed to feel it too.

"I probably shouldn't; after what I've seen tonight, I don't know where this lap has been and I certainly don't know where these hands have been," Ginny said dryly.

"They haven't been anywhere you'd find remotely objectionable, I assure you," Harry chuckled. "Did Malfoy behave himself?"

"Oh, Harry! When he puts as much effort into being entertaining as he usually does into being mean, he's so funny! Extremely rude, but funny! You wouldn't believe the things he said to some of the kids we caught, and he kept getting worse and worse. I think he was testing me to see how far he could go before I didn't think it was funny anymore."

"He probably was testing you."

"Who were you with tonight Harry?"

"Nancy? Um… yeah Nancy."

Ginny swallowed a giggle. "What happened to Constance?"

"Nothing. We had a good time yesterday, and I'm seeing her again on Sunday," Harry said matter-of-factly.

Ginny looked at him suspiciously out of the corner of her eye. "I'm almost afraid to ask this… what about tomorrow night?"

"Tomorrow night is Lizzy, I'm quite sure it's Lizzy," Harry said trying to keep a straight face, but the naughty grin broke through anyway."

"Harry Potter!"

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Three girls in one week?"

"There are even more scheduled for next week," he said glibly.

"Harry!"

"What?"

"You're turning into the Man-Whore of Gryffindor!" Ginny laughed.

"Am not! I'm not debauching anyone, just getting to know them," Harry considered for a moment. "But you never know… do you think that title would suit me?"

"NO!" Ginny laughed harder.

"It's not funny! Girls seem to like a boy with a dissolute reputation… I may have to cultivate one."

Ginny desperately tried to stifle her laughter. "Okay Harry, you work on that."

They quietly stared into the fire together for a long while.

"Harry, you never told me about your meeting with Snape and Dumbledore, about why Voldemort isn't bothering your dreams anymore."

"Apparently my Occlumency skills have increased significantly, and Snape can't get into my mind anymore. That's a huge relief!"

"Did you practice this summer?" Ginny asked.

"No, not at all, it just happened. There's something else I haven't told you though. I accidentally read Ron's mind the night we before we left The Burrow."

"You're a Legilimens? Cool! What did you see?"

"Nothing I want to relive!" Harry grimaced. "Let's just say our assumptions that Ron has naughty thoughts about Hermione are on the mark."

"Uggggh… disgusting! So, what now? Are you supposed to take lessons or practice? Can you only read what the person is thinking at the time or can you rummage around in their head?" asked Ginny, the curiosity getting to her.

"I'm supposed to continue my lessons with Snape," Harry said grumpily. "And I don't know what I can do. It's only happened twice: Ron and then Snape briefly in Dumbledore's office… he just loved that!"

"This is so cool! Try it on me!" Ginny said enthusiastically.

"What? Ginny are you sure? It hurts when Voldemort goes rummaging around my head."

"Pleeeeeeze, but you'll stop if I tell you, right?"

"Of course."

"Let me think of something I want to show you…" Ginny giggled, "Okay, I've got it! This is something I saw tonight."

"Look at me Ginny." She looked Harry in the eyes, and suddenly an image, surrounded by a cloud of emotion flashed into Harry's mind. He immediately withdrew.

"Bloody Hell Ginny! Why'd you show me that?"

"I had to see it! No reason you shouldn't suffer too!" she laughed.

"You saw people shagging tonight?" Harry was aghast.

"More than a few! The student body here is much randier than I ever imagined! I'm rather glad Draco was with me, he handled the shaggers quite well; I was usually too shocked to say anything. What else did you see?"

"Well, just that one image was quite enough, but I felt something too. I don't know what it was, maybe how you were feeling at the time," Harry eyes brightened. "Maybe it was your feelings for Malfoy!"

"What did it feel like?" Ginny asked, not sure that she wanted to have this conversation with Harry, but too curious to stop.

"Don't know. I have nothing to compare it to. Think about someone else, think about Neville."

Ginny looked Harry in the eyes and thought about Neville.

"I can feel you in my head Harry. It feels lovely, doesn't hurt at all."

"Must have something to do with intent then," Harry said concentrating fiercely. "Think about Colin now…..and now Ron…..Oh wow, very strong. Very conflicted!" Harry chuckled.

"No kidding," Ginny said dryly.

"Think about Hermione… think about Dean… awe Ginny!"

"I know," she sighed.

"Think about Malfoy again." Harry thought twice about his next statement, but he had to know. "Think about me."

"NO! Harry, get out of my head now," Ginny broke eye contact and Harry withdrew.

"Why can't I see that, Gin?" Harry asked quietly.

"Because it's too confusing. I don't even understand it myself, I'm sorry. What did you learn?"

Harry sighed. "Well I can't rummage about, not yet anyway; I can only see what you're currently thinking."

"What did you see about Malfoy?"

"You like him. You're wary of him, which is good. You think he's more than a little bit sexy, which is sick."

Ginny giggled into Harry's neck.

"There's something else too," Harry continued.

"What?"

"You think you can save him. Very dangerous."

"Harry, I think there may be something there worth saving.

"Please be careful," Harry whispered desperately against her ear, as he held her close.

"He's just a boy Harry, like you, trying to find his place in the world. He's not evil, not yet."

"What about Dean?"

"Hmmm. When I thought about Dean, you didn't see much did you?"

"Not much at all," Harry chuckled.

"I thought so. I can't help it Harry, he's so sweet, I don't know why I don't feel more for him."

"I do," Harry sighed.

"Why then?" Ginny asked.

"He's too normal for you, you like the hard-luck cases; the poor little orphan boy who has a maniacal monster trying to kill him, or the poor little rich boy who has the maniacal father trying to warp him. Poor Dean's too dull for our Ginny."

"Harry!" Ginny giggled. "That's not nice! You make me sound like I have a complex or something."

"Maybe you do. You should get it looked at, maybe they can cure you now; save you a lot of misery in future." Harry's arms had instinctively tightened around her, so that when Ginny moved to hit him he was prepared and restrained her quickly. Harry retaliated with tickles until Ginny begged for mercy. When they had calmed down again Harry said, "I, for one, am grateful for your complex; don't know what I'd do without you."

They continued to talk and stare into the fire together late into the night.

"Gin, what did you do to Malfoy? He looks angry," Ron asked, as they were finishing breakfast the following morning. According to Parvati, Hermione was already in the library, and Harry was still asleep.

"What do you mean? I didn't do anything to him," Ginny shrugged.

"He hasn't stopped staring at you for the past half hour… it's creepy," Ron observed.

Ginny shrugged again.

"Hey guys," Harry said as he climbed onto the bench, sitting next to Ginny. He wrapped his arm around her and gave her a squeeze, while speaking softly in her ear.

"I'm sorry I skived our fly this morning; I had to sleep in, I was knackered. Someone kept me talking 'til all hours last night," Harry said in a mock accusing tone.

Ginny smiled at him affectionately. "That was nice; I've missed our talks the past few days. Are you two still up for coaching me this afternoon?"

Ron and Harry exchanged nods and agreed.

"Sure, after lunch? You don't really need it Ginny, besides the fact that you're really good, you have an inside track with the team's management," Harry teased.

Ginny elbowed Harry in the ribs. "I don't want any special favors, just the same shot as anyone else."

"Good. You won't get any special favors from me! If you're crap, I'll tell you," Ron growled.

Draco had been watching the Weaslette's back since he entered the Great Hall for breakfast; he was furious with himself! Malfoys do not become besotted! Especially with Weasleys! This wasn't the plan. The plan was to spend time with her and get her to fall for me! Then I would have the upper hand to do as I chose.

His housemates had long since given up trying to draw Draco into a conversation, so they just left him alone with a roll of their eyes and a chuckle; it's not every day you see the great Malfoy fall… hard!

Draco watched as Potter sidled up to her, touched her and breathed all over her. Where is that Mudblood boyfriend of hers anyway? Doesn't he know enough to keep an eye on her? The idiot deserves to lose her. Who am I kidding? She's Potter's girl, she's always been Potter's girl; it's obvious. Draco resolved to forget about the Weaslette: years of tradition dictated that a Slytherin Malfoy and a Gryffindor Weasley shouldn't even be breathing the same air.

Draco's feet, however, didn't obey the new forget-about-Ginny resolution; as soon as Ginny was leaving the Great Hall Draco's feet were following her out. Damn, Damn, Damn, Damn, Damn.

"Weasley… Ginny," he called, suddenly at a loss as to what he wanted.

"Hi," she smiled at him questioningly.

"Um… I enjoyed myself last night, it was…interesting." Why won't my brain work?

"I had fun too; we'll do it again next Friday, of course," Ginny moved to leave.

"Wait! D'ya wanna go for a fly?"

"Draco, I have a boyfriend," Ginny reminded him.

"But you fly with Potter every morning; you say he's just a friend. You didn't fly today, so do you want to go now, with me?"

Ginny was shocked by the amount of information he had. "How? ... How..."

"Relax Weasley, I'm not stalking you!" Draco chuckled, the gears in his brain finally beginning to work again. "I'm an early riser too; I'm usually walking the grounds at that hour. It's a little hard to miss your garish hair flying about the sky. You can certainly fly."

"I hope you still admire my flying when I'm sending Quaffle after Quaffle through Slytherin goal posts in a few months. Yes Draco, I'll fly with you."

"Shall we get our brooms and meet at the main entrance?" Draco asked.

"Are you in a hurry?" Ginny asked.

"No."

"Have you ever seen the Gryffindor common room?" Ginny asked.

"No."

"I'll show you mine, if you show me yours," she said with a naughty twinkle in her eyes.

Draco valiantly swallowed the dozen or so comments he had ready to fly at that moment and said only, "Right then, dungeons first."

As expected, the Slytherin common room was very green and silver and serpentine.

"It's rather damp, isn't it?" Ginny said looking around with interest. The common room was deserted at the moment.

"It's good for the complexion," Draco said with a smirk.

"Where are we exactly?" Ginny asked.

"Under the lake. I'll just go get my broom," Draco moved to leave.

"You're not leaving me here alone!" Ginny followed him to the stairs. Draco chuckled and motioned her to lead the way up.

"What's so funny?" Ginny asked.

"Most girls would think twice before accompanying me to my bedchamber," Draco said dryly.

"You do have quite the rakish reputation, but I can handle you. It's those stroppy cows that pass for girls in this house I want to avoid. Lead by your Pugfaced snogging buddy."

"My Pugfaced snogging buddy? Do you mean Parkinson?"

"Duh!"

"Don't call her Pugface. She's very sensitive about her nose. Actually, she's very pretty when she smiles."

"I've never seen her smile, but I've seen plenty of sneers! Oh, and don't call her 'Pugface'? Would you like the list of all the things she's called me over the years? Oh, I forgot ! You don't need that list because you're the one who made up most of them in the first place!"

"Yes, but we've grown beyond that stage haven't we?" he said calmly, as they arrived at the sixth year boy's dorm and he opened the door.

"Fine! But I'll still call her Pugface if she deserves it!"

"Fair enough. What did you mean snogging buddy?" he asked.

"That was quite a greeting she gave you at the train station."

"Jealous?" he smirked.

"No," she said crisply.

"I started kissing her when I was eight; it would seem strange to stop now," Draco shrugged.

Ginny looked around the dorm and laughed; if she replaced all the Slytherin green with Gryffindor red it would be Ron and Harry's dorm room.

"This is exactly like Gryffindor's sixth year boys dorm. Which one's yours?" Draco pointed to the bed farthest from the door. "You and Harry sleep in the same bed," she said grinning and waggling her eyebrows.

Draco grimaced and once again bit back his comments.

Ginny giggled. "You're going to give yourself an aneurism if you keep bottling-up your snarky comments like that!"

"I'm trying to be good. I'm trying to not offend," he said carefully.

"I appreciate that, but I want you to be yourself. Just try to find the line between sarcasm and hatefulness. As long as you're trying, I'll let you know when you step over."

A wide, wide grin spread over Draco's face. "Well if that's the case, I want to go back to the 'I'll show you mine, if you show me yours' comment! I had some great ones…."

"No, no, no, too late, you passed on it. Better luck next time! You're very neat, and you have more beauty supplies than a high-maintenance girl!"

Ginny had walked over to his chest of drawers and was looking at the collection of bottles and tins lined up neatly on top of it. She remembered her promise to Hermione to find out what made him smell so good. She began lifting the lids on the containers and sniffing each of the bottles, being very careful to put them back where she found them; he seemed like the type who liked everything just so.

"Cleanliness is a virtue, and they're grooming aids, not beauty supplies." Draco leaned against the chest of drawers and watched her rummage through his things; he hated it when people touched his belongings. The fact that he was amused by Ginny's doing it was further proof to him that he was besotted. He was in trouble.

"Why do you smell everything, Weasley?"

Ginny looked at him warily. "I'm trying to figure out how you smell so good."

He grinned smugly. "Think I smell good do you?"

Ginny glared at him. He reached for one of the bottles and handed it to her.

"It's my shaving potion."

"You shave?" she smelled the bottle.

"Occasionally."

"It doesn't smell like anything."

Draco took the bottle away from her and applied the potion to his face. Ginny watched the blonde, barely noticeable stubble on his chin disappear.

"It has to react with my skin first. Custom blended for me by the apothecary in Diagon Alley." He bent close to Ginny so she could smell him.

Ginny felt lightheaded as the heavenly scent filled her head and made her mouth go dry. "Yeah, that's it," she said quietly. He looked at her intently with an undefineable expression, and then resumed his normal manner.

"Ginny, are we ever going to fly? Or would you rather spend the day in my bedchamber?" Draco said looking at her intensely and giving her his most sinister Malfoy smirk. Only a few days ago that smirk would have enraged her. Now Ginny found it… charming. Oh dear!

"Let's fly," she said quickly.

"Thought so," he chuckled.

His attention diverted suddenly to his bed and he withdrew his wand. He swiftly pulled up his pillow and a huge python slithered out from under it. Draco shook his head somewhat amused, quickly vanished it, and remade his bed neatly.

"Astrid," he chuckled as he led Ginny from the dormitory.

The Slytherin common room was no longer deserted when they returned to it; it went deadly silent upon they're arrival. All eyes were on Ginny.

Ginny noticed that Draco tensed and his jaw locked at the site of Pansy sitting on Blaise Zabini's lap. It looked as though they'd been recently snogging.

"Are you insane Malfoy?" Zabini scoffed. "I'm really beginning to think you have a death wish. Who's going to kill you first? The Dark Lord, your father or her rabid brothers. How many are there? A dozen?"

Ginny grinned. "Only six, but it seems like more." A black cat had come over and was rubbing itself along Draco's leg. He picked it up and showed it to Ginny, smirking.

"Ginny, I'd like to introduce you to Mudblood; Mudblood this is Ginny." Both Ginny and Draco were snickering.

"Hello Mudblood, aren't you a sweetie?" Ginny said scratching the cat's ears, all the Slytherins in the common room were snickering now.

"What's so funny?" Ginny asked Draco.

"I suspect they think it's amusing to hear the Gryffindor princess use the 'M' word." Draco chuckled and dropped the cat.

"It's only a word… it's the intent that causes harm."

As Draco led Ginny out of the common room, they encountered Astrid. Her eyes flashed excitedly on Draco, then darkened and glowered at Ginny. Ginny could have sworn she saw jealousy in the tiny girl's eyes; Ginny swallowed a snicker.

"Hello, Astrid. This is Ginny," Draco said. Astrid just sneered at Ginny and continued into the common room.

"Did you teach her that sneer?" Ginny laughed.

"No. She came fully equipped. It's a good one isn't it?" he said with admiration.

They proceeded to the Gryffindor common room and Draco surveyed it with interest, glaring at the table of younger students until they stopped staring at him and went back to their studies.

"I'm afraid you can't come up with me, there's a…" Ginny started.

"I know how it works Weaslette. I'll wait here," Draco said as he ensconced himself comfortably in a chair by the fire, the chair commonly referred to as 'Harry's chair.' He looked like he owned the place.

"Oh dear, I'll hurry," Ginny ran up the stairs to fetch her broom, but she wasn't quick enough.

As she hurried back down the steps, broom under her arm, Ginny heard Ron bellow from the common room, "Am I having a Bloody nightmare?"

"Just came to see how the other half lives, Weasley," Draco drawled coolly, making himself even more comfortable by putting his feet on the table and crossing them elegantly.

"You're in my chair!" shrieked Harry in horrified disgust.

"Come on Draco, let's go. Now!" Ginny said as she pulled him out of Harry's chair and began dragging him towards the portrait hole.

Ron suddenly brightened. "How 'bout a game of chess as long as you're here?"

"RON!" Harry shrieked.

"Sorry, dance card's full this morning," Draco drawled as he allowed Ginny to push him out through the portrait hole.

Dean had come down the dormitory stairs, just as they were leaving and had witnessed the end of the exchange.

"Um… was that my girlfriend going on a date with Malfoy?"

Ron and Harry shrugged and pleaded ignorance.

As soon as Ginny got Draco through the portrait hole she fell against him bursting with laughter.

"Did you see the look on Harry's face when he found you in his chair? I'm not going to hear the end of that any time soon!"

"I'm glad I amuse you."

They soon found themselves outside on the great lawn and were preparing to fly.

"Bloody Hell! That's a Nimbus 5000! Where'd a Weasley get a broom like that?" Draco said much too harshly.

Ginny tried to glare at him, but she couldn't mask the hurt in her eyes. "I think you may have found the line there, Malfoy," Ginny burst into the sky.

"FUCK!" Draco shot up after her.

Draco shadowed Ginny in the sky, but didn't try to interrupt her; he recognized all the signs of flying off in a rage. He could wait.

When it seemed as though she had worked through the worst of it he motioned to her to follow him and he was relived when she did. He led her to the top of an abandoned turret of the castle; this was where Draco went when he needed to think and be alone. Although her face was still a bit red, she'd calmed down a good bit.

"I'm sorry. Can we chalk it up to habit?" he said honestly.

"This might be more difficult than I thought," Ginny said quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean in the past you've called me 'filth' and 'dirty' and a dozen other hateful things, far worse then what you just said, and I barely noticed. But if you become someone I like, someone whose opinions I care about, that's giving you power. I can't do that, I don't trust you Draco."

"Oh."

"I need to know your motivations. Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Making an effort to be civil to me. I don't know why. You could be trying to piss off Harry and Ron. You may want another notch on your bedpost. You may think I can provide you with information useful to Voldemort. You may just want to make a fool of me for fun. Like I said, I don't know."

Draco's face was unreadable, he didn't seem surprised by Ginny's words or hurt at all; he just pondered for a moment.

He gently took Ginny by the elbow and led her to a stone bench on the edge of the turret landing. He motioned for her to sit and then he joined her.

"As I mentioned in Grimmauld Place, I think we can answer some questions for one another; perhaps now would be a good time to begin?" He looked at Ginny questioningly and she nodded. "You shouldn't trust me… I've not given you any reason to trust me. But I can address some of your concerns; you can choose to believe me, or not. I first showed interest in you in Grimmauld Place to annoy Potter and your brother, that I admit. Something's changed and now it's merely a perk, although it doesn't seem to annoy your brother nearly as much as I'd like."

"He's in denial. Once light dawns, you'll hear the explosion," Ginny snickered.

"One can only hope," Draco sighed heavily. "You mayn't have noticed this Weaslette, but I'm not a people person."

Ginny snorted involuntarily and Draco smirked in spite of himself.

"I can barely abide most people; I can count on one hand those that I truly like. I like you… even without romantic entanglement, I like you."

"A poor, garish haired Weasley?"

"Imagine my surprise." The soft look that Ginny had enjoyed the previous evening had returned to Draco's face. "As for my wanting another notch on my bedpost," he chuckled, "my bedpost is surprisingly smooth. It's all crap you know."

"What?"

"My reputation, it's mostly not true," he shrugged.

"How'd you get it then?"

"Parkinson, Millie and the other stroppy cows as you call them. They spread rumors; they think it's funny if they can get a girl I've never laid eyes on to slap me. I think it's quite funny too, actually."

"Slytherins have a strange sense of fun it seems," Ginny said dryly.

"You've no idea." He paused for a moment, looking at Ginny. "I've been accused of being far too particular about the female company I keep."

"A poor, garish haired Weasley?" Ginny repeated.

"Imagine my surprise," he repeated with a smirk.

"What's going on with you and Pansy?"

"We're ju…"

"I saw how you reacted to seeing her with Blaise Zabini in the Common room… you're more than just friends."

"What's going on with you and Potter? I don't care who you say your boyfriend is. There's something there, something big."

Ginny puffed. "It's complicated."

"I'll make you a deal, when you spill about Potter, I'll tell you about Parkinson."

"I don't want to know that badly. Why do you call her Parkinson anyway?"

"She's not a Pansy," he said dryly. "Regarding your last concern, about my spying for the Dark Lord, I recommend you not tell me anything he may find helpful. I certainly won't be fishing for information, but I have limited control over what my future holds."

"You think you're destined to become a Death Eater, don't you?"

"I think I have limited control over what my future holds. Let me ask you something: If I did take the Dark Mark, this friendship would evaporate, wouldn't it?"

"It would have to. I couldn't watch someone I care about destroy themselves like that."

"But as your brother said, if Potter took the Dark Mark, you'd stand by him."

"That's not going to happen and you know it, but if for some reason Harry took the Dark Mark he would have his reasons and I wouldn't abandon him."

"Who's to say I wouldn't have my reasons as well?"

"I can imagine Harry's reason's, I know him well enough. I guess I don't know you well enough… we're back to trust. What would your reasons be Draco? "

Draco was silent for a long time; Ginny knew her answer wouldn't come today.

"Where'd you get the broom?" he finally asked.

"Harry. Birthday present from Harry."

"Just friends?"

"It's complicated."

"Everything's complicated now. It used to be so simple. There used to be a correct answer for everything, my father's answer. Then I realized I'm not my father, and I don't want to be. I don't know what I believe anymore; don't get me wrong, you and I will never agree on certain subjects."

"That's part of the fun, I think," Ginny said; she desperately wanted to touch him, to comfort him, but something told her he wasn't the kind of boy one comforted. At least not by her. Yet.

"I spent the first part of summer plotting ways to kill Potter, blaming him for my father being in prison. There were quite a few rows at Grimmauld Place when my mother first moved us there. You can't tell by looking at her, but my mother can be quite scary when she wants to be, even without the hag Glamour Charm in place."

Ginny giggled. "I can imagine."

"She did her best to convince me my father is where he belongs; I have trouble believing it."

"Your father is where he belongs Draco."

"You think he's a monster, don't you?"

"Yes."

Draco shrugged. "To me, he's just my father. Not a warm and fuzzy kind of father certainly, but still the person who taught me to ride a broom."

"Draco, how 'bout we get back to the broomriding?"

"Alright," he smirked "had enough drama, have you Weaslette? I thought you Gryffs lived for this soul bearing shit."

"Not on beautiful days, when I could be whipping your arse in a race around the castle."

Draco was on his feet and in the air before Ginny realized what happened.

"Sneaky Slytherin cheat!" she yelled after him as she took to the air. Draco merely cackled over his shoulder as he gained speed.

An hour later, at lunchtime, Ginny and Draco burst into the Great Hall together, laughing. Ginny's cheeks were flushed and her eyes were glowing as she took her seat among her friends. It took Ginny several moments to realize that no one at the table was talking. Ron looked stunned, Harry kept his eyes locked on his food, and Hermione, who wore a very odd expression, kept giving her looks filled with trepidation.

"What's going on?" Ginny asked Hermione quietly. Hermione nudged her head to the right, Ginny's eyes followed, and that's when she noticed Dean. Dean was glaring at her, absolutely livid.

"Hi, Dean." Ginny smiled at him questioningly.

"Hi, Dean? Hi, Dean? That's all you have to say?"

"What did you want me to say?" Ginny wasn't naïve, she knew what was coming. She knew it probably wasn't the best idea to fly with Malfoy, and like Draco said, she flew with Harry every morning as friends. Why couldn't she fly with Draco? There's nothing like a good rationalization.

"I want you to explain why my girlfriend is going on dates with other blokes!" Dean exploded.

"It wasn't a date! It was a spur of the moment something to do. We just flew, and talked. I am allowed to talk to other boys, Dean."

"Not alone! Not when that boy is actively pursuing you! Bollocks! I can't talk about this now!"

"Fine!" Ginny huffed, as Dean stomped out of the Great Hall, "Hey Ron, pass the potatoes, will ya?"

Authors Note:

Ginny probably could have handled that better. But I never said she was perfect, just interesting.

Thanks again Jocjarmom for the Beta and tips. Don't forget to checkout BFR, y'all.