Ginny took her time walking back to Gryffindor tower. She wasn't looking forward to her brother's reaction to everything that had happened. It would have been bad enough if she had just been eating with Malfoy. Now she had to deal with Malfoy defending her as well.
As soon as she stepped through the portrait hole, she was bombarded by questions, accusations, and demands. Trying to remain calm, she brought her hands up, placed them on Ron's shoulders, and shoved him, hard. Yes, that was her trying to remain calm. The questions stopped.
Ron just stared at her blankly from the floor where he had fallen, completely oblivious to the hand Harry was holding out to him. Of course, if he had taken the hand, he probably would have pulled Harry down because the other boy was just as shocked. Hermione looked furious.
Ginny didn't give them the opportunity to recover. She decided preemptive action was in order. "SHUT UP!" She yelled. "You're worried about me? FINE! But the way to learn what I'm thinking is NOT to yell at me and demand ANYTHING! You understand?"
By now Ron had scrambled to his feet and looked like he had no idea what to say or do but was a microsecond from starting in on her again. Harry was staring helplessly. Hermione still looked furious.
Ginny continued. "What was I doing with Malfoy?" A lot of anger she had been holding back for some time was boiling to the surface. "I was eating!" She pulled up the sleeve covering her left arm. "Do you see a dark mark here?" Her voice was dark and bitter. "You wanted to know where these cuts come from? They come from me." She took no satisfaction out of they're horrified reactions. "There would be more if Draco hadn't stepped in and STOPPED me!" Her eyes were hard and the others were slightly frightened. "What was I doing with Malfoy? HE understood! HE understands!" She was almost shaking with emotion. Holding up her wrist, she finished with, "Pull something like that again and I'll let him 'talk' to you."
Well, so much for just talking to them. She hadn't meant to go off on them, she really hadn't. She had intended to talk to them calmly and try to explain things. Oh well. They deserved it. She didn't really want to wait around for them to recover their voices so stormed up to her room.
About fifteen minutes later Hermione entered and sat down on her bed. She tried to just ignore the girl, but Hermione just wouldn't get the point and leave. Groaning, she put down the homework she was working on and looked up impatiently.
"Look, Gin…" Hermione really wasn't sure what to say or how to say it. "If you had come to us…"
"You would have understood?" Ginny looked rather incredulous. "No offense, Hermione, but do you understand now?"
Hermione looked a little sheepish. "Well, no, I guess I really don't. I want to, though. We all want to. If you would just…"
"No." Ginny interrupted again. "It doesn't matter what I say, you just won't get it! The fact that you let Ron humiliate me in front of everyone, demanding to know how I got these… The fact that you let him do it again tonight… The fact that you were right there with him as he assaulted me downstairs… No, Hermione, you all have a lot more to understand before you could ever understand this," she indicated her arm, "all things Draco already gets."
She rolled her eyes as Hermione made an expression somewhere between complete confusion, disgust, and anger. To her credit, she tried to contain and control it, and Ginny was grateful for that at least. "Look, he isn't evil, not even close. The last thing you have to worry about is me becoming a death eater. I have just as much reason to HATE Tom as anyone, don't you think?" She returned to her homework. "And THAT is what you and the boys will have to be satisfied with, because I'm sick of being treated like a porcelain doll." Her tone clearly indicated that the conversation was over.
Hermione really didn't know what to say and so she reluctantly got up and left.
The next morning at breakfast, Ginny and Draco chose to eat on the dais again. Her brother didn't even look at her. She sighed and turned back to her meal. Draco looked at her carefully. "You all right? What happened last night?"
"I'm fine. I'm not really sure what happened last night. I just sort of went off on them I guess. I told them that I was with you because you understood while they didn't. Later, I told Hermione that they were incapable of understanding this," she indicated her arm, "until they understood a great deal more that they didn't even realize they were missing and you understood it all." She shrugged. "And now I'm not sure whether they are even talking to me." He continued to study her face and she took another bite. "OH! And I told him that if ever tried anything like the way he grabbed my wrist again I'd let you talk to him."
Draco smirked and nodded in appreciation. He got serious again for long enough to say, "Just be sure to tell me if he does."
It was her turn to smirk. "I will."
They started spending most of their time together. It took the school a few days to adjust. Seeing Ginny with a Malfoy was certainly strange, but even more so was the change in Draco. He was not only spending his time with a blood traitor, but he had stopped behaving cruelly. He was just as cold as always, but he wasn't cruel anymore. After a matter of days, however, the talk had died down and people pretty much left them alone.
Ron had indeed stopped talking to his sister. If he could help it, he didn't even look at her. Harry wavered back and forth between the same behaviour and watching her critically. Hermione was trying to convince Ron to talk to his sister, but he wouldn't do it. He felt betrayed that she hadn't come to him with her problems. He felt betrayed that she had gone to Malfoy instead.
Ginny handled it pretty well. She didn't seem to let her brother get to her. Draco still worried about, though, whenever he saw the look in her eye when she saw one of the others.