Memories:Part I

by Ruby4

Ginny and Malfoy were friends in her 6th year.Harry obliviates Malfoy due to certain reasons and Malfoy doesn't remember that Ginny and him useto be friends.Then in Ginnys 7th year circumstances lead her to make a deal with Malfoy in exchange for his prot

5. Chapter 5:Introductions

Ginny lay awake in bed hours after Draco had fallen asleep. His arm was slung over her waist as he slept facing her. His blonde hair fell in his eyes. Ginny stared at him. He looked so...innocent while sleeping. Ginny reached a hand out to run through his hair but pulled it back on second thought. 'What have I gotten myself into?' Ginny thought to herself wearily. She rubbed her eyes praying she'd make it out of this ordeal in one piece. The fire in the fireplace had died down and it was considerably cold. The cold seemed to seep through her bare skin and into her bones. Ginny pulled the covers around her and shivered. Draco in his sleep shifted closer to her. Ginnys last thoughts before she fell asleep were of her family and what was going on at the burrow.

! ! !

Ginny woke up to the sunlight peeking through the window in the left side of Draco's bed. The windows were a few feet away from the fireplace and covered the walls length. Curtains had been over them the other night so Ginny hadn't gotten a look at the view they offered. She sat up and noticed that Draco was nowhere to be seen. Sighing she wrapped a sheet around her and walked over to the windows. Gasping she looked down at the view. She could see only a portion of the backyard which was filled with different colored flowers. Ginny guessed that a charm must be placed on the area to prevent snow. A stream ran through the huge garden and further on there was a lake.

"This whole area use to be a forest." a voice came behind Ginny. Startled Ginny looked up to see deep gray eyes staring at her. Draco's hair was wet which told her that he had been taking a shower. He wore a deep blue robe that complemented his gray eyes. He shifted his gaze to the terrain outside. "Mother turned this whole area into several gardens. This is the East garden."

"She's very talented." Ginny breathed. "To be able to turn a forest into this." She motioned towards outside.

Draco shrugged. "Mother does this type of stuff for a hobby." He then looked at her. "Iffy will be here in a bit. She'll escort you to your private quarters."

"My-my quarters?" Ginny asked.

Draco laughed. "Did you think I was going to keep you in my room?"

Ginny blushed and became full aware of the fact that she was wearing only a sheet while Draco was fully clothed. "I suggest you go take a shower." He said smirking and turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" asked Ginny turning to him.

"To the office. Fathers got some clients he wants me to handle and then after that I have to go check on Minister Fudge." His lip curled upwards slightly. He turned and left. Ginny went into the bathroom to take a nice long shower. When she emerged Iffy was waiting for her. Iffy held up a light blue dress robe. "Master Draco had this sent for you miss. He said that you should give your dress robe to me so I can have robes in your sizes made." Ginny hesitantly took the blue dress robe and handed her purple one, which was still lying on the floor, to Iffy. Slipping it on Ginny noticed that it was a bit tight on her.

"Master Draco also sent this." Said Iffy and held up a square dark blue velvet box. Opening it Ginny found a small delicate diamond necklace inside. She gasped.

"No." Ginny protested. "I couldn't possibly accept this. Why'd he send it?'

"But miss must take it." Squeaked the elf. She then pointed towards the side table where Ginnys diamond earrings were resting. "It matches with miss's earrings." Ginny grabbed the box and gathered her earrings as well as her bracelet that had somehow ended up underneath the bed. She then followed Iffy to her own room. After many twists and turns and walking down a flight of stairs, Iffy reached a door made of dark wood. It had a Victorian age style about it. Iffy opened the door and Ginny walked in. The bed had dark blue sheets with dark blue hangings. It was only slightly smaller than Draco's room and there were windows on the far wall similar to the windows in Draco's room. She went over and pulled back the velvet blue curtains from the window. She gasped at the view. This showed a hilly area with yellow and violet flowers everywhere. In the far distance she could see some trees. A stream flowed by and Ginny could see some kids playing on the hill that was a little in front of the woods.

Beside the window was a small study table. Across from the bed was a fireplace. Ginny then opened the door to her closet. The closet was a huge walk in closet and had a safe at the end.

Ginny heard her room door open and emerged from the closet. Another house elf had come with a tray of breakfast. Iffy and the other house elf left but not before Iffy said

"If Miss needs anything she can call Iffy."

Ginny sat down on her bed and ate her breakfast which consisted of eggs, toast and orange juice. She wistfully looked outside her window and feelings of homesickness began to cave in. Everyone at the burrow was probably inhabited by Furies but Ginny still longed to be home. To find comfort in her mothers arms and fall asleep in her own bed. She glanced around at her surroundings. They may have been elaborate but they were nowhere near as comforting as her bare, homely room was to her.

Ginny flopped back in bed wondering what she was supposed to do until Draco came back. Ginny got up and went to open the box which contained the diamond necklace. It was nothing elaborate but still very expensive. It consisted of a string of small round diamonds and a pear shaped diamond in the middle with two smaller pear shaped diamonds on each side. Ginny was confused. He had struck a deal with her and this was not in their deal. Come to think of it giving her robes was not even in their deal.

Ginny had been surprised when she saw the huge windows and the view they provided her. She had an inkling that Draco had chosen this room for her before he left because of the windows in it. Could he possibly like her?

Just remember that I love you.

Ginny seemed to come back to earth with those words. Harrys last words to her. She flung herself on the bed and began to cry. Iffy came in and took breakfast away and still Ginny cried. She refused to eat when lunch was brought to her and just lay in bed with a vacant expression. She would then snap out of her vacant state and start crying again only to go back to her vacant state after an hour or so. The sun began to set and darkness filled her room. Remembering Harrys words was like a blow in the stomach. The full impact of what was going on had hit her and hit her hard.

Ginny now lay with her eyes open and looking at the canopy above her bed. Her door creaked open and shut. Ginny lifted her head to see Draco enter. He muttered an incantation and the room lit up. Ginny had to close her eyes and open them again to adjust to the light. Draco came and sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Iffy complained to me that you haven't eaten lunch." He said solemnly.

"Well what do you think?" Ginny asked rolling her eyes. She motioned towards her untouched tray of food.

"Aren't you hungry?" he asked.

"No." said Ginny dully. Draco grabbed the plate and pushed it towards her. Ginny put it back on the trolley.

"Have it your way." Draco said resolutely. He called for Iffy who appeared with a rack of clothes. "Take lunch away and don't bring her anything to eat until she asks for it herself. No use wasting perfectly good food." He muttered.

"Yes master Draco." Said Iffy. She went and removed the robes form the cloths rack and hung them up in Ginnys closet. Iffy then took the trolley of food and disappeared.

Draco looked back at Ginny who had sat up by now. She fidgeted with a strand of her hair. "Did the robe fit you?" he asked in an unintended harsh voice.

Ginny nodded. "It's a bit tight though." Ginny commented. "I'm not stick thin you know." She sneered still upset over the orders he'd given Iffy.

"Well at that moment the only robe I could find was one of mothers." He replied smugly.

Ginny seemed to pale slightly. His mothers robe...it was his mother robe...and it was tight on her. 'Just like him to turn an insult to his advantage.' She thought grudgingly.

"When does my training and schooling start?" Ginny demanded.

"In a few days. You're not the only one who's going to be educated here. Teachers from Durmstrang have come here to teach." Draco said.

"Figures." Ginny muttered. She looked up at Draco who pushed her back in bed.

'No.' thought Ginny. 'Not now.' The full force of what had happened last night came tumbling over her. She'd been avoiding thinking about it all day but now, with Draco here, she couldn't help but think of it. She felt dirty, tainted. His kisses had been so different. So different from the kiss they'd shared so long ago in the hospital wing. So different from the very kiss she yearned for. Everything about last night had been physical, cold and remote. It had hurt. It had shocked her. She hadn't wanted her first time to be like that. Ginny tried to ignore the feeling of Draco fumbling with her robe.

"Don't you feel odd undressing a girl wearing your mothers robe?" Ginny asked smirking and trying to lighten the tension building inside of her. Maybe if she distracted him or got him angry-

Draco stopped halfway. "Not until you just made that comment." He replied in a sneer. "Nice try Weasley."

Ginny wished she couldn't feel. She wished he'd used the Imperious curse or even just drugged her. Anything was better than this. There was no feeling, no tenderness. No hugs or soft touches. 'It's not supposed to be like this.' Ginny thought to herself. 'Our first time wasn't supposed to be like this.' Ginny thought staring at Draco. She'd been able to keep her powers blocked up for the whole day but she was becoming exhausted. Ginny weakened her barrier slightly.

Her powers probed through Draco and tears gathered in her eyes. He didn't even know what tenderness was. He didn't know how to show affection. All he knew was this. Ginny couldn't help but feel pity for him. Draco entered her and let out a small moan. She hesitantly reached up to brush strands of blonde hair out of his eyes but he pulled away suddenly with furrowed eyebrows. Ginny became even more persistent and reached further up to do so. She moved his hair away and let her fingers play with his hair. Draco leaned down in a relaxed posture. Afterwards Draco fell down beside her in bed. Ginny pulled the covers over them and Draco suddenly grabbed her wrist. It was the wrist in which she wore Harry's bracelet.

"Potter gave this to you." Draco stated.

"How do you know?" asked Ginny.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Please it was all over school in seventh year that Harry Potter spent five hundred galleons to have a white gold bracelet made for Ron Weasleys younger sister."

He pulled the bracelet off her and threw it to the floor. Ginny stared at him and then at her wrist. Ginny then stared at where Draco had thrown her bracelet, trying to spot it. She felt something cool clamp against her wrist. Looking back she saw a bracelet of white gold with small pear shaped diamonds hanging from it. Looking back at Draco she found that he had fallen asleep or so it seemed.

Ginny felt exhausted and hungry. She didn't know how to block her new powers properly and it was exhausting. Her stomach gave a low rumble and she craved for her mothers homemade dishes. Glancing over at Dracos sleeping form Ginny wondered if this would happen every night with her. It was odd how whenever she unblocked her powers pity towards Draco engulfed her. He-he had tricked her. Was using her weakness to his advantage so he could get what he wanted and yet-and yet he didn't know any better.

Ginny couldn't hold her powers in any longer and released the barrier fully that she'd formed in her mind. A silvery dim light glowed briefly and then receded into her skin. At once the tension she'd felt decreased. It didn't matter what had happened because what's done is done. There was no turning back and instead of crying over spilt milk she realized that she should clean the milk stain. Ginny sat up in bed and looked down at Dracos sleeping form.

Passing a hand over his head Ginny muttered a few words and the frown in his forehead decreased. It was as if some other being became released inside of her when she unblocked her powers. Ginny felt at peace and gingerly ran a hand through Draco's hair before laying down and also falling asleep.

In the morning Draco was no where in sight. A half eaten plate of breakfast lay on a tray in front of the bed. Ginny sat up and hungrily polished off the bacon, toast and orange juice. Getting up Ginny walked into her closet and took dark blue robes out. Admiring the fine material she entered the bathroom to take a shower. Ginny emerged after about half an hour and found the room impeccably clean.

'Good service' Ginny thought humorously as she looked around the room. Ginny hesitantly looked towards the door. Draco never mentioned that she was not allowed to leave the room. Hesitantly she put her hand over the doorknob and turned it. It wouldn't budge. Iffy suddenly appeared behind her.

"Miss is not allowed to leave the room without Masters permission." Iffy squeaked.

"But what will I do all day?" Ginny asked desperately. She couldn't just sit and mope about. She'd come to terms with herself last night. She realized that this was what she would have to cope with if she wanted to-to- to what? If she wanted to be with Draco? If she wanted to train her powers? Or maybe it was if she wanted to stay alive? Ginny shook her head quickly of these thoughts. "When will Draco be home?"

"Iffy do not know." Iffy whispered. "Master usually comes home at late night."

"Is there anyway I can contact him?" Ginny queried.

"Miss is not allowed to have any form of communication." Iffy squeaked and cowered under Ginnys glare.

"So what am I supposed to do?" Ginny exploded. "Am I allowed to at least have some form of entertainment?" she asked. "Can you send some books from Dracos study?"

Iffy cowered. "Iffy must ask permission from master before giving miss anything."

Ginny sat down wearily on the bed and rubbed her eyes. She snorted. The bastard was playing mind games with her. She knew what was going on. This was just his way of flaunting about the power he had over her due to their contract.

"Just leave." Said Ginny and pointed towards the door. Iffy with a squeak disappeared. Ginny couldn't help but let her anger build on top of itself as she sat and beside her window and looked outside. Ginny just stared in anger at a tree and the next thing she knew it had gone up in flames. Startled Ginny remembered that she hadn't blocked her powers properly and did so. At once all the calmness inside of her left. A distressed, vulnerable feeling filled her. Tears began to leak out of the corner of her eyes. Was it worth it? Was all of this really worth it? She didn't need anyone to train her powers. She was doing fine by herself. Who cared about Draco when she had her family? When she had Harry? And then she remembered that Harry wasn't Harry anymore and that her whole family had been possessed by demons.

She remembered the sick feeling she'd gotten at Christmas night when she'd come in contact with the furies. She shivered. It had been the worst feeling she'd ever experienced. Worse than the dementors. If she were to escape she wouldn't last twelve minutes out there by herself.

Ginny flopped back in bed and sighed. There had to be something to do here. She didn't want to think about it anymore. She wanted to pretend that she was here of her own free will. That Draco had carried her away on a white horse and brought her to Malfoy manor. Ginny let out a small giggle. Picturing Draco on a white horse and in a medieval knight costume was just too funny.

The door opened and in walked Draco. 'Speak of the devil' Ginny thought to herself.

"I decided to-"but Draco stopped short when he saw the look on Ginnys face. The anger that had been within her had lessened but only slightly. Her fists were clenched as she stood straight and looked at Draco with narrowed eyes.

"Why-"Ginny asked pointedly. "-am I forbidden to leave this Godforsaken room?" she began to advance on him. "And why must I ask you before Iffy gives my anything?" her eyes began to burn into his. "And why am I not allowed to have any forms of communication?!" she bellowed the last sentence. The Weasley temper was something to be reckoned with. Even the bravest of men cowered under it but Draco didn't even flinch. He raised an eyebrow at her and simply stated.

"I would think it would be obvious to even a stupid Weasley like yourself." He then brushed past her and pointed his wand at the fireplace. "Leaving the manor is out of the question." He said. "Because my dear incase you're forgetting you are now a main target in the wizarding world. The furies want you dead." He deadpanned. "I never forbade you to have some form of entertainment but Iffy being my servant must ask me before giving you anything. Communication is dangerous because I simply don't trust you." He said staring at her.

"Who do you think I am going to owl? There is no one bloody left for me to owl!" she bellowed and stared down at him as he sat poking the fire.

"Better safe than sorry." He said and smirked.

"I want to be allowed to leave this damn room." Ginny stated. "Take that stupid charm off the door. We have an agreement and its binding magically. Even if I wanted to I couldn't leave this place."

Draco shrugged as he warmed his hands through the fire. He muttered a few words under his breath and pointed his wand towards the door. "Done." he said. He took something out of his cloak pocket and handed it to Ginny. It was a small mirror with gray metal leaf carvings for its frame.

"If you ever need to contact me.... use this." He said and stood up.

"Where are you going?" asked Ginny and bit her lower lip.

"It took me a longtime to convince my father to let me have this afternoon off and I don't prefer wasting it by having people yell at me." He stated. There was silence in the room as Draco stood still and waited for Ginnys reaction.

"Well what are you waiting for? I don't see anyone stopping you." Ginny said the challenge evident in her voice.

Draco turned to face her with an angry red face. "Fine!" he yelled and slammed the door behind him.

"Fine!" Ginny yelled at the closed door. She angrily stomped over to the door and turned its knob in silent prayer. The door opened. She happily stepped out of the room and took in a deep breath of air. "Evil deatheater air." She said happily. "Is much better than stale, stuffy Draco Malfoy has been in my room air."

Ginny peered around the hallway. "Now just how do I find my way around this place?"

! ! !

Draco sat in his study and ran a hand through his hair frustratingly. They'd been fine moments ago. Then she just-went mad. She changed moods like a pregnant hippogriff! Draco froze. Was she? No she couldn't be. It had only been two days and besides, he was taking contraceptive potions. Draco looked down at the necklace he'd planned on giving her when he entered the room. He didn't want to fight with her but she was just too damn fiery and stubborn. 'Couldn't ask anything politely and had to jump to conclusions.' Draco thought to himself.

She was much nicer at night than in the day. He couldn't help but smirk at that thought. The door suddenly burst open and in came his niece Daphne.

"Uncle Draco, Uncle Draco you're in trouble. Mummy's calling you and says you forgot to pick up her robe from Madam Greens robe shop." She said happily.

Draco groaned. "How could I forget?" He stood up. "Daphne go to the second floor and towards Aunt Miranda's old room. You'll find a redheaded girl lost. Show her the way down here and-I don't know show her around or something." He stood up and left the study quickly.

Daphne grinned mischievously and walked upstairs. "Looks like Uncle Draco found new prey." She thought to herself as she made a turn. There she found Ginny walking towards her. "Hello!" said Daphne and looked Ginny. "Hey you're the lady I met when I and Uncle Draco went to drop Thomson off."

Ginny looked up to see Daphne walking enthusiastically towards her. "How are you?" Daphne asked.

"Um-fine." Said Ginny.

"What's your name?"

"My name's Ginny. What's your name?"

"Daphne. I'm Uncle Dracos niece." Said Daphne.

"I thought he was an only child." Said Ginny remembering Daphne from the train station.

"Oh he is. You see I'm his cousins daughter." Said Daphne. "And both of them are like-like brother and sister so I call him Uncle Draco."

"Hey Daphne." Said Ginny suddenly. "Could you show me around Malfoy Manor?"

"Sure!" Daphne exclaimed. "But I'm not allowed on the fourth floor. That's where all the boring old people live and they all banned me. They said I make to much noise."

Ginny smiled down at the energetic girl beside her. She seemed so full of life. How could she and Draco be from the same household? Daphne showed her around the second floor and then they went up to the third floor. After that she went down to the first floor which at the moment seemed to be the most populated. It was down there that she bumped into

"Zabini!?" Ginny asked confused. "Hi."

Blaise looked at Ginny and smiled. "Hi! What are you doing here?"

Ginny turned slightly red. "I-um-well it's a long story."

Blaise winked at her. "Draco invited you right?"

Ginny nodded. Blaise whistled. "So you're the new girl who Draco has taken up spending all his time with. No offence but his friends miss him. Haven't seen hide or hair of that boy for two whole days. We were supposed to go out last night."

"Oh-um-sorry." Ginny supplied not knowing what else to say. Pansy took that moment to enter the hall. Her hair was puffed up and she had just applied the finishing touches to her makeup. Pansy looked at Ginny and then her eyes rested on Daphne.

"You!" she shrieked. "I thought you'd left with your father to visit your grandmother!"

Daphne smiled. "Mum said she'd miss me."

"Pity!" Pansy snarled. She then turned to Ginny and smiled. "Hello Ginny how are you?"

"Fine." Said Ginny.

"Do you like Malfoy Manor so far?" asked Pansy.

"Yes. Daphne has been showing me around." Said Ginny.

"Oh?" Pansy asked interestedly. She looked at Daphne and a shriek came from the dining hall.

"Daphne Black you get in here right now!" came a woman's voice.

"I think Grandmother found out about the spider in the pudding." Daphne squeaked and left.

Ginny couldn't help but smile. She was a Black. No wonder she was like this. Ginny was reminded briefly of Sirius.

"Come on Ginny we'll show you around the rest of this place." Said Blaise.

The sun began to set and Ginny realized that she hadn't had lunch. "I'm hungry." She announced.

"So am I." Blaise added. "They should be serving dinner right about now."

The three walked into the dining hall where everyone was seated. It was a long rectangular table. On one side sat an old woman with gray hair and ice blue eyes. She had high cheek bones and had a pale complexion. On the other end sat an old man with gray hair, granite gray eyes and his mouth was set in a straight line. The other chairs on the long sides were filled by various people. Ginny met Daphne's mother –Europa- who seemed as strict as any of the Malfoys. She couldn't help though but let a smile tug her lips when she stared at her daughter. The woman had blonde hair and blue eyes.

Ginny then understood that everyone here was a Malfoy in one way or another. All of them were related to each other. She suddenly felt out of place.

"This is Virginia Weasley." Said Blaise to the old man.

"Virginia Weasley." The old woman muttered. "Ah-yes I remember. Cadmus, she's your sisters' grandchild. You know the one who married into the Prewetts and whose daughter married a Weasley? We went to see her the day she was born. I myself am the one who suggested the name Ginevra but no. No one listens to their elders these days. Molly had to go and listen to Arthur's father and name her Virginia! Sounds like something one would name a poodle! I'll have you all know I took care of Arthur's father when he had no home. He was my fathers first cousin and I'll be damned if a relative of mine lives a life unfitting of our blood. And that was how they repaid me! By naming the girl Virginia! Oh that was the last straw for me. No more being nice-"

"Um my real name is Ginevra." Ginny said quietly. Blaise looked at her surprised. "I-I let everyone think its Virginia." She said in a small voice. "My parents had changed it to Ginevra when I turned two because they thought Virginia was too common." "How right they were!" said the old woman. "Harmonia Malfoy always knows best. But no one ever listens to me. They all think I'm a crazy old bat who- "

"She's a bit old." Blaise whispered. "So she's into the habit of raving and ranting a lot. Never ever sit with her for more than five minute or she'll start telling you her life's story. Ginny couldn't help but giggle as Blaise directed her to a seat two seats away from Harmonia Malfoy. Trays of food appeared on the table and everyone began to eat. Grandmother Malfoy as everyone called Harmonia Malfoy insisted that Ginny have three helpings of mashed potatoes and two helpings of turkey.

"You're too thin." She said. "Nothing but skin and bones. Young people these days, always insist on going on diets and starving themselves half to death." She spat. "In my day we didn't diet. I'd ride my broom during the evening and that was more than enough for me." She said frowning at Ginny. Ginny had to stifle a giggle because the image of Grandmother Malfoy riding a broom was just too funny.

"You mean they had brooms back in your day?" Daphne asked amazed. She earned a smart tap on her hand from her mother but still looked curiously at Grandmother Malfoy who looked as if she was about to throttle the girl.

"Europa you must teach that girl to keep her mouth closed." Said Grandmother Malfoy.

"Yes mother." Said Europa. "Then again what can I expect when I marry a daughter off to the Blacks?" she asked and quirked the corners of her mouth up.

By the end of dinner Ginny was so full that she thought she might burst. Pansy walked her back to her room and both laughed about Grandmother Malfoys antics. "She's old so she's not quite right up there." Said Pansy and pointed to her head. "But she's so funny. You should see her on Christmas. She's always this cranky old toad and once she started scolding my four month old nephew for crying to loud. She said 'You're four months old and you still haven't learned any better!'. It was so funny."

Ginny also started laughing at that. Then Pansy smiled. "But she's also very, very loyal to her family. Once when I got sick she didn't leave my bedside claiming her late sister would never forgive her if she didn't tend to me. And she would scold the houselves for keeping the door open too long. When Daphne was born she took the girl in her arms and wouldn't allow anyone else to hold her. I think you figured this out today when Grandmother Malfoy fussed over your 'skin and bones' condition."

"I'm not skin and bones." Said Ginny. "Narcissa Malfoys clothes are tight on me. I mean she's a mother and her clothes are tight on me."

"Narcissa Malfoy." Pansy sighed. "She's always been a bit-wasted."

"What?" Ginny asked confused.

Pansy smiled. "Narcissa Malfoy is to thin for words my dear because she's well-she's dying."

"What?" asked Ginny stunned.

Pansy smiled. "Lucius loves her dearly and is doing everything he can to find a cure. He has the best medi-wizards on the job. Meanwhile both have figured that they want to spend as much time as they can with each other before she dies. They're always off on trips and barely spend time with Draco. He's grownup in this house without the love of a mother and without the guidance of a father. Lucius just gives him orders or criticizes him while Narcissa keeps herself busy in other actiivities. Even before she discovered her illness she was too busy in her own world. She has never once thought to spend time with her son. She does love him though. That much is true. She wouldn't even let him go off to Durmstrang because it was too far. But never once did she think of spending time with Draco. Before her ailment she was too busy planning parties and being the wife of a Malfoy. The Senior Malfoys lived in a different house before now otherwise Grandmother Malfoy would've given him an upbringing full of love. Draco doesn't know love." Pansy stared at Ginny. "Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?"

Ginny looked at her confused. "You will soon." Said Pansy. "Good night Ginny."

Ginny in a confused state changed her clothes and then remembered something.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you that abusing your homework is bad?" drawled a voice from behind her.

"More than I can say for your mother." Ginny snapped not looking up from her work. She suddenly found pale white long hands slamming down across from her. She heard his heavy breathing.

"Let's keep my mother out of this." He whispered in a restrained voice.

Ginny put her head in her hands. She'd been sick when Ginny had said that, she'd been ignoring him when Ginny had said that. 'Just goes to show, think before you speak. Or better yet just keep your big mouth shut unless you know what the latter is going through.'

Ginny got into bed silently wondering if Draco would come tonight or not. She looked around her and suddenly the bed seemed so huge and lonely. Ginny began to shiver from the cold and found that she missed the warmth that emanated from Dracos body. She grabbed a pillow and hugged it close to her. A smile tugged at her lips as she noticed that Draco's faint smell still lingered on her pillow.

! ! !

Ginny woke up early the next morning and quickly changed her clothes. Iffy arrived and announced that Grandmother Malfoy was demanding her presence for breakfast. Ginny walked down the staircases and reached the dining hall where everyone sat. Blaise was sitting in a black T-shirt and green boxers with his brown hair sticking every which way. Ginny couldn't help but snicker at Grandmother Malfoys disapproving stare directed to Blaise.

A girl suddenly brushed past Ginny almost knocking her over. "Watch where you're going." The girl snarled flashing her dark blue eyes towards Ginny. She then went and sat down at the table. She held an air of superiority about her and her long shiny black hair seemed to give her an even more regal look. Her porcelain skin shone like pale white light.

"Helen." Said Narcissa in a soft voice. "So nice to see that you're feeling better. Come and sit down. How's your fever?"

"It's all gone Aunt Narcissa." Said Helen and sat down beside Narcissa. She peered over at Ginny.

"Oh this is Ginny Weasley." Said Grandmother Malfoy. "She's Grandfather Malfoys sisters granddaughter. You know Grandmother Victoria who married into the Prewetts? Her grandfather was also my fathers' cousin." Said Grandmother Malfoy proudly. "Come dear. Come sit beside me."

"She's a Weasley?" sneered Helen and stared at Ginny with distaste.

Ginny felt anger flare up inside of her. "She's family nonetheless." Narcissa said sharply. "Helen I'll expect you to remember that."

Helen didn't reply and began to eat her breakfast. Ginny picked at her food uncertainly. She looked around the table. "Where's Draco?" Ginny asked suddenly noticing his absence.

Helen waved her fork off handedly. "Probably off with one of his whores." She said and looked at Ginny to see her reaction. Ginny decidedly ignored her.

"Helen watch your tongue at the table." Grandfather Malfoy barked.

"He went to France for an important meeting with some clients. Lucius was supposed to go himself but had other matters to attend too. The poor boy has been working too hard if you ask me." Said Grandmother Malfoy. "Good thing we decided to move in with my son. He's been driving his own son too hard." She took a plate of bacon and gave some to Ginny. "Are trying to starve yourself girl?" Grandmother Malfoy asked. "Eat up."

Ginny forced a bite of bacon into her mouth.

"In my day I wouldn't allow Cadmus to as much as send Lucius to Bristol for work." Said grandmother Malfoy proudly. "No, I raised my son like a flower."

"And when your son had to do everything himself he found himself incapable of even handling the Accounts of Malfoy inc." came a cold voice. Everyone looked up to see Lucius standing in the door frame. "He needs to learn now otherwise when full responsibility comes onto his shoulders he'll be in trouble."

"But you criticize him so much!" Protested Grandmother Malfoy.

"He's arrogant enough as it is." Lucius spat. He picked up a glass of orange juice and turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Grandfather Malfoy asked.

"My Lord has called me to help him with some-work." He ended decidedly.

"But you haven't even had breakfast!" Grandmother Malfoy protested.

Lucius held up his orange juice before turning to leave.

"That boy will be the death of me." Said Grandmother Malfoy. "I knew I should've had another son." She cast a dirty look towards her husband. "But someone preferred daughters over sons."

Cadmus (Grandfather Malfoy) regally cut some bacon and forked it into his mouth. "We didn't need another son." He said reasonably.

Grandmother Malfoy opened her mouth to argue but Ginny cut in quickly. "Erm- where did you live before moving in over here?" Ginny asked.

"My dear we lived in Malfoy castle in Scotland." Said Grandmother Malfoy.

"C-Castle?" Ginny squeaked.

"Yes my dear. Though it wasn't as big as Hogwarts mind you." Said Grandmother Malfoy. "It's been in the family for ages. I just hope Lucius doesn't sell it off like he sells every other damn plot. Cadmus and I are thinking of putting the house under someone else's name." she commented.

Blaise and Pansy stood up. "We're full." Pansy announced. She glanced at Ginny. "Ginny would you like for us to take you out and show you the gardens?"

Ginny hesitated. "Is it safe for me to go out?" she asked.

Pansy nodded. "As long as you're on the Malfoy estate no harm can befall you." She said.

Ginny stood up leaving her plate more than half full. Grandmother Malfoy looked up at the ceiling. "Lord I hope that child lives." She then caste a glance at Ginnys plate.

Ginny and Pansy waited at the back door while Blaise went to change his clothes. He came back with black sweeping robes on. Pansy led Ginny to the hill Ginny could oversee from her room. On the way Blaise introduced Ginny to his younger four year old sister Kimmy and her friend Tara who were playing outside.

"This is an ideal spot to have a picnic." Said Pansy looking around when they reached the hill. "We'll have one when Draco gets back." She added.

"Pansy lay off the perfume." Blaise coughed as Pansy linked arms with him. She gave Blaise a dirty look.

"Look who's talking Mr. ten galleons of cologne." Pansy remarked.

"Actually Pansy you do wear a lot of perfume." Ginny said uncertainly. "I can usually smell you before I see you."

Blaise started laughing. "See!" he exclaimed.

Pansy stuck her tongue out at Blaise. Blaise high-fived Ginny. Pansy shot a jinx at Blaise making him go bald. Ginny and Pansy both started to laugh but Ginny loyally took the jinx off Blaise. "Hey! You're supposed to be on my side!" Pansy exclaimed.

Ginny laughed and looked at Blaise. "Brothers before friends." She said with laughter in her eyes.

Blaise gave Ginny an affectionate jostle of the shoulder before going and wrapping his arms around Pansy from behind. "I still can't help but love my little sister's friend." He said teasingly to Pansy. Pansy made a face.

"Blaise that's gross! Kimmy's like six years old and her friend is five!"

"Not my real sister!" Blaise exclaimed. Pansy untangled herself from Blaise and yelled at Tara.

"Tara! Blaise has a crush on you!" Pansy yelled. Five year old Tara came running up the hill as fast as her little legs could carry her. She flung herself at Blaise's leg and wrapped herself around his leg using his foot as a chair.

"Tara! No! She was just kidding!" Blaise exclaimed.

"Tara and Blaise get married!" she exclaimed with a pout.

"But-"

"You heard the girl!" Ginny exclaimed. "Tara and Blaise get married!" She kneeled down and looked at Tara. "Tara why don't you go find a wedding dress?" Tara let go of Blaise's leg and waddled away with Kimmy.

Blaise let out a sigh of relief. He then stared at his arm and yelled. "Get it off! Get it off!"

"What? What?" Pansy shrieked.

"This!" Blaise yelled and stuck his arm out in front of Pansy.

"Ew!" Pansy exclaimed. "What is it?"

"I think it's a bug." Ginny said and leaned in to have a closer look. Her face then turned to amusement. "It's a thread from Tara's dress."

Pansy began to laugh as Blaise looked at his arm. Ginny joined in and started to laugh. "You should've seen the look on your face!" Ginny howled.

"You're such a girl!" Pansy exclaimed claming down. "Everything about you is girlish."

"Oh?" asked Blaise with a raised eyebrow. "Everything?" Pansy suddenly turned red.

"No. Not everything. But I mean that you're actions-and um" she couldn't help but stammer under her boyfriends telltale gaze. He grabbed her around the waist.

"Don't tell me I'm going to have to refresh your memory Ms. Parkinson." Said Blaise.

"Maybe you will have to Mr. Zabini." Pansy said playfully.

Ginny looked away discreetly when both kissed. When the two broke away Pansy suddenly exclaimed.

"Blaise I have to go! I had an appointment with my hair stylist. Ginny would you like to come along?" asked Pansy.

"No. It's not safe for me to go." Said Ginny quietly. Besides she knew leaving the manor was strictly prohibited in their deal. She could feel the contractual magic stopping her from saying yes.

"Oh right I completely forgot. Sorry about that dear. Well I'm off." Pansy turned and left taking her strong rose petal smell with her.

"I can finally breathe!" Blaise exclaimed loud enough for Pansy to hear.

"Very funny!" she called back and suddenly she'd apparated away.

"I thought there were wards that prevented apparating." Said Ginny.

"Oh the wards have been set up to allow certain people to apparate in and out." Said Blaise as he and Ginny walked back to Malfoy Manor.

Ginny let out a sigh.

"Hey are you still depressed about the whole fight you had with Harry?" asked Blaise.

"How'd you know?" Ginny asked suddenly.

"The gossip mill at the ministry told me." He said.

"Lavender or Parvati?" Ginny demanded.

"Both." Said Blaise. "They heard it from Hermione who managed to keep them from having it put in the paper." Blaise looked at Ginny. "If it's any consolation it think Potter was mad to fight with you. You're so sweet." He said. Ginny blushed. "-And cute." He added.

Ginny murmured a small thank you as they entered Malfoy Manor. "Well I'm off to work." Said Blaise.

"But it's 12:30. You're already late aren't you?" Ginny asked in confusion. 'Who went to work at 12:30?' she thought to herself.

Blaise shrugged. "That's the fun of going to work." Blaise said and apparated away.

Ginny was then left alone. She had no idea what to do. Walking slowly towards her room she heard two voices.

"Helen won't help me." Narcissa said. "She says she's still too weak from her fever. I don't know who is free to help me."

"Well what do you need help with? Changing curtains is not a hard task." Came Grandmother Malfoys voice.

"It's not an easy task either. I can't sit alone with the merchant. Oh dear the merchant will be here any minute. What am I to do now?"

"Why don't you ask the girl who's right now listening in on our conversation on the other side of the door?" Grandfather Malfoys voice came. Ginny jumped back quickly and before she could run Narcissa opened the door. She stared at Ginny for a moment.

"Come along then." Said Narcissa in a clipped voice.

"Where to?" Ginny asked.

"The cloth merchant will be arriving shortly. I need to pick new curtains and bed sheets out for some of the guest rooms." Said Narcissa.

Ginny followed her uncertainly. "So what am I going to do?"

Narcissa gave a thin lipped smile. "I need a second opinion. Besides if we pick curtains that Grandmother Malfoy doesn't like, I can blame it on you."

Ginny gave a small laugh but Narcissa remained silent. "It's not our custom to have the Lady of the House sit alone with a commoner." Narcissa finally explained. "Someone else needs to be with her otherwise it's considered-" Narcissa made a face."-improper."

She opened the door and Ginny followed her into a room. There were two high chairs and to their opposite side was a chair that was slightly lower. In the middle was a small round table that had tea and biscuits on it. Ginny sat beside Narcissa on one of the high chairs. A man with a pointed face and fox eyes entered the room. He held a long thin box in one hand.

"Good morning to you Ladies." He said bowing and sat down.

"Would you like some tea?" Narcissa asked.

"Why yes, yes I would." Said the man opening his long, thin box and taking out a small wooden square box. He set the box on the floor and tapped it with his wand. Ginny watched as the box became larger and larger and turned into a wooden closet full of curtain cloths. The man took a sip of the tea Narcissa handed him.

"Hmmm." Murmured Narcissa. She got up and looked at the materials.

"I think the Jade green one is rather nice." Ginny piped up helpfully. Narcissa looked at the one Ginny had pointed out. She then went back to looking at the other curtains. "This one is nice." Narcissa murmured. She was looking at a red curtain with golden squares on it. It was obvious that Narcissa thought Ginny belonged on a seat beside the cloth merchant.

Ginny felt about two inches high at that moment. A determination to prove herself took over. Standing up Ginny came to examine the curtain designs also. Her hand snagged on a particularly soft beige one. "This is really nice." Ginny stated and showed it to Narcissa. Narcissa's lip curled upwards.

"It'll get dirty quickly." Said Narcissa. It was obvious that the woman was taunting her. Well Ginny wasn't going to take this. She had half a mind to up and leave when Narcissa suddenly spoke up.

"We'll take the red one and the green one." Narcissa said. The merchant wrote this down on a piece of paper. "And I want first class material delivered here otherwise Mr. Malfoy will come pay you a personal visit."

The merchant looked up at Narcissa and nodded. "Madam I assure you, you'll have no complaints about me." He said.

"Now show us the bed sheets." Narcissa said.

Ginny was surprised. Narcissa had chosen a curtain that Ginny had suggested but it was clear to her that Narcissa was still taunting her. As the two looked at bed sheets Narcissa would give an odd Draco-like smirk to her when she'd suggest a bed sheet. Ginny finally got angry and sat down on a chair. Narcissa placed her orders and then said "And show me the new dress robes you have. Where did they come from again?"

"Madam I went and bought them myself from India. They're most exotic." The merchant assured and took out a closet of robes.

Ginny looked up to see a closet full of lavish robes. Narcissa turned to Ginny. "Would you like anything dear?" Narcissa asked in a voice that clearly stated that Ginny would never be able to afford such robes.

Ginny clenched her fists and said in a nonchalant tone. "No thank you, my brother Bill bought me and mum those the last time he was in India. They're too heavy for words and it feels as if one is wearing an iron cage." Ginny stood up and took a dress robe out. "Look at this one." She said. The robe was made of pink material and had what looked like shards of glass stitched onto it. It had small miniature bells on it also.

"Those are just sheeshay and gungroo." The merchant said. "It's common in India."

"Yes but it's not right for the upcoming season. It's going to get hot and these clothes will be hard to wear in the hear.." Said Ginny breezily and hung the dress robe back in its place.

Narcissa looked at Ginny surprised. Narcissa looked at the merchant. "I'll take the whole lot." Narcissa said looking Ginny straight in the eye. "Have them sent up to my room." With that she turned and left. Ginny followed her out of the room and went towards her own room. She couldn't help though but wish could've bought the light blue robe on the far left of the robes rack.

! ! !

Lunch was a tension filled affair. The tension between Ginny and Narcissa was thick enough to cut with a knife. Narcissa of course believed Ginny to be beneath her and unfit to live in Malfoy Manor. Ginny hadn't realized this until she had sat with Narcissa and helped choose curtains. Ginny thought Narcissa a stuck up woman who had passed this trait on to Draco. Helen was also another obstacle Ginny faced. The girl seemed to share Narcissa's views on Ginny, except more strongly.

Quickly eating her lunch Ginny went upstairs to her room where she stayed and refused to attend dinner for she simply wasn't in the mood and every time she thought about her standing in Mrs. Malfoys eyes her stomach would give an odd lurch. A thought then hit Ginny. Was Draco using some sort of protection or even contraceptive potion?

Blaise came by Ginnys room and told her to meet him at half past two in the dining hall the next day. Ginny nodded but couldn't shake her previous thoughts. Biting her lower lip Ginny fell into a restless sleep, hugging a pillow to her.

The next day Ginny decided to go to the library. God knows she was bored enough to read anything even if it was about flobberworms. Iffy led Ginny to the Malfoy library which Ginny found quite interesting. It was a huge place with bookshelves that kept moving frequently. A ghost by the name of Metis was the librarian. She held an aura of wisdom about her and her eyes looked all knowing behind her wire rimmed spectacles. The ghost looked no older than 30. She smiled kindly at Ginny.

"What would you like to read my dear?" she asked.

Ginny thought for a minute. "Um-Do you have any book on-on Aradia? Or Diana?"

Metis thought for a moment. "That'll take some time to find." She confessed. "I'll need at least a few days."

"Oh." Said Ginny her voice faltering.

Metis floated away for a minute and came back with a thin hardback book. "Why don't you read this for now?" she suggested. It was thin and held hardly 200 pages Ginny estimated. The covering was yellow with 'the Rise and fall of the Greek Gods' in black scripture writing.

"It's basically a short summary of the real book." Metis admitted. "While I find what you're looking for you can read this one. It has some information on Diana and her daughter Aradia." She added.

"Thank you." Said Ginny. She turned to leave but then thought better of yet. Would she rather stay in here? Or go outside where everyone looked down upon her and made fun of her background?

Turning back around Ginny sat down in a comfy chair situated in the corner of the library. After only about two minutes she heard the door creak open. Looking up from her spot Ginny saw Grandfather Malfoy enter the library. Metis was by his side in less than a minute. She held up a dark blue book in her see through hands. Grandfather Malfoy walked towards where Ginny was sitting. He hadn't seen her yet that much was obvious. Ginny took the time to study him critically. He seemed healthy for his age. His back was straight and he didn't have a limp like most people his age. The wrinkles on his face gave him a regal characteristic. His silver hair was cut short and when he looked up Ginny saw that his eyes were the trademark gray of all the Malfoys. His eyes widened as he saw Ginny sitting there.

Ginny stood up at once and let him take her seat. Metis gave Grandfather Malfoy the book she'd been holding. Ginny watched Grandfather Malfoy take out his spectacles and start reading. A gust of wind behind her told her that Metis had suddenly flown away. Ginny decided to leave and clutching her book she turned around to see Metis coming back with a chair for Ginny.

"No, no that's O.K." said Ginny quickly. "I was just leaving."

"Sit down my child. I'm not going to bite you." Came Grandfather Malfoys rough voice. Ginny shakily sat down and opened her book. She peered at Grandfather Malfoys book and was surprised to see what he was reading. In big block Purple lettering the title: The Fence was written on the book.

Ginnys father had read that book and she herself had also read it. It wasn't a story on the contrary it was a philosophical book. It concentrated on the barriers people had put about themselves. It had an extensive research in it on the hostility between the Ministry of Magic in Europe and the Ministry of Magic in America.

"That's a really good book." Ginny blurted out. Grandfather Malfoy looked up at Ginny an odd smile playing across his lips. "Is it now?" he asked. Ginny nodded.

"I-"she cleared her throat. "I've um read it."

"Oh?" asked Grandfather Malfoy amused. Ginny wasn't sure whether he was taunting her or was sincerely amused.

Ginny nodded and went back to her book quickly.

"I can't say the same for your book though." Came Grandfather Malfoys voice. "It's all a load of dragon dung if you ask me."

"What? You mean Greek Myths?" Ginny asked.

Grandfather Malfoy nodded and readjusted his spectacles. "All based on fabricated made up stories. None of them are real."

"But they are." Said Ginny earnestly. "Merlin himself-"

"Merlin was a great pompous git who thought he could change the world." Said Grandfather Malfoy.

"Didn't he?" Ginny asked sincerely.

"Of course he didn't." said Merlin. "His trainee, his pupil ended up dying in some stupid battle against his own son!"

"But his intentions were true." Said Ginny. "And he did change the world. He brought about the concept of honesty and of having some sort of establishment to uphold the law. He brought about the concept of the round table and its knights which have now developed into aurors and unspeakables."

Grandfather Malfoy responded. "I still say Greek Myths are bunch of bullocks. Nothing but gods running around and having affairs with each other."

Ginny had to stifle a giggle. "But the world prospered under their rule." Ginny said dreamily. "Selene would sprinkle dew drops over the world and would bring about dawn with her. She would awaken the earth from its slumber and then her brother Helios would ride his chariot over the Earth. At night gentle Eos would reign and nymphs would dance in her moonlight." Ginny suddenly stopped abruptly. How did she know all this? She hadn't even read the book yet! Regaining her senses Ginny went on "The point is that even if they're not real they're still interesting. Although I do agree that your book is a bit more...factual."

"Yes." Murmured Grandfather Malfoy staring down at his book.

"It's amazing how the writer has given us a perfect picture of what's going on in the world." Ginny began. "How The Asian, European and American ministries have started quarreling with each other. It could end up in an all out war." Ginny said.

"Precisely." Said Grandfather Malfoy. "Our ministry is just as pompous. The American Ministry helped us out immensely a few years back when we had a shortage of wand materials."

"But we haven't been charity takers exactly." Said Ginny. "We've helped both Ministries many times."

"Yes, yes we have." Said Grandfather Malfoy. "It's Fudge." He said. "Worst Minister I've ever seen in my one hundred and twenty years of life."

Ginny smiled. "He is a bit arrogant."

"Stupid is more like it. Why he wouldn't even believe that You-Know-Who was back! Took one year and the Department of Mysteries attack to make him understand." Grandfather Malfoy shook his head again.

Ginnys stomach clenched oddly when she was reminded of the Department of Mysteries. "But wasn't that advantageous for um-for you people?" Ginny asked.

"Yes it was but that doesn't mean I can't criticize the dolt." Said grandfather Malfoy. "Dumbledore would've been more of a challenge now."

Challenge? The corners of Ginnys mouth couldn't help but twitch. Were all these Malfoys the same? All they looked for was a challenge. Ginny stood up remembering that Blaise had wanted to meet her at half past 2. "It was nice talking to you." Said Ginny politely. "But I have to go now and I'll just leave you to your reading."

"Pleasure was all mine Ginevra." Said Grandfather Malfoy. He gave her an amused smile before turning back to his book. Ginny left the library with sparkling eyes. She had never had such an interesting debate over politics in all her life. Her mother and father always encouraged her to keep her general knowledge up to date and many a time Ginny would end up in heated discussions with her brothers but this-this most certainly was interesting. She'd found someone in Malfoy manor who she could discuss this type of stuff with. Needles to say that Ginny was thrilled. Ginny walked towards the dining hall where she saw Blaise standing outside and waiting for her.

"Come on." Said Blaise and pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning on.

"Where are we going?" asked Ginny curiously.

"To the dungeons." Blaise replied.

"What?!" Ginny exclaimed almost dropping her book.

Blaise sniggered. "Relax. It's for you training. And listen Draco hasn't told anyone...yet. I would advise you to also keep quiet about your er...new abilities. Your training is supposed to take place in secret."

"So you know?" Ginny asked. "Who else knows?"

"No one else." Blaise replied. "Only Draco and I know. Pansy hasn't even been told this." He jostled her shoulder playfully. "Draco wants to make sure you stay protected. If the Dark Lord ever found out...." Blaise suddenly shuddered.

"It's all because of our stupid deal. He couldn't even tell if he wanted to." Ginny mumbled. She then remembered the book in her hand. "Listen I have to drop this book off at my room first." Ginny said.

Blaise rolled his eyes and bellowed "IFFY!"

Iffy appeared beside Ginny without a sound. "Yes?" came her meek reply.

"Take this up to Ginnys room." Blaise said taking the book from Ginny and giving it to Iffy. Both then walked towards the dungeons. "Oh and your schooling starts tomorrow. You have two choices." He took out a chocolate frog and began to eat it. "You can either 1-"he held up a finger. "-have private lessons or 2-"he held up another finger. "study with the others."

Ginny thought for a moment. "What would you recommend?" she asked.

Blaise shrugged. "Personally I'd take private tuitions. But then again you might make some friends closer to your age if you study with the others." He smirked at Ginny.

"You're not some grandpa you know." Ginny replied. "You're only one year older than me."

"That means I'm 12 whole months older than you." He said and stuck his tongue out.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Yea you're really mature." She said sarcastically as Blaise opened the door to the dungeons. Ginny kept quiet on her way down and then spoke up as her shoes touched the earthen floor.

"I'll study with everyone else." Ginny slowly said. She then smiled wickedly. "Nothing like a little competition of grades to keep me occupied." Blaise whistled. "I think Draco will keep you occupied enough when he's around."

Ginny blushed and then tried to push Blaise who quickly moved out of her way. Blaise laughed as Ginny fell face first on the dirty floor. He offered her a hand and Ginny took it while shooting him a glare. Though she couldn't help but let her mouth twitch upwards.

Blaise unlocked a stone door and let Ginny enter first. Ginny entered to see the room lit with candles. A woman was in the middle of the room she sat with crossed legs and seemed to be meditating. She was levitating a few inches above the ground and her eyes were closed. The woman was old with high cheek bones, wrinkles and long gray hair that obviously use to be black. She wore a thin white bandana over her forehead and her robes where white with thin black lining.

"Medea." Whispered Blaise.

The woman opened her eyes. Ginny noticed that her eyes weren't normal eyes. They had a glint of gold mixed with hazel.

"This is the one?" Medea asked staring at Ginny closely. Ginny nodded.

Medea uncrossed her legs and let her feet touch the ground. She walked over to Ginny and studied her critically. "I can feel her power struggling to get out." Medea whispered. "You should've sent her to me sooner. She's getting weak from holding her power back. She would've broken down given another week." She grabbed Ginnys chin with her right hand. "Child are you tired?"

Ginny nodded. "I'm so weary." She murmured. "Yes, it must've been hard to hold it all back."

Ginny nodded. "It was, it is." She whispered.

Blaise suddenly cleared his throat. He looked at Ginny. "Well Ginny love, I have to go meet Pansy so I'll be leaving you." He then silently left. Ginny didn't even glance at his retreating figure.

"Let them go my child." Medea whispered.

Ginny closed her eyes and a white light began to shine around her. "Keep your eyes closed." Medea instructed.

Ginny did as she was told. "Now can you feel it child? Can you feel another presence inside you? Isn't it as if someone else is making their way into you?"

Ginny nodded. "Let it merge with you. Don't let this presence take over but let it merge with your soul. With who you are." Came Medeas whisper.

Ginny trembled. "How?" she asked.

"Concentrate. This is a battle of wills now Ginevra. Either you or Aradia will reign."

Ginny closed her eyes and felt a jolt in her stomach. In her mind she felt a whisper growing louder.

"It will be O.K." said the voice. "No more pain will befall you. Become what you are meant to become. You are Aradia the daughter of Diana." The voice grew louder each passing minute. Ginny felt another presence inside her becoming stronger.
"Yes." Came the voice of a woman. Ginny let the feeling of calmness wash over her. It felt so....refreshing.

"Sleep now." Said the voice. Ginny could feel her eyes roll to the back of her head. Sleep sounded so appealing. She wished she could just fall asleep in her comfy bed at the Burrow. Her family suddnely came bursting into her minds eye.

"No." Ginny whispered. "I-I am me! I am Ginny Weasley daughter of Arthur and Molly Weasley. No-nothing can change that. Not fate, not destiny...not even you."

The godly presence inside her seemed to step down a bit. "Very good Ginevra." Came the same voice. "I chose my heir wisely."

The next thing Ginny knew was that a blinding white light had surrounded her. It seemed to suffocate her. She couldn't breath. She fell to her knees gasping for breath as wave upon wave of emotion crashed down on her. It was as if a weight had been dropped on her chest forcing its way inside her. Ginny let out a blood curdling scream as Medea watched fascinated.

Aradia stood there beside Ginny. She was forcing her way inside of her. The goddesses long vibrant hair whipped around her white skin as she touched Ginnys arm.

"Stop!" Ginny screamed. "Stop it!"

Aradias hand disappeared into Ginny. She followed with the rest of her body and Ginnys screams increased. Medea only hoped that no one could hear what was going on. Ginny was writhing on the floor her mouth open trying to get air inside of her.

Suddenly pounding on the door ensued. Medea panicked.

"It's me!" Blaise's angry voice came. "Open the door dammit! What's going on in there?!" he bellowed. He pounded on the door some more before unlocking it with his wand. Coming in he was surprised at the sight before him.

Ginny now lay on the floor gasping for breath. Sweat was pouring down her face. Medea stood calmly looking at Ginny.

"What happened?" Blaise asked. "I reached the dungeons exit when I heard her screaming." He went and knelt beside Ginny whose eyes were closed.

Medea smiled. "She passed the test. She is now the heir of Aradia."

"Test?" Blaise enquired.

"There were only two ways Aradia could enter Ginny." Said Medea. "By either merging with her soul or taking over. If you had waited another week as I said before Ginny would have been a goner. Aradia would have taken over her body and soul. That was what Aradia had been doing. Didn't you ever get tired of holding your powers back?"

Ginny nodded with still closed eyes. Medea went on. "That was because Aradia wanted to be released. She had been lying dormant in you for years. She wanted to enter your body fully now. Every time you did release your powers she would take over your body and soul. She'd gain a little more power every time. You just forced her to merge with you because she knew now that you'd never let her take over. Do you feel different?"

"I feel horrible." Ginny finally gasped. "I couldn't breath. I-it was horrible. It felt as if someone was smothering me."

"Now you and Aradia are one though." Medea pointed out. "You won't have to worry about holding your powers back now. You're magical and godly powers have both merged. I think you've had enough for today. You've harnessed your power now. You should rest for tonight and tomorrow you will start your real training."

Blaise helped Ginny to her feet. Ginny leaned on Blaise as he guided her out of the dungeons.

"I- I need to sit down." Ginny croaked. She sat down on the hall floor.

"Ginny you need to get up." Blaise urged. "No one can find you like this. Come on." He hauled her up and grabbed her around the middle tightly. Blaise then led her all the way upstairs. He suddenly snorted as they reached the top step.

"I am stupid." He said finally.

"Good thing you finally realized it." Ginny groaned turning an odd shade of green. Blaise took his wand out and a droobles best blowing gum wrapper out. "Portus." He mumbled. The gum rapper shone blue for a minute and then returned to its natural color. Ginny suddenly felt a tug at the back of her naval. She found herself in her room about to fall flat on the floor but Blaise grabbed her just in time.

He laid her down on the bed gently. "Portkeying me here was not a good idea." Ginny mumbled with closed eyes.

"Why not?" asked Blaise smiling at his cleverness. Ginny leaned over the side of her bed and vomited. "Oh." Said Blaise his smile faltering. "Iffy!" he bellowed.

Iffy appeared and looked taken aback when she spotted the mess. "Oh no!" Iffy squeaked. She quickly cleaned up the mess and went to stand by Ginny. A wash cloth and basin of cold water appeared. Iffy began to sponge Ginnys head.

Blaise got up and giving Ginny a small reassuring hand squeeze left. After a few minutes Ginny felt better.

"I'm fine now Iffy." Ginny assured. "I just feel sleepy now."

Iffy checked Ginnys head trying to find a fever but to no avail. "If Miss needs anything she must call Iffy." Said Iffy earnestly.

"O.K." said Ginny smiling. Iffy disappeared with one last worried glance at Ginny.

Ginny stood up shakily and changed into her night gown. She then fell asleep in bed hugging a pillow to herself and trying to find Dracos soft lingering smell on it.

She didn't find the smell she was looking for until late into the night when soft hands wrenched the pillow out of Ginnys grasp. Ginny felt around for the pillow in her sleep and then opened her eyes sleepily to see a blonde haired man standing in front of her.

"Draco?" she murmured. In reply Draco got into bed beside her.

"Are you O.K.?" he whispered.

Ginny nodded and fell back to sleep. She unconsciously reached out a hand and slung it over his waist.

The next morning Ginny awoke to find the pale haired boy sleeping beside her. Ginny woke up and looked at him. She didn't deny that she liked him, loved him even but sometimes she hated him for the way he acted. Ginny reached a hand out and ran a lone finger warily through his hair. She then looked down at Draco to see that he was awake. Ginny pulled her hand away like wildfire.

"You had something in your hair." Ginny said quickly.

"Right." Said Draco in a tone clearly stating that he didn't believe her. Ginny blushed and Draco chuckled.

"Listen um I've been meaning to ask you something." Said Ginny. Draco waited for her to continue. "Are you-um-are you using some sort of protection?" Ginny asked going red.

"Protection?" Draco asked amused. "Why yes I always carry my wand with me where ever I go."

"No! Not that sort of protection." Ginny said angrily. He knew what she was talking about and was purposefully making it hard for her. "I mean con- contraceptives. I have no desire to give birth to your child." Ginny said shooting him a glare.

Draco chuckled before saying. "Yes." He said. He took a vial filled with light blue liquid. "I take this once a month and have instructed Iffy to mix this in your food once a month."

"Oh." Said Ginny still sounding unsure. Draco sighed and handed her the vial. "Take this." He said. "If you're so unsure. Believe me I have no desire for you to be the mother of my child." He replied snidely.

The comment hurt Ginny and she looked downwards. Draco stood up and also remarked. "I came here last night to find you completely wasted and sick." He said. "I wouldn't have come if I had known you're predicament."

Ginny felt as if he was pounding her heart with a hammer and breaking it into a billion pieces. He had sounded so worried last night. He'd even slept beside her last night and hadn't demanded that she-. Ginny looked up angrily.

"That's why you decided to stay." She deadpanned icily.

Draco shrugged on his robe. "It was the middle of the night. I wasn't about to wander around like some blind bat. Besides I was tired." He smirked at her before leaving.

Ginny felt tears spill over her eyes. 'Stupid.' She scolded herself. 'He thinks you're beneath him. Why would he like you at all? It's just his lust and hormones. That's all he feels for you.'

Ginny wiped her eyes and stood up. At the foot of the bed she was surprised to spot her Hogwarts trunk. Iffy appeared with Ginnys timetable. "Classes start in one hour miss." Said Iffy.

"What should I wear?" Ginny asked frantically. Iffy took out a nice grey robe from Ginnys closet. The rest of Ginnys morning was spent in getting her books together and getting ready for class. Iffy offered Ginny a glass of orange juice before Ginny left her room to find the room to her first class which was Arithmancy. Ginny entered the room and was surprised to find the room decorated in the green curtains Ginny had chosen.

A fair skinned dumpy woman with golden hair entered the room. "Good Morning everyone." She said happily. "My name is Professor Zenith. I am your Arithmancy Professor. Now as many of you obviously come from different schools and must be at different stage sin your syllabus I am just going to give this class a review from the beginning till where I think it would be best to start."

This started their first arithmancy lesson. Ginny participated actively and knew almost all the questions that Professor Zenith asked. The signal for end of class came and Ginny was disappointed. As she got up someone pushed roughly by her. Ginny caught a look at her black hair and knew instantly who it was. "Helen." Ginny acknowledged.

"Weasley." Helen spat and walked by her. There were about 35 students in the class. Ginny guessed that seventh year held the most students as many deatheaters were in seventh year. She was wrong though. When she entered Transfiguration Ginny was surprised to see little second yearers running out of the class. There was a whole tribe of them Ginny thought dazedly as they ran past her and the other students. Ginny cringed as she learned that Helen had all the subjects Ginny had.

Some of the students wore black hoods to cover their faces which Ginny found odd. Her classmates weren't revealed until she entered potions. There stood Professor Snape with a thin lipped frown. Ginnys heart soared when she saw her old potions master. She knew he was a member of the order. Maybe she could get a chance to talk to him. Professor Snape seemed surprised when he saw Ginny but quickly covered his shock up.

"I'm assigning you all into pairs." Came his voice. "And take your ridiculous hoods off." He snarled. "We all have nothing to hide or so-"his lip curled upwards in a sinister fashion as he looked at a particular girl in a black hood. "-or so I hope."

He turned around and began writing ingredients on the board. "I do not care whether this is of your level or not, I do not care if you have not even heard of this potion., You all are going to do this potion now and I want it by the end of class. I'm pairing you all up to work on the potion." He looked down at his clipboard while his chalk wrote by itself on the blackboard.

"You-"he said pointing to the same girl in a black hood as before. "-go sit there." He pointed to Ginny. Ginny scooted over on her bench to make room for the girl. "You-"he pointed to another persona and instructed them to sit somewhere else. "I thought I told you to take that silly thing off!" Snape barked at the girl who was moving her supplies towards Ginny. All of her things fell down and she bent to pick them up.

It was as if the girl was delaying the end of her journey on purpose. She gathered her things and finally went to sit beside Ginny.

Snape had finished pairing everyone up and turned back to the girl. "Ms. Porter the charade is up." He said in a deathly whisper.

'Porter?' Ginny thought to herself confused. Wasn't that...but that meant...Ginny turned to look at the girl.

The girl threw off her hood and Ginny gasped. "You!" she exclaimed.

Big brown eyes stared back at Ginny. They were slowly filling with tears. "G-ginny I'm sorry! I wanted to tell you." She said.

By now Snape had lost interest and was already administrating the ingredients and no one was paying attention to them.

Ginny thought that she was going to faint for the face of Shelly stared back at her pleading for forgiveness. "I wanted to warn you about Christmas night but how could I?" she asked miserably as Ginny with a shaking hand began to cut up mandrake roots. Ginny then remembered how Shelly had left her in the corridor alone...with Draco. 'She must've known it all along. That's why she left. That's why she left and went to her mum instead of investigating with me.'

"Ginny please, say something. Anything. Yell at me, start crying, threaten to hit me....really hit me. Just -anything." Shelly pleaded.

"There's nothing to say." Ginny finally got out in a croak. "I th-I thought you were my friend."

"I am your friend." Shelly said and her eyes suddenly clouded over. "But what are YOU doing her?" she asked suddenly.

Ginny looked at Shelly with flashing eyes. "I've unfortunately struck the fancy of Draco Malfoy." She spat.

Shelly brought a hand up to her mouth knowing what that meant. "Gin-Oh my GOD. Are you-are you O.k.?" she reached a hand out but Ginny pulled back.

"Don't touch me." Ginny snarled. Shelly pulled back as if she'd been burnt.

"Ginny please. Don't be angry at me." Shelly said. Ginny stared at Shelly whose eyes were filling with tears. Ginny let out a sigh. "How'd you end up here?" Ginny finally asked.

Shelly dropped some beetle legs into the potion before replying. "My parents. They're deatheaters. They thought it would be safe for me to attend school here instead of at Hogwarts."

"Why?" Ginny asked pouring powdered asphodel into the potion.

Shelly looked at Ginny oddly before saying. "They-they thought it would be better for me to attend school at Malfoy Manor considering all the furies running about."

Ginny didn't believe her for one minute. Shelly quietly stirred the cauldron until it turned lime green. "Professor Snape." Ginny said from the back. "Our potions done."

! ! !

Shelly went home after classes were over and Ginny walked towards the library with her book. To her delight she found Grandfather Malfoy already sitting there. She went and sat down beside him. Metis brought both a cup of green tea and a heated discussion began between the both over the use of unforgivable curses.

"There are other ways to take down a wizard." Ginny argued.

"But none are as effective. I'd like to see you put the body bind on The Dark Lord...or my son for that matter." Grandfather Malfoy replied.

"Both would probably hex me into next Tuesday." Ginny replied.

"Both would be too strong to have the body bind put on them. They would reflect at the least."

"I object to that." Said Ginny. "Why even Expelliarmus works on fully grown wizards. I used the body bind myself in the Department of Mysteries."

"Ah yes the Department of Mysteries. You've been there." He stated.

Ginny nodded and felt an odd clenching in her stomach. She still had nightmares about that place. "Have you seen the phoenix egg?" asked Grandfather Malfoy. Ginny nodded. An odd buzzing was going around in her head. She really didn't want to-

"Ginny." Blaise said bursting into the library. Metis glared at him but Blaise only winked back at her. He then turned to Ginny. "Ginny um-I need to talk to you about um-something."

Ginny quizzically got up and went outside. "Training session." Blaise reminded her. Ginnys eyes widened. She hadn't noticed the time. Ginny ran down the hall and reached the dungeon door. She sprinted down the steps and entered the room with fast breathing.

Medea stood with thin lips. "You're late." She said.

"I-I'm sorry." Said Ginny and hanging her head. Medea didn't acknowledge her apology but went right into training mode. She instructed Ginny to lift a feather without using her wand. Ginny tried for one whole hour after which she gave up.

"You aren't visualizing the feather in your mind properly." Medea scolded. "Visualize it in your mind and then try to lift it." She instructed. "Picture it lifting up at the single push of your mind and it will lift up. Picture you're godly magic taking hold of it."

Ginny just rolled her eyes. She was exhausted. Ginny walked up the steps and out of the dungeon to find Draco waiting for her.

"You're sweating." Draco commented.

"You would be too if you had to go through that." Ginny ground out.

Draco just smirked and then went on. "Grandmother Is having a fit. She hasn't seen you at the dining table for the whole day and is thinking that you're trying to starve yourself. Come on." Ginny followed him to the dining hall where she earned a scolding from grandmother Malfoy. Narcissa and Helen smirked while Draco looked smug. Ginny picked at her food but when she received a glare from Grandmother Malfoy Ginny began to eat her food as if it was the most delicious thing in the world.

"Well." Said Ginny pushing her plate away after two forced helpings of chicken, mashed potatoes and pasta. "I'm full." She yawned. "I'm going to do my homework and then go to bed." Ginny got up and left. She heard Helens voice on the way out.

"She has to do her homework unlike me. Right Draco?" she said in a sickeningly sweet voice. Ginny rolled her eyes thinking that that was the most immature comment in the world.

"Daphne could've come up with a better come back." Ginny called while shutting the oak door. She had missed the suggestiveness in Helens voice.

Draco didn't some to her that night and Ginny sat late into the night trying to complete a transfiguration essay that wasn't due till next week. She couldn't concentrate. She wanted Draco, his touch, his smell. Didn't he miss her at all? Ginny tried to shake these feelings away but to no avail. She found herself wanting to feel his rough hands on her shoulders. Even if he was cold towards her she still wanted him. Tears leaked out of the corners of Ginnys eyes. 'No' Ginny thought. 'The truth is that all I want is care. That's all. Care from anyone.'

Ginny found herself missing Harry. At least he was kind and gentle to her. He gave her what Draco could never give.....then again Draco too gave her what Harry could never give. But at the moment she was desperate for a gentle hand to hold her. For gentle words to fill her ears. 'Why do I feel as if no one here cares about me?' Ginny thought to herself. 'There's Grandfather Malfoy and Grandmother Malfoy and then there's Blaise. They care about me. Even Pansy cares about me.'

Ginny fell asleep on her bed with tears flowing out of her eyes because no matter how she tried to console herself she knew that the one person that really mattered to her would never care about her.

! ! !

It was Saturday and Ginny was thankful for she was being driven to within and inch of her sanity. Her days were now filled with school, homework and training. Grandfather Malfoy would sometimes send for her and she would be able to cut a class or two and have discussions with him. Breakfast was taken in her room and lunch and dinner were wolfed down in less than five minutes and then Ginny would be off again. She noted with anger that Helen never did her homework. She would simply say that she'd been busy and the teachers would let her off. The whole day Ginny had lounged about in her room and put the finishing touches to her essays. Now she only had her Care of Magical creatures drawing which she would complete at her leisure tomorrow. Ginny bit her lip and glanced outside. It was dark now and she was completely bored.

Ginny got up and decided to go find Blaise. Going towards his room on the second floor Ginny reached out a hand to knock but the door suddenly flew open. Blaise bounded out looking extremely sexy in blue robes that brought out his eyes.

"Where are you going?" Ginny asked. Blaise smiled at her.

"Just going out." Said Blaise breezily. Draco emerged form behind Blaise. Ginny had to catch her breath when she saw him. He wore deep gray robes that accented his gray eyes. At the moment he was dusting off his robes. He looked up at Ginny.

"What are you doing here?" he asked suspiciously looking from Blaise to Ginny.

"I came to see Blaise." Ginny spat angrily for she was still ticked off at him. Odd though that Ginny couldn't remember why she was mad at him.

"Oh sorry luv but Pansy, Draco and I are going out. No wild sex tonight." He said winking at her.

Ginny slapped his arm playfully. "I was just wondering if my training sessions could be changed. It's becoming too much for me. Could I just have them like on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays or something? Like every alternate day?"

Blaise looked at Draco and then back at Ginny. "You're asking the wrong person luv, you should ask Draco."

Ginny looked at Draco and a staring contest seemed to ensue. "Right well I'll be waiting outside with Pansy." Blaise hastily said and left.

Ginny blinked and Draco smirked at her. Ginny turned around to leave when Draco suddenly caught her hand. "Why are we fighting?" Draco asked softly. Ginny turned to look at Draco and she was lost. Her mind couldn't concentrate on anything but him. Her non existent anger vanished away.

"What?" Ginny asked confused.

"Why are we fighting?" he asked again in a soft whisper of a voice.

Ginny couldn't remember. Why were they fighting? It had had something to do with babies hadn't it? Ginny said the first thing that entered her mind.

"Why are you going out?" she asked.

Draco looked taken aback by this question but softly replied. "It's New years eve."

Ginny blinked. It was New Years Eve already? Ginny swallowed and wrenched her hand free from his. Draco watched as Ginny walked away. Before turning left and out of his sight Ginny turned and said softly: "Have fun."

Before completely leaving his sight.

That night Ginny lay in bed wondering what everyone at the burrow would have been doing. Malfoy Manor was silent. Everyone had most likely gone out somewhere. Ginny looked at the clock. It was only 10:15 and Ginny was feeling sleepy. She yawned. 'Well it's not like I have a reason to stay up.' She thought to herself glumly. Ginny fell into a deep sleep only to be awakened by soft lips on hers. The lips broke away from her and trailed a path down to her ear. "Happy New year Ginny." Whispered a voice in her ear.

Ginny opened her eyes to see grey eyes staring back at her. "Draco?" she whispered. In reply he kissed her again and it was the most wonderful feeling Ginny had ever experienced. When they broke away Ginny looked at the clock. It was 12:02.

"Happy New year." Ginny replied groggily and closed her eyes to fall back into her deep slumber. The next morning Ginny woke up and found no one beside her bed. 'That's funny.' Ginny thought to herself. 'I could've sworn that Draco had-' But Ginny stopped her train of thought midway because on the sleeve of her night robe she spotted a gold pin in the shape of a small dove. It had small white diamonds in it with two emeralds for its eyes. Ginny couldn't help but smile. She wore jade green robes and pinned the broach just above her breast pcoket.

That day Ginny had a certain spring to her step. That afternoon she sat with Pansy and heard a detailed story of what had happened last night.

"And then I and Blaise started dancing and it was only ten more minutes till midnight. Draco suddenly left and Blaise just smirked when I asked where he'd gone. Then at midnight-"Pansy squealed. "-he kissed me and then said he loved me and-"tears filled Pansy's eyes. "Oh it was just so beautiful. Wizards shot these sparks up that read I love you Pansy and-" she blew her nose. "-it was just the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me."

Ginny smiled. "Wow." She said. Ginny then looked at her watch. "Oh Pansy I'm so sorry but it's getting late and I've been procrastinating my Magical Creatures homework for the whole weekend. I have to go and finish it and its already 8 o clock."

Ginny stood up and left. She walked down the hall only to bump into Helen who seemed disgruntled about something.

"Watch where you're going!" Helen snarled.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today." Ginny said smirking.

"Shut up you peasant!" Helen exclaimed and gave Ginny a small push. There was a fire in Helens eyes that Ginny had never seen before but Ginny was in too good a mood to be angered. She kept her calm.

"Looks like someone didn't get laid last night." Ginny said smirking.

"Shut up!" Helen shrieked. "At least I'm not a whore like you!" Her eyes then fell on Ginnys broach. "Did Draco give you that?" Helen sneered.

"What's it to you if he did?" Ginny asked coolly.

"Oh I was just wondering what he gave as payment." Helen said her eyes glittering. Ginnys eyes widened. "Shut up." Ginny whispered angrily.

"Don't like hearing the truth do you Ginny?" sneered Helen. "You think you're the only one? There are many more girls like you in Malfoy Manor. Don't you wonder why Draco hasn't been coming to you lately? That's because there are other such girls. Girls who know how to give him a good time." She smirked. "You're not the first one he's trapped." She gave Ginny a little push. "Face it Weasley. You're nothing but a whore to Draco." She tugged at the broach. "Which should've been clear to you the moment he gave you this."

Ginny slapped Helens hand away in anger. She turned to leave. Helen called after her. "No matter who he sleeps with his heart will always belong to me you WHORE!"

Ginny ran. She ran all the way up to her room and fell into bed. Tears flowed from her eyes. How could she have been so dense? Because Helens words hadn't bothered her. What had bothered her was that Helen was right. She was right. These gifts were nothing but payment. Ginny took the broach and threw it across the room. She didn't want payment. She wanted him. Helens words rang in her ears. "There are many more girls like you in Malfoy Manor."

Ginny shook her head to free it of these thoughts. Sniffing Ginny got out her care of magical creatures drawing pad and took out her book. Ginny began to draw the inside of a Dragons tail. Just as she was counting the bones to make sure their number was right, she felt the door open and close. Ginnys back went rigid. She still went on with her counting ignoring the footsteps that approached her.

"I've talked with Medea." Draco whispered into Ginnys ear. "She said that she wasn't going to let you miss any days but she was willing to let you have a break on Wednesdays and come on Saturdays instead."

"That's nice." Said Ginny curtly and began adding another bone to the tail. Draco took the quill away from Ginny and pulled her off the chair.

"Don't touch me." Ginny seethed and pulled away. "Just don't touch me right now." She could feel the binding magic whirl up inside her. It was forcing her to fall into his arms and that was truly what she wanted to do but no, not yet.

Draco looked confused and something flashed across his eyes. For a split second Ginny thought it was hurt.

"How many more are there Draco?" Ginny asked her voice rising with every word.

"What?" he asked confused.

"How many more girls are there like me?" Ginny spat. "How many other girls are there that you give payment to? Although payment wasn't in our deal but you must be so use to it by now that you overlooked that tiny fact."

"Payment?" Draco asked confused.

"Dammit don't play games!" Ginny shrieked. "I know about the others! I know!"

"Ginny-"Draco began.

"Just tell me the truth!" Ginny yelled. Tears were flowing down her eyes. She took in a deep breath and asked. "Did you-did you make deals with other girls also?" she asked finally.

Draco didn't reply. "Answer me." Said Ginny her voice small and trembling.

"Yes." He finally said.

Ginny closed her eyes and sat on the bed. Her breath was coming in and out at a fast pace. "So you-you have other-other girls like me at Malfoy manor?"

"No. Not anymore." Came Dracos cool voice.

Ginny looked up suddenly. "What?" she asked confused. Draco came to sit beside her.

"I did." He said sighing. "I don't have them anymore. I-I let them go or allowed them to stay at Malfoy Manor for free."

"When?" Ginny asked.

Draco took a deep breath and looked her in the eye. "The very next day after I made the deal with you."

Ginny had to hold back a gasp. She regained her composure quickly. "Did you give them stuff like this?" Ginny asked and summoned the broach towards her.

"No." said Draco. "I gave them trinkets yes...but all of the stuff I give you belonged to my mother." A light pink tinge appeared on his cheeks.

Ginny couldn't help but let a small smile escape her. It all seemed....sweet to her. Big bad Draco was confessing things he'd never confess under the Crucaitus curse. She knew he held his mother in the highest form of adoration and it came as a complement to her that he thought her worthy of his mothers things.

"No need to be so smug." Draco mumbled when he saw her smile.

"I was being stupid." Said Ginny.

"No surprises there." Draco retorted. He looked at her for a moment. "How'd you find out about the girls anyway?"

"Helen." Ginny said curtly. "She was in a bad mood and I guess she took it out on me. I think she fancies you because she talked about your heart always belonging to her...hey are you two going out?"

"Good God no." said Draco looking taken aback. He then cursed. "I swear I'm going to give Helen a piece of my mind."

"Don't." said Ginny slowly reaching out and wrapping her arms around him. "If it wasn't for her I wouldn't have been able to appreciate this stuff as much as I will now." She held the broach out in front of Draco and smirked. He seemed to look away. Ginny giggled. "How long have you liked me?" Ginny asked in his ear.

"I never said I liked you." Draco snapped.

"Oh?" asked Ginny amused. She withdrew her arms from him. "Silly me. I feel so stupid now." She smirked and got up to go complete her homework. Draco grabbed her hand and pulled her back onto the bed. He suddenly seemed in control again.

"I'm going to finish what I came to do." Said Draco smirking at her.

Ginny bit her lip. "My homework." She whispered.

"I'll talk to the Professors tomorrow and they'll excuse you from it." Said Draco kissing the side of her neck.

The last thing Ginny wanted to do was that. She didn't need him to get her out of these spots. Ginny sighed as the contractual magic coursed through her and stopped her from arguing further. 'Draco you still have a long way to go.' She thought to herself as she looked into his eyes.

That night Draco woke up to hear quill scratching against parchment. He opened his eyes to see Ginny wrapped in a sheet and doing her homework on the study table. Draco sighed.

"Oy you workaholic." Draco called. "Come back and go to sleep. You'll be a zombie in the morning."

Ginny got up and brought the picture back to her spot on the bed. "I just have a little bit more left." She murmured. "All I have to do is draw the tendons and stuff."

Draco rolled his eyes and watched her as she went back to her drawing. A candle sat on her nightstand and provided her with enough light to work. Her long red hair trailed all the way down to the bed. Her knees were brought together so she could rest her drawing on them. Draco tugged on a lock of her hair. "Need help?" he finally asked.

"No." said Ginny. "I just can't remember whether it's the Hungarian Horntail who has blood flowing through its tail or whether the Chinese fireball does."

"The Chinese fireball has blood flowing through its tail." Draco said in a bored voice. "What are you drawing?"

"The Chinese fireballs tail."

"But that'll take an hour or more to finish if you want to add in all the veins." Draco exclaimed. Ginny shrugged her creamy peach shoulders. Draco rolled his eyes. "Give me that." He snarled and snatched the quill and parchment away. He quickly drew the veins in about half an hour. "I told you I'd talk to your Professor but you're just so stubborn." He grumbled.

"I don't like taking the easy way out." Ginny replied and set her stuff down underneath the bed. She turned to Draco and seemed to hesitate a moment before leaning in and giving him a kiss on the lips. Draco seemed surprised and it took a moment for him to recover.

Ginny blew the candle out and lay back in bed. "Skip school tomorrow." Said Draco suddenly.

"No." Ginny replied. She felt Dracos hand feeling around over the bed. Ginny sneaked her hand into his.

"Why?" he asked grabbing hold of her hand.

"Because." Said Ginny.

"What do you mean because?" Draco asked with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Because I don't want to miss school and risk having my grades slip." Ginny replied. "The competition is tough you know and I'm not gonna let myself loose first position."

"Why? You want to get made Head Girl of Malfoy Manor?" Draco asked sniggering at his joke.

"Yes." Ginny said softly her eyes becoming glazed.

"Yes? What do you mean yes? No better yet WHY YES?" Draco asked.

"Because." Ginny replied.

"What do you mean because?" Draco asked with anger in his voice.

"Because someone believed in me." She whispered and tightened her hold on his hand.

A/n: OMG that was SUCH a long chapter! 40 pages!!! 40 friggan PAGES!!!! Also HOW sTUPID CAN A PERSON GET? I hadn't posted a disclaimer up! I feel so stupid! whines One of you could've pointed out to me that I hadn't posted a disclaimer! I went back yesterday and added a disclaimer to my first chappie. Anyway here's another disclaimer.

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling I just added my style to it. Also contractual magic belongs to Irina the wonderful and talented author of the Morrigan Trilogy. .Even most of the names in the Malfoy family do not belong to me I got those from greek myths...oh and a free bottle of pansys perfume to the person who guesses what part Metis and Medea (hint: Argonauts) played in the whole greek myths thing!!..i think im giving away hal fmy plot....maybe this isnt such a good idea...shrugs oh well!

NOTE: I need a beeettaaa!!!! I emailed a few pple but they never replied! That's the reason it took me so long to update b/coz rereading this 40 page monster was not a task I was up for,...specially since felt like throwing this out of my computer bcoz of all the hassle I had to go through to type it all and stuff. I had to literally take half hour breaks and it took me one week to reread the whole damn thing.

Another note: I would also be grateful if my beta is willing to go on my ID and post the chapters he/she has beta'd INCASE I am unable to due to net problems/ fever/ disease/fungus/too much Prozac/ too much Tylenol/ a Fury take over or temporary insanity :p.