"I hope you weren't seen tonight."
Evanna jumped as she carefully shut the Common Room door. As she turned, candlelight glinted off a pale head. It took everything in her not to roll her eyes.
"What are you still doing up?" she said curtly.
"What are you doing out past curfew?" her brother countered. Before Evanna could supply some sort of lie, he cut her off. "Never mind. You'll just lie to me any way. Just thought you'd be smarter than this with so much to lose, Ev."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" she demanded, crossing her arms and frowning.
"Just that you are in a new position with more power than you have ever had before," Draco said lightly. "I would not be risking that on the likes of Potter if I were you."
Anger roiled in Evanna's gut as she regarded the outline of her brother-not her brother, she reminded herself savagely-against the banked firelight. He had grown so tall over the summer, nearly reaching Lucius' height. The thought nearly made her shrink back from him, but she forced herself to flinch as she straightened.
I am the Dark Lord's daughter, she reminded herself. I will not be scared anymore.
"You are right, Draco," she said levelly. "I do have more power than I used to. You ought to remember that before you threaten me."
"This acquaintanceship you've had with Potter is getting out of hand Evanna! You have to know that," Draco replied, putting on what they had once called Lucius' "reasonable politician" voice.
"It's none of your business, Draco."
"I'm just trying to help you Evanna," he said. "You have to realize that even if the Dark Lord was alright with hanging around those blood traitors that he would not be okay with you going off to snog the Boy-Who-Lived!"
"I have a boyfriend!" Evanna exclaimed, shocked at her brother's insinuation.
"So you don't deny you were off with Potter," he countered. "Merlin, Evanna, are you insane? The Dark Lord-"
"You are not my keeper, Draco Malfoy. For all you know, I've been working on my father's orders," she said.
"That's hippogriff dung, Evanna, and you know it."
"And it's still none of your business!" she snapped back.
"If the Dark Lord was to find out about this and that I knew who you've been-"
"You know nothing, Draco!" she exploded. "You know absolutely nothing but how to stick your nose into my business. It is time for you to back. Off."
"Then it's time for you to stop being so bloody stupid!"
Evanna's temper snapped and with hardly a thought, Draco was thrown against the sofa as accidental magic shot out of her. She froze; her brother stared at her in shock.
"What the hell, Evanna?" he said in a low voice.
"I-you-"
"I'm just trying to help you," he said. "I've always just been trying to help."
Evanna glared at him. "Like you did the first time Lucius used the cruciatus on me? Or when you decided on your own that Mother needed to go back to the man who tried to kill her in the first place?"
"That's not fair-"
"No, it is fair, Draco!" she snapped. "You're constantly acting like you know what's best but you don't! But now-I can pull rank!"
Draco's face darkened. "What do you mean?"
Truthfully, Evanna wasn't sure what she was getting at, only that she was tired of Draco Lucius Malfoy sticking his nose in her business and causing her trouble and pain. Her eyes narrowed on him, and in her mind's eye, she could see a flash of red hair flying by on a broomstick and she knew how she could undermine him. Yet, she hesitated. She would be no better than Draco, policing who he chose to spend time with. Finally, she shook her head, turning to go to her dorm room.
"That's what I thought," Draco said. "It's for your own good that I forbid you from seeing Harry Po-"
"I'll tell Lucius that you're courting Ginny Weasley!" Evanna snapped, unable to take her insufferable brother a moment longer. "I will do it, I swear, and your father trusts you far less than my father trusts me."
Draco gaped. "But I-you'd be lying-"
"You think I care?" she snarled. "You'd deserve it after all you've run to Lucius on me!"
"You can't-"
"No, I can," Evanna snapped. "You said it earlier-my position now is far higher than yours. I don't have to listen to you or to Lucius. I give the orders now."
Before Draco could say anything, there was a little gasp behind them. Evanna and Draco turned to see Eva standing there in a house robe and her ridiculous Crup-shaped slippers.
"I-I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I just heard voices, and-"
She glanced between the siblings, obviously terrified. Evanna swallowed tightly. Though she wished to scare her brother into staying out of her business, she hated that her roommates were so cowed. With that in mind, Evanna forced herself to give a smile that might have been more of a grimace.
"Nothing for you to be sorry for, Eva," she said gently. "You know how annoying my brother can be. Say-do you still have that Avalon mud masque? I could use some relaxation."
She threw a dirty look at Draco, who was staring at the floor.
"Of-of course, my lady-Evanna," Eva replied, seemingly taken off guard by the odd request. Burying her hurt at her roommate remaining so afraid of her, Evanna smiled a little more convincingly as she followed her roommate to bed, not giving her brother a second glance.
~Ginny POV~
Ginny stood waiting in an alcove on the quidditch pitch, waiting for her quidditch partner to arrive. She still did not quite understand why it was that she and Malfoy continued to meet and play quidditch together and she certainly knew that her brothers would likely kill the blond if they knew what she was doing. But, somehow, these quidditch matches had become solace to her in these strange times.
At least, when the arrogant jerk actually showed up.
Casting tempus for the third time that afternoon, Ginny cursed the blond, wondering if he had decided to blow her off as a lark or if there was something more sinister keeping him. She knew that times were dangerous, perhaps moreso in Slytherin than in Gryffindor if Evanna was to be believed. But still.
She heard footsteps. Growling curses under her breath, she was just about to rip into him for keeping her waiting when someone swooped over her head on a broom.
"C'mon already, Weasley," a sneering voice said. "Thought you wanted to play quidditch in the daylight."
"You were the one who was late, you berk!" Ginny said, hopping onto the school broom from the cabinet she had lock picked just as Draco threw the quaffle into the goalpost.
"Cheater!" she shouted at him.
"No rules in love and war!"
"This is quidditch, idiot, and there are rules."
Malfoy gave a savage grin as he scored another goal.
"Not the way I play."
"You'll pay for that, Malfoy!"
"We'll see, Weasley."
Ginny pushed the school broom to its limits just in time to kick the quaffle out of the way of the goal post as Malfoy threw it. They both dove after the ball, Ginny letting out a taunting "HA!" when she caught it. Draco grunted at her in annoyance as she zoomed off to the other goalpost, her broom vibrating worrisomely.
"Think you need a new broom, Weasley?" Malfoy shouted.
"Think you need a new face, Malfoy!" she spat back, though without true venom. He made a face.
"Pathetic, Weasley," he replied. "You need work on your insults."
"You need work on your face!"
Draco laughed at that one, giving Ginny the chance to score a goal, the Quaffle ruffling Malfoy's hair as it zoomed by. She snickered at the incredulity on his face.
"Cheater!"
"Not the way I play!"
They played until the sun began to set and they had to stop without a clear winner. Ginny glanced sideways at him as they began to make their way leisurely to the ground.
"You gonna tell me why you were so late today?" she said.
Malfoy was silent, but Ginny would not accept that. So she began to needle him.
"Look, you can play moody teenage male all day and you won't get out of my question. I have six older brothers and have been dealing with their man periods since I-"
"I didn't decide to come until right before I got here," he said, face pink.
Ginny wasn't expecting the pang of hurt at the words. Draco Malfoy was an idiot-a mean, bigoted, ignorant idiot and she knew that. He was also the first person to take her seriously when it came to quidditch, and had seen her as genuine competition rather than a chore like her brothers did.
"You don't have to play quidditch with me-just tell me before I waste my time, you know? Have some common decency-I'm a busy person even if I'm a Weasley."
"Merlin, Weasley, just jump to the worst assumption of me like everyone else, why don't you?" Draco sneered. "No, I wanted to come. I like playing quidditch with you."
Ginny shook her head. "Leave the mind games to the Snake Pit, Malfoy. I don't mess with that shite."
"No-wait-Weasley-"
Ginny was marching away from him, ignoring everything he said. Until one word came out of his mouth.
"Ginny."
She halted, then turned on her heel to look at him, arms crossed as she used the same look she had watched her mother give the twins on many, many occasions. Malfoy winced.
"Look, Weasley," he said, sounding far less eloquent than she had ever heard from him or from his sister for that matter. "What has Evanna told you about this summer?"
Ginny blinked. Truthfully, Evanna had not said much about the summer. Her friend rarely shared anything about her home life, but Ginny knew it was bad. How could it not be, with Lucius Malfoy as a father? The year Ginny started Hogwarts, her brothers had busted Harry out of his relatives' house using their father's flying car. She had often thought that Evanna needed just as much rescuing but that it would never happen because Malfoy Manor was too well-protected.
"Nothing, really," Ginny said. "Evanna never talks about home."
Draco nodded, as though he had expected that answer.
"Things are…. Complicated," Draco said carefully.
"Yeah, I guessed as much," Ginny said with a snort. "But what does that have to do with a pick up game of quidditch."
"Our families….. Politics don't exactly match up, Weasley," he said awkwardly. It didn't take long for Ginny to connect the dots in what he was saying.
His father was a Death Eater. Her parents were in the organization to bring down the Dark Lord. They weren't supposed to associate. And yet….
"That's hippogryff shite, Malfoy. Evanna has been my best friend for years," she said.
"Evanna…. Evanna is a special case," Draco replied with a wince. "I-I don't have the same… I mean-"
"Just stop it, okay?" Ginny snapped. "From what I've seen, you've always gotten off a helluva lot more lightly than Ev. And now you're saying that you can't sneak out to play quidditch with me."
His cheeks were a blotchy pink. "It's not-"
"Spare me. It's not like we're snogging in front of the Great Hall."
Malfoy's eyes just about bugged out of his head when she said that, but she ignored it.
"I can find someone else to play quidditch with," she spat. "Hopefully they spend more time actually looking for the Snitch instead of making up corny insults."
"Wait, Ginny, you don't understand-"
Ginny whirled around again. "Don't call me Ginny. Obviously I am not your friend."
He didn't call after her again. She stormed her way straight through the castle to where she knew her friends would be waiting for her. Luna was hanging upside down off of the top of the cabinet, while Bridget and Evanna sat playing Exploding Snap.
"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Bridget asked.
"Your brother," she said directly to Evanna, "is a prick."
Evanna seemed to study Ginny for a few moments before her face shuttered, taking on the blank quality that her friend used whenever she felt the need to hide something. Ginny filed that away for when she was not so angry.
"Yes, he is," Evanna replied. "Chocolate frog?"
A/N: Not completely happy with this chapter, but I needed to get out of my COVID-19 funk, and I thought you all might appreciate a new chapter in the midst of this scary new world. Funny, I had thought I would be much more stylish in the apocalypse than sweats and 3-day hair. ;)