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"We've got to do something." Ron's expression was surly, full of rage. Hermione and Harry sat next to him, wearing expressions similar to his. The three of them sat in a circle on the floor of Order headquarters, a parchment between them outlining different strategies to get Ginny back to Order headquarters to undo whatever it was that Malfoy had done to her. It was February, and Ron had been in a right snit since Ginny stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas. The entire holiday he kept murmuring things under his breath, things like ferret, murder, and brainwashed. All of the members of the Order were off on other business, so the three of them had headquarters to themselves for the first time after Christmas. Harry and Hermione were just as worried about Ginny as Ron was, so the three of them decided it was time to do something. After all, they couldn't just leave her to Draco Malfoy's devices, now could they?

"I don't know what we can do." Harry sighed. "She's at Hogwarts, and there's no way that McGonagall is going to let us take her away from there if she's putting up a fight. Whatever enchantment Malfoy has on her, it's strong, but McGonagall might not believe us if we tell her about it. We've got to figure some way to lure Ginny away from the castle so we can get her and bring her back here. If we figure out what kind of enchantment he's got on her, we can figure out how to break it."

Hermione nodded. Hermione knew that Ginny had built up strong defenses around her mind since her first year experience with Tom, but Hermione didn't know the extent of Malfoy's expertise with getting around mental barriers. Perhaps Malfoy could have broken down Ginny's defenses, but Hermione doubted it. If Ginny had let Malfoy inside, it was most likely of her own devices, but Hermione knew better than to try and convince Harry and Ron of anything different than what they already had in their minds.

"Maybe we do it on the next Hogsmeade weekend." Ron piped up. "We don't know if she'll be there, Malfoy could be keeping her near the castle so that he could keep an eye on her. Maybe… maybe you could write her a letter, Hermione, invite her out to tea to make amends or something. We've got to lure her away and get her away, as soon as possible. The longer she stays at the castle, the more she thinks she's not under some sort of bewitchment."

Hermione's brow furrowed. "Wouldn't Malfoy get suspicious if I wrote her a letter out of the blue asking her to have tea with me? I mean, if he has her that much under his control, then you know he's going to be reading her owls." Hermione said quietly. Both Harry and Ron's expressions darkened, for neither had thought of that. Hermione noted that they didn't think of a lot of things, but once again kept her mouth shut. She was not in the mood to argue with them on this issue once again. They didn't believe her to begin with, so why would they start now?

"Well, that just means you're going to have to write the letter in a way that it doesn't arouse suspicion. You're smart, Hermione, you can do it." Ron's tone was pleading, and he took both of Hermione's hands in his own. Hermione blinked slightly; this was the first time Ron had ever really touched her in any way that wasn't accidental. She swallowed, unable to turn her eyes away from Ron's. Really, he could be very persuasive when he wanted to be. He held Hermione's hand near his lips, and she could feel his breath tickling the back of her hand.

"I suppose I could try." She finally agreed. "I'm not guaranteeing it will work, but I can try."

Ron's face broke into a broad grin. "I knew I could count on you, Hermione." Hermione blushed slightly, and Harry looked away. It was true that he loved to see his two best friends happy, but not when he was in such a foul mood.

"Okay, so here's the plan." Harry took his wand and pointed it to the parchment that was spread between the three of them, outlining their plan for Ginny's 'rescue'.

"So you add all the numbers of your first name, then middle name, then last name, then you reduce, then you add them and reduce again?" Ginny asked, her quill posed in midair over what she had just written. It seemed like Ginny just kept getting more and more behind in Arithmancy, so Draco had agreed to help her with her problems. She smiled hopefully up at him; they had been working on her homework problems for nearly an hour, and her head was starting to pound.

"No, you add all the number of your first, middle, and last name, then you reduce it." Draco said, scribbling out her latest notes and correcting her work. "See, once you add up all of my numbers, they total 72, so you have to reduce them. You add the seven and the two, and you get nine." Draco looked up from his work, as if he's just explained the most elementary thing in the world. Ginny took her parchment back, a frown starting to form near the corners of her mouth, and started to scribble out her work. Her face screwed up in concentration as she worked the problem diligently.

"So my total would be 90, then I would have to reduce it?" She asked questioningly. Draco nodded, so Ginny continued. "I would reduce that by adding the nine and the zero, and I would get nine?" Draco smiled a rare smile and nodded.

"I think you've finally got it." He said encouragingly. Ginny smiled in glee, tucking her parchment inside her Arithmancy book before tossing the book in the floor. Draco smirked slightly at her disregard for putting her book away properly. Had Granger been there, Draco would have loved to see her expression at Ginny's rough treatment of her book.

"Thank Merlin." Ginny replied softly, stretching out on the sofa the two of them had claimed when they started on Ginny's homework hours ago . Ginny laid her head in Draco's lap, curling her arms and body around his bent knees, and Draco started to absentmindedly run his fingers through her hair.

"So, Red, what do you want to do since you've finished your homework for the evening? The night is still young, there's lots left to do. After all, we have the same character number, so you know that means we're really soul mates." Draco wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Ginny snorted. Really, this was a side she didn't expect existed with Draco. She didn't ever think he would be playful and, well, funny. The more Ginny hung around with Draco, the more she started to see his sense of humor come out. Not even a year before she would have sworn that sense didn't exist in the blonde, but he just seemed freer with his emotions lately.

"I can't think of anything that I'd like to do, Blondie, so why don't we just sit here awhile?" Ginny yawned, hugging Draco's knees in tighter before laying her head down on them.

"Sounds good to me." he replied. Draco worked out a knot of Ginny's mane with his fingers. Really, her hair fascinated him; while his own hair was perfectly straight by nature (the mark of a true Malfoy), hers bent and curved every which way. Since the beginning of their relationship, Draco had loved to sit for hours just playing with her hair. Ginny usually pretended to be annoyed with his playing with her hair, but she really loved it.

The two of them sat like that for a few minutes, just savoring the moment. The moment was lost, however, when Luna came walking down the stairs from the dormitories and sat down right next to them.

"Hullo, Luna, how are you?" Ginny asked politely. Draco kept his mouth shut; he wasn't particularly fond of the Lovegood girl, but Ginny had insisted he be polite, since she was one of Ginny's best friends.

"I think I might be catching the Sneezorkles, but other than that, I'm fine." Luna said, holding out a letter to Ginny. "This came at breakfast for you, so I got it for you since you weren't there. I was going to give it to you in Transfiguration, but you weren't there."

Ginny blushed; she'd always been horrible at hiding her emotions. "I was feeling sick, so I stayed in bed." Ginny didn't want to admit to Luna that she and Draco had been so caught up in a snogging session that they'd both missed all of their morning classes. She took the letter from Luna's outstretched hand. "Thanks, Luna."

"What are friends for?" Luna said, before turning and walking to the other side of the room where Seamus Finnegan and Neville were engaged in a game of Exploding Snap. Ginny looked down at the envelope in her hand and was surprised to see Hermione's tiny, neat print.

"Why the hell would she be writing me?" Ginny muttered under her breath, before turning the letter over and opening it.

27h February 1998

Ginny,

I know that you're upset with your brother, so I'm just writing to let you know that I'm not going to condemn you. I trust you and I trust your judgment, and I would like to have a chat with you. I contacted Professor McGonagall, and she said it would be fine for you to have tea with me next Hogsmeade weekend. I understand if you have other plans already, seeing as how this is such short notice, but I would really like to talk to you about this. I'm not going to lecture you, I'm just curious about the current… arrangements. I trusted you with the Viktor issue when I trusted no one else, so I really hope you'll do the same and trust me with the details of why you've chosen such an unconventional person with which to start a relationship.

Regards,

Hermione

Ginny read the letter quickly over twice before setting it down on the couch beside her, a puzzled expression covering her face.

"What did the letter say, Red?" Draco asked, wrapping his arm around her waist and leaning in to her. The puzzled expression never left her face, and she shook her head slightly.

"Hermione wants to have tea with me." She said, her head cocked to the side and her brow furrowed. It wasn't like Hermione to do something so short noticed; in Ginny's experience, Hermione planned things out at least a week in advance. "But why now? I think she wants to make amends for Ron being an ass at the funeral, but it's been months since the then. Why would she want to apologize now? And the letter just seems so... formal. Hermione has never been that formal with me."

Ginny handed the letter to Draco, who quickly skimmed the words. "You know, your brother and Potter aren't the smartest two people I've ever met," Ginny glared at Draco, "but maybe they're sending Granger to make up with you because they're idiots and would just muck up whatever they were trying to say if they were to try to apologize? Knowing them, they probably just recently figured out that they did something wrong, treating you like a child." Ginny glared at Draco again for insulting her brother, but she thought his words over. Maybe he was right, and that they just wanted to make amends and forget that they'd ever acted like asses; Ginny didn't like the idea of not being on good terms with family, and this would be the perfect opportunity to get everything back to normal. Yes, Ginny would go, and she would make amends with everyone.

"I'll go." Ginny finally said, turning Hermione's letter over and scribbling a quick reply. She leaned down and dropped a quick kiss on Draco's lips before turning and heading out the portrait hole, up toward the owlery.

"Don't forget about later." Draco called after her. She turned, her fingers twined in the necklace he'd gotten her for Christmas proof that she'd heard him. He wanted to get her something big and expensive, something that only a Malfoy could afford, but he knew she wouldn't accept such a trinket. He'd settled on getting her an aura necklace; at the end of the chain was a small faceted stone that appeared to be full of swirling, colored smoke. Since the day Ginny had put it on, the smoke stayed orange, occasionally flashing another color when she was in a passionate fit, but always staying predominately orange. Draco thought the necklace was a fluke, but Ginny adored it. The Lovegood girl knew what it was as soon as she'd seen it, and she wasted no time in pointing out that she was correct on Ginny's aura color.

As soon as Ginny was out of sight, Draco turned and headed up toward the dormitory; he fully intended on taking a shower before the night's festivities.

A.N.: This chapter, much like the last one, was short, but I'll make up for it on the next few. Just a warning now, even though the next chapter might not be up for a few days, but the next chapter is going to earn the rating, and if you can't figure out what I mean by that, then you shouldn't read it. As always, review, and happy reading!