Well it's hard to believe that I'm at 30 chapters already, but here it is.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nothing, that is, if an extremely awesome football jersey counts as nothing.

Chapter 30: Saving Narcissa

"What?" asked Draco, his eyes narrowing as he took a step towards Ginny. "What do you mean?"

"I know a place where you could take your mum," Ginny replied excitedly.

"And where might that be?"

"Well," began Ginny, biting her lip. "Actually, I'm not positive it would work, but I'm willing to bet my new broomstick it would!"

"Where is it?" Draco repeated, and Ginny heard the impatience in his voice. The two were still down in the tunnel, little less than a ten minutes walk from the castle. Ginny's hair was starting to dry, but the back of her robe was still wet from where she had fallen into the lake.

"See, I know this lady," Ginny said, "and she lives all by herself in Hogsmede in the shop that she runs, but it's a tiny shop and almost nobody sees it; I myself hardly saw it when I was walking by. She's really nice and quiet and you wouldn't have to worry about her doing anything to your mother because she's a Squib but I think it would be a safe place for her," Ginny finished in a rush, looking at Draco. The Slytherin was looking at her dubiously, although so far he hadn't refused.

"It'd be perfectly safe," Ginny said quietly. "I met her myself and she wouldn't harm a fly."

After a short pause, Draco said, "It's not her I'm worried about."

"But who –" Ginny began.

"My father," Draco said, cutting Ginny off, "will not part with my mother that easily. I'd have to sneak her out of the house and if he didn't catch us right away, it'd only be a matter of time before he did. And then he'd find her."

"You don't know that for sure," said Ginny with a frown.

Draco gave a dry laugh. "You don't know my father."

They both fell silent. Draco was staring at the stone floor, his mouth set in a line; he seemed to be deliberating what Ginny was saying. Ginny, on the other hand, badly wanted Draco to accept her offer. She couldn't say why she so desperately wanted to help him, but some little voice in her was just urging her on. Maybe it was because she felt in debt to him for his saving her life, but somehow she thought it was more than that. Recently she had been seeing just how human Draco was, that he could hurt, cry, and bleed just like everybody else, that he wasn't the Death Eater people thought him to be.

Draco looked up uncertainly. Ginny could tell that he really would like to believe her, to get his mother to a safe place, but there was still doubt in his eyes.

"It'll work," Ginny said softly. "Trust me."

They stared at each other for a moment. Ginny could see herself reflected in Draco's cool grey eyes. She swallowed and her heartbeat sped up under Draco's continued glance. Finally she looked away, unable to look at him any longer. To her horror, she felt a heat creep up her neck and knew that she was blushing. Embarrassedly she turned around, willing the red in her cheeks to disappear, as she herself suddenly wanted to do. She couldn't for the life of her figure out why she was blushing.

"Okay," Draco said from behind her, and Ginny let out the breath she'd been holding. "We'll give it a try."

Ginny smiled and turned around. "Great," she answered. Unexpectedly a smile formed on Draco's face. Only this was a smile Ginny had never seen from him before, a real smile. There were no traces of sarcasm, disdain, or malice to be seen. For a moment, the worries that for a month had been present on his face seemed to disappear and he looked as if all he had to worry about were the upcoming end of the year exams.

For a moment, if anybody who didn't know the two teens were to look upon them, they would swear that Ginny and Draco were friends.


That night up in his room, Draco had a hard time falling asleep. He sighed and rolled over in bed. He felt drained of all emotion and energy. As far as he could tell, he and Ginny were back on good terms. He couldn't help the tiny part of himself that resented that fact, but he figured he needed someone he could talk to, someone who he could trust.

But did Draco really trust Ginny? He thought he did. To be accepting the place she had proposed to take his mother to, he thought he should trust her. Alright, so I trust her, he admitted grudgingly.

Draco had told Ginny that he wanted his mother out of Malfoy Manor as soon as possible, so they had agreed to meet in Hogsmede the next night, where they would begin their mission to rescue Narcissa.

The plan was simple. The next day was Saturday, and Ginny was going to Hogsmede early to talk to the lady with whom Narcissa was staying. Draco had never heard of her before, some woman Ginny called Miss Reina. Then that evening, after dark, Draco would travel to Malfoy Manor and somehow get his mother out. They would both come back to Hogsmede and Narcissa would be left with Reina. By the time Lucius would figure out that his wife was gone, hopefully it would be too late for him to trace her. And with Narcissa so far away from Lucius, he wouldn't be able to cast the Imperius Curse on her again.

It all seemed so simple in words, but Draco knew that in real life it would be a lot more difficult. He had already tried once to get his mother out, but that hadn't worked. Draco had no idea how he would try rescuing her this time. He just hoped that whatever he did, both he and his mother would make it out alive.


Ginny pulled her cloak closer to her body as she made her way through Hogsmede the next day after lunch. Thankfully it wasn't snowing today, and the sun was hot, working hard to melt the snow. Despite the cheerful appearance, the day was still bitterly cold.

Ginny was elated that Draco had agreed to let his mother stay with Reina. It was probably because he was so desperate to get her away; he'd most likely let her stay almost anywhere. But Ginny was happy that it was her idea he had listened to.

Within a few minutes, Ginny came to Reina's store. Ginny oddly realized that she had never before noticed what the store was called. She looked around for some sort of sign and saw an old wooden one hanging over the door with the name burnt into the wood. She smiled when she saw the name: Life's Little Things.

It fit perfectly.

Ginny smiled as she walked into the store and the familiar scent of cinnamon hit her. This time the store was lit a bit more brightly than last time; several more candles were lit and a few lamps with red scarves hanging over them were resting on old wooden tables that despite their rugged surfaces, were clean.

Ginny looked around, idly weaving her way through the many tables, searching for Miss Reina. She found the woman sitting at her desk at the back of the room next to the staircase that wound up through the ceiling to her room. Reina was looking down at something she was writing, and Ginny cleared her throat.

Reina looked up and smiled. "Well hello," she said brightly. "It's nice to see you again."

"Likewise," said Ginny with a smile.

"How did the dress work out for you?" Reina asked, setting her quill, ink, and parchment aside. "That and the masks and everything else?"

"They were great," replied Ginny, sitting in the chair in front of Reina's desk. "They got lots of compliments and my friend Hermione absolutely loved that mask."

"Good," said Reina. "That's good."

They both were silent for a moment and Ginny bit her lip. She wasn't sure what Reina would think of Ginny's inquiry, and she didn't want to impose, but some part of her told her that Reina wouldn't mind having Narcissa over. At least she hoped Reina wouldn't mind.

"What can I do you for?" Reina asked, folding her hands in her lap and sitting back in her chair.

"Well…" began Ginny, trying to think of a polite way to ask. Yes, the dresses and masks were perfect, thank you very much, I just dropped by to say hello, and by the way, would you mind housing the wife of a violent Death Eater so that she doesn't have to be under the Imperius Curse anymore? Even in her mind the request sounded ridiculous.

Ginny cleared her throat again.

"Would you like some tea?" Reina asked, raising an eyebrow. Ginny nodded gratefully. Buying a bit of time would be good. Ginny thought regretfully that she would've done much better to plan out a proper approach before actually coming.

Ginny followed Reina through another door on the ground floor into what she assumed was the kitchen. There was a sink on one side of the kitchen and a refrigerator next to it. On the opposite side of kitchen was an oven. A table and a few chairs rested on the far side of the room.

As Reina prepared two cups of tea, Ginny sat down at the kitchen table and played with her hands. When the tea was ready, Reina sat down next to Ginny and sighed.

"That's better," she said. "It's not often I get visitors, but whenever I do, it's a pleasant surprise."

Ginny smiled. "Did you have a good holiday?" she asked politely.

"It was fair enough," Reina nodded. "Not a lot goes on for me. Did you stay at Hogwarts for Christmas?"

"No," replied Ginny. "My brother and I went home."

"Ah, you have a brother?" Reina asked, and Ginny detected a sense of sadness. She remembered the last time she had been here and how she had found out about Reina's own brother's death.

"Actually I have six," Ginny said. She smiled as Reina's eyes grew big. "Yeah," Ginny laughed, "we get that a lot."

"I can't imagine having that many brothers," Reina shook her head. "Are you the only girl?"

Ginny nodded. "Yes, and I'm the youngest. Everybody treats me like it too. 'Don't do that, Ginny. Don't touch that, Ginny. Go away Ginny. Not like that, Ginny,'" the girl said, impersonating her brothers. Reina looked at her sympathetically, and they once more were quiet.

"So," Reina began, stirring her tea, "I gather that you didn't come here just to talk about brothers, now did you?"

"No," Ginny said slowly. "You see, I have this – this friend…"

"Do you now?" Reina asked, causing Ginny's nervous look to melt into a smile.

"Yeah…this is hard to ask without me sounding really rude," Ginny said.

"Go for it, girly," Reina said.

"Ok," Ginny sighed. "See, my friend's mother is under the Imperious Curse and has been his entire life, only he just found out about it now, and he wants to get her away from his dad because that's who's casting the Curse, but there's nowhere safe for her to go, but if you wanted she could stay here and nobody would find her," Ginny finished in a rush.

Reina thoughtfully looked at the table for a moment. Without looking up, she asked, "And would your friend's father be a Death Eater?"

"Yes," Ginny answered at once. "Well, I mean, it's not exactly a proven fact, but most likely he is."

"Why doesn't your friend just go to the ministry and report his father to them?" Reina asked.

Ginny frowned. "Well, I don't know," she mused. "I suppose because he thinks nobody would believe him if he did, or else his father or some other Death Eaters would figure it out and kill him. I don't know."

Reina was silent for several minutes, during which Ginny sat uncomfortably in her seat. She hoped she wasn't too far out of line with her request, and she desperately hoped, for Draco's and his mother's sake, that this would work out.

"So you say his father's a Death Eater?"

"I'd bet my life on it," Ginny said.

"Well then," Reina sighed, "she can stay."

"Really?" Ginny asked, hardly daring to believe her ears.

"I've never been one to turn away those in need," Reina smiled. Ginny noticed suddenly that the woman looked as if she knew something that she wasn't letting Ginny in on. Ginny's eyes narrowed slightly and she remembered Reina's psychic ability. It could be that the reason Reina was agreeing was because she could see something, but Ginny had no way of knowing and she wasn't about to ask.

"Thanks," Ginny said. She took a sip of her tea.

For a few more minutes, as they both finished their tea, Ginny and Reina talked. Then Ginny excused herself, saying that she had lots of things to take care of that night. Reina had agreed to letting Narcissa come to her that evening. That is, if Draco got her safely. Ginny had it all arranged. That night after dinner, she and Draco would meet down in Hogsmede where Ginny would wait while Draco traveled to Malfoy Manor to get his mother.

Hopefully it would all work out for the best for all of them.


As soon as she got back to the castle, Ginny went up to the Owlry and wrote a letter to Draco.

Draco,

It's all taken care of. Reina says your mother is welcome to stay with her. I'll see you tonight.

Ginny

She watched the owl soar out into the sky that was still free from all traces of clouds, and when the owl turned the corner around the castle, she walked back towards the Gryffindor dormitories.


Trying to calm his nerves, Draco made his way out of the castle and into the night. He had had to wait longer than he had expected for the Great Hall to clear; it had been worth it though. Nobody had seen him exit the castle.

He had gotten Ginny's note earlier in the day and that was when he first started to believe that their plan might work. He had had doubts about anybody wanting to take Narcissa in, but Ginny obviously placed heavy faith in this person.

Draco just hoped that the woman would prove as helpful a person to Narcissa as she had been to Ginny.

Draco looked up as he walked down the path. The sky was filled with oranges and pinks as the sun descended and he frowned. The cover of the clouds that night would've been helpful, but Draco could see that the night would be clear. The Slytherin boy had his hand in his cloak and wrapped around his wand, ready for everything.

Once Draco was in Hogsmede, he broke into a jog. Draco was to go to the Hog's Head where he would Floo to Malfoy Manor. Draco had asked why he couldn't just Floo from Reina's place, but Ginny had said that she wasn't hooked up to the Floo network. They had decided on the Hog's Head instead of the Three Broomsticks for the reason that there would be fewer people in the former pub to ask why students were out of Hogwarts that late at night. The Hog's Head usually drew a shadier crowd, but at least everybody kept to themselves.

As Draco had predicted, Ginny was sitting on a bench outside the Hog's Head. She rose when she saw Draco.

"What happened?" she asked.

"It wasn't so easy to get out of the castle unnoticed, Draco answered. "I suppose you got out earlier."

"While everybody was still at dinner," Ginny answered. "Here, I brought you this." She held out a cloak of silvery, water-like material. "It's Harry's Invisibility Cloak. I thought it might come in handy and was able to borrow it from him. They think I'm studying late in the library."

"Is this how he's always not getting caught by the teachers?" Draco asked indignantly. "All these years he's been getting away with everything and all because nobody could see him?"

Ginny grinned. "Yeah, but don't tell anyone." Draco grudgingly took the cloak, looking at it as if it had betrayed him. "Are you ready?" Ginny asked, serious once again.

"Yes," Draco answered.

"Ok," Ginny said, peering through the window into the Hog's Head, where several witches and wizards were gathered for their evening drink. "Let's go."

"Hold on," Draco said. Before they walked in, Draco put on the Invisibility Cloak. He saw Ginny's eyes narrow as she tried to find him again, and he pulled the cloak off of his face for a minute. "I'll follow you," he said. "Just walk over to the fireplace, try to look as if you belong there, and I'll slip right by. After a minute or so, just leave."

"Alright," Ginny nodded. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the pub. Draco secured the cloak about him tighter, made sure he was completely out of sight, and then followed the girl inside.

Despite its dirty atmosphere, the pub was brightly lit. The barman was standing behind the bar and looked as if he wished everyone would leave; he didn't even turn to look at Ginny and Draco as they walked in. A few cloaked figures were seated atop tall bar stools and several tables were occupied. One or two tables had more than one occupant, but most tables contained only a single person. Draco saw more than a few eyes travel towards the seemingly lone Ginny that walked into the pub. He didn't like the looks that the men at one table were giving her and tightened his grip on his wand just in case.

As they were walking towards the fireplace used solely for Floo traveling, one of the men's hands shot out and grabbed Ginny's arm, pulling her onto his lap and sliding his arms around Ginny's waist.

"Well hello," the man said slyly. Draco could smell the whisky on the man's throat, but the fact that the man was probably drunk and not entirely responsible for his current actions didn't stop the unexpected wave of jealousy and anger that swept through Draco. It took all of his self control not to rip off the cloak and curse the man. Draco wouldn't have had time to anyway, because Ginny's wand whipped out and was pointing menacingly at the man's throat.

"Don't even think about it," Ginny said in a cold voice. The man's smug look dropped off his face and he held his arms up helplessly. Draco was disgusted by the man's cowardice. Nevertheless, he was immensely relieved when Ginny stood up and they hurriedly continued on their way. She glanced back nervously at the man. Draco felt even more anger directed towards the man for the fear that was in Ginny's eyes, and Draco knew then that her bravery in front of the man who had grabbed her had been more for the sake of his letting her go rather than the fact that she was completely fearless.

They reached the fire place, near which a small bucket was sitting that contained Floo powder. Draco bent over the bucket and, making sure the Invisibility Cloak covered all his movements, scooped up a handful. Before he stepped into the fire, Draco turned to Ginny, who was trying to nonchalantly lean against the wall near the grate, and whispered through the Invisibility Cloak, "Are you alright?"

Ginny barely nodded so as to not gain anymore attention than she had already, but her eyes skittered over to where she guessed Draco to be. Seeing then that she was alright, Draco gingerly stepped into the grate.

As quick as could be, he threw the powder onto the floor and said in a low voice, "Malfoy Manor," just as Ginny subtly kicked over the bucket, sending Floo powder everywhere. Then green flames erupted around Draco and he started spinning.

The last thing he heard and saw was Ginny sweetly apologizing to the barman, who had finally come out from around the bar, for knocking over his bucket of Floo powder and causing a commotion.


Draco appeared in a burst of green flames in the only fire place in the Malfoy house that was connected to the Floo network. If there was any part of the night that would rely solely on luck, it would be this moment. If Lucius Malfoy was in his study at the time of Draco's arrival, it was all over.

To Draco's good fortune, though, his father's study was empty. Silently Draco sped down the halls. The evening was turning late and Draco knew that his parents would be finished with dinner by now. He had no idea where his father was, but he figured his mother would be in her room. She was rarely anywhere else.

So Draco made his way to his mother's quarters. Years ago, Draco's parents had stayed in the same room. Then his mother had moved into the room next to his fathers. At the time, Draco couldn't make sense of the change. He hadn't even known of it for a while, but when he had figured it out, he didn't know why they didn't sleep together. Then, a year or so before Draco first went to Hogwarts, his mother was moved to the other side of the house. Draco had learned by then not to question anything his parents did.

When Draco reached his mother's room, he entered without knocking. Right away his eyes were drawn to Narcissa. She was sitting in her window seat, staring out the window up at the moon just as she had been the first time Draco had seen her in the glass ball.

Narcissa jumped at Draco's entrance and turned around. When her eyes landed on Draco, a smile lit up her face and Draco knew she wasn't under the Curse at the moment.

"What are you doing here?" Narcissa asked, standing up.

"I've come for you," Draco answered. "This time I have a plan and we'll get away safely."

"Are you sure?" Narcissa asked breathlessly. There was fear plain in her voice and Draco wondered what Lucius had done to her after he had left during Christmas break.

"Yes," said Draco. "I've found somewhere for you to stay, but we have to leave now. Can you make it?"

"I think so," Narcissa said. "Just let me pack a few things."

Draco watched anxiously as his mother pulled out a bag from under the bed and went to her dresser. She pulled out a few items, mainly clothes, and placed them in the bag before coming to Draco.

"That's it?" Draco asked, intrigued. "You don't want to take more? We're not coming back."

Narcissa smiled wryly. "Spending years with my belongings and not being able to clearly appreciate them has dampened the way I feel about them when I do have my mind."

Draco nodded slowly. "Alright then. Here, get under this." Draco then threw the Invisibility Cloak over the both of them.

"Where did you get this?" Draco's mother asked him.

"It belongs to…uh – I borrowed it from someone," Draco said, not willing to admit that he was using something of Harry Potter's, and he certainly wasn't going to admit how helpful it was.

They exited Narcissa's room without a backward glance and as quietly as possible made their way to Lucius's study.

When they were halfway there, Draco heard footsteps fast approaching them. He pulled his mother flat against the wall, where they stood side by side breathlessly. Draco's heart was pounding so fast he was sure whoever was approaching could hear it. Worriedly he glanced sideways at his mother. If the footsteps belonged to his father, than his mother would have a hard time of it; Draco remembered the last time they had been trying to escape. He grabbed his mother's hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

Sure enough, Lucius Malfoy soon rounded the corner and walked towards them quickly. Draco's hand that wasn't holding Narcissa's was wrapped around his wand. Luck was on their side that night, however. Lucius walked by them without any notion that they were there.

When Lucius was safely out of sight, Draco turned to his mother, who was shaking badly but was nevertheless still standing.

"Are you alright?" Draco asked. Narcissa didn't reply but she nodded her head. "Come on then," Draco said, and he and his mother started running down the hallway. Draco hoped that his father wasn't heading to Narcissa's room; he had been hoping for more time before Lucius figured out that Narcissa was missing.

Soon they reached Lucius's study and they stepped into the fireplace. Draco grabbed a handful of Floo powder and said, "The Hog's Head."

In a rush of green fire, the two Malfoys disappeared.


Ginny drummed her fingers anxiously across Reina's kitchen table. The young girl was staring vaguely into the fire, which was one of the main sources of light in the room. She had been waiting there for nearly an hour for Draco to return with his mother. Return with her, that is, if he was successful in rescuing her. Ginny didn't know why, but she was fairly certain that he'd come back with Narcissa Malfoy. That strange certainty, though, didn't diminish the fear Ginny felt for him.

Reina, on the other hand, had been acting as she normally did. She seemed completely nonplussed by the whole idea. The two females had talked a bit, but mostly Reina was upstairs preparing the other half of her room for Narcissa's stay.

Ginny impatiently looked to the clock on the counter. It was half past nine. Already the sky was inky black and a few stars were making their presence known. Ginny and Draco were already past curfew and they would have to be careful about getting back into the castle, but with Harry's Invisibility Cloak to help them, Ginny felt confident that they wouldn't get caught.

The floor creaked and Ginny looked up to see Reina coming into the room. Ginny sighed and sat up, biting her lip. Without a word, Reina sat down across from Ginny. Subconsciously Ginny started to bite her nails and it was then that Reina spoke up.

"If you don't stop biting those things, all you're going to be left with are fleshy nubs," Reina said, gazing at Ginny.

"Oh, right," Ginny said, folding her fingers her lap. "It's just that I'm…" she trailed off when she heard knocking. Instantly both women sat alert and Ginny bolted from her seat and rushed to the entrance door of the store, Reina close behind her.

Ginny's heart beat wildly as she opened the door. For a moment all Ginny saw was the empty street, but then Draco and Narcissa's head appeared in the doorway, followed by the rest of their bodies as they pulled the cloak off of themselves. A tiny smile slowly pulled the corners of Ginny's mouth upward, but she stepped aside as the two Malfoy's walked in.

"Welcome," Reina said brightly. "Let me get you a cup of tea; that might perk you up a bit. Goodness, you're as white as a ghost," exclaimed Reina as she looked at Narcissa. Ginny watched as the former woman went into the kitchen and returned mere seconds later with a cup of tea, which she handed to Narcissa Malfoy. "Sit down, sit down, make yourself at home," Reina said, ushering Narcissa into a chair in the kitchen.

"Thank you," Narcissa said wearily. She sat down in the chair offered her and closed her eyes. Ginny saw the lines around her eyes, betraying her age even though at a distance, Narcissa might look no older than her early twenties; Ginny guessed her to be a little younger than her own mother. The woman had long, white-blonde hair the same color as Draco's, and when Narcissa finally opened her eyes and looked about, Ginny saw that her eyes were light blue.

Ginny looked back and forth between Draco and Narcissa; the resemblance between mother and son was striking. Draco sat down next to Narcissa and Ginny suddenly realized that Draco had never met Reina. Ginny knew she should introduce them, but she was overtaken by a sudden shyness and uncertainty, one she could only attribute to Narcissa's arrival. Malfoys and Weasleys didn't get along, although she and Draco had been friendlier towards each other recently. But Ginny had no idea what to expect from Narcissa. On the few rare occasions that Ginny had seen the woman, Narcissa had been haughty and aloof, but Ginny knew she had then been under the Imperius Curse, which could be the cause of the woman's ego. Now that she was free from the Curse, her attitudes might be different. Ginny hoped they would be.

Forcing herself to be brave, Ginny cleared her throat. "Uh, Draco, this is Reina," Ginny said, motioning between them with her hands. "Reina, this is Draco."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Draco," Reina said, shaking the boy's hand. "I've heard quite a lot about you from Ginny here."

A short, nervous laugh escaped Ginny, but she didn't think anybody heard it. "Nice to meet you too," Draco replied. "This is my mother, Narcissa Malfoy." Both women said hello to each other. "And mother," Draco continued, "this is Ginny Weasley."

Ginny held her breath as Narcissa's head turned. The girl could hardly see anything past the tiredness in Narcissa's face, but she thought she recognized some of the old Narcissa behind those eyes. Perhaps it was just in the way she held her mouth in a straight line, or maybe it was just Ginny's imagination, but she thought she perceived some sort of haughtiness about her. As Ginny's heart fell, Narcissa nodded curtly to her.

"Hello," was all Narcissa said to her.

"Hi," Ginny managed to squeak out; her voice was shaking too much to say anything more.

For about another half hour, Ginny and Draco remained at Reina's. They helped Narcissa get settled in, and to Ginny's slight relief, Narcissa said not a word at the plainness of the room the two women were sharing. For the most part Ginny tried to stay out of the way, and she accomplished that by staying downstairs in the kitchen. Reina joined her after a while as Draco and his mother talked upstairs for a few minutes, and then Draco came downstairs.

"She's just resting right now," Draco said. "I think she'll be fine." He smiled. "She's completely free of the Imperius Curse now, and I think she'll be staying that way." Ginny couldn't resist a smile at the happiness she saw on Draco's face.

"Well then, you see?" Reina said happily. "Everything will be alright. There's no cause for worry from any of us. I have a feeling that Narcissa and I will soon become great friends."

Draco looked at Reina. "Thank you for taking her in like this," he said seriously. "Not – not many people would."

Reina looked at Draco for a moment, and then smiled at Ginny. "Well isn't he a sweet one then."

"I'll come by in a few days to see her again," Draco said to Reina, "but for now, I think Ginny and I have to get back to the castle. If we get caught, Filch'll have our heads."

A few minutes later, Ginny and Draco were silently walking through the almost-empty streets of Hogsmede.

"So how did it go?" Ginny asked, glancing out of the corner of her eyes at Draco.

"Pretty good, I guess," Draco answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "I mean, we didn't get caught, obviously." The ghost of Draco's reminiscent smirk appeared on his face.

"Obviously," Ginny said quietly, looking out into the distance. She could see Hogwarts in the distance and knew soon that they would have to dawn the Invisibility Cloak if they didn't want to be seen. Ginny sighed.

"Is something wrong?" Draco asked.

"No, nothing's wrong," replied Ginny. Draco looked at Ginny as if he didn't believe her, but he didn't question her any further. Ginny herself didn't quite know what was wrong. She was happy that Draco's mother was safe and that he himself was happy, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Narcissa neither approved of or even liked her. An unexpected wave of depression swept over Ginny, and she shuddered at the intensity of it. She had only felt like this once in her life. That one time had been right after her experience with the Chamber of Secrets, but she had gotten over that quickly enough. Ginny didn't know what was bringing this depression on; part of her wanted to fight it and to be happy, but another part of her wanted to embrace the dark curtain of protection it offered and hide away forever. Her longing for that scared her.

"Where's that cloak?" Draco asked as they neared the castle's entrance. Ginny pulled it out and looked back and forth between it and Draco. "Look," Draco said, sensing what Ginny was thinking, "it's either we both get under that thing or we both get caught."

"Fine," Ginny said grumpily, though in truth, her heart was pounding at the thought of being that physically close to Draco. She couldn't even believe that he would suggest them both getting under the cloak. But then, knowing Harry and Ron, boys would do almost anything to avoid a detention.

So Ginny and Draco both got under the Invisibility Cloak. Ginny could feel the heat of his body next to hers as they walked up the castle steps. A sudden memory of Draco picking up Ginny's books after she had viciously been attacked by snowballs flooded her mind. That incident had happened on these exact steps.

The two teens were walking slower than normal because of the cloak, and it felt like a lifetime to Ginny before they were finally inside the castle. They stopped for a moment, torn between which ways to go. The Gryffindor dormitory was up the stairs, but the Slytherin dorms were not. Ginny glanced at Draco and saw him frowning at the stairs

"Well, I'll just risk it from here," Draco whispered. "The cloak has to go with you and you're going up the stairs."

"No," Ginny replied more quickly than she would've liked. "I – I mean," she stammered as Draco raised an eyebrow, "I'll just walk you to your House and then I'll go to mine. That way nobody gets caught."

Ginny bit her tongue as she realized how her suggesting that they stay under the cloak longer together might sound. The situation brought up a world full of ridiculing and joking opportunities for Draco and Ginny braced herself. However, Draco merely nodded and they started off towards the dungeons. Ginny could hardly believe herself for suggesting such a thing and tried to tell herself that she was just being practical in the sense that she didn't want Draco in any trouble.

The walk down to the dungeons was surreal for Ginny and she only realized that they were there when Draco stopped walking, causing Ginny in turn to halt. Ginny saw the door she recognized from going into the Slytherin dorms with Blaise; the memory of what had happened in there still sent shivers down her spine.

Draco turned towards Ginny so that they were facing each other under the cloak; they were so close that they were practically touching each other. Ginny's heartbeat doubled and her legs started to shake. She desperately hoped that Draco didn't notice, though Ginny was sure he would. Ginny couldn't help but notice –and she wondered how she had never noticed before, being the romantic that she was– how perfectly her body would fit in Draco's arms. Immediately after that thought popped into her head, Ginny's eyes widened in horror and her face blushed scarlet. She looked away from Draco in fear of how silly she must look, and she certainly didn't want Draco to figure out what she was thinking.

"Well this is my stop," Draco said, clearly amused. Ginny, if possible, blushed even deeper at the amusement she heard in his voice. She could only imagine what he was thinking at the moment. Ginny tried to say in a haughty voice, "You're bloody right it is," but her throat was so tight with embarrassment and all that escaped her mouth was an indistinguishable squeak. She desperately wanted to get away quickly. This probably ranked in the top five on her list of most embarrassing moments.

"Thanks, Ginny," Draco said, serious once more. Ginny looked up and then flinched as her nose brushed against Draco's chin at her sudden movement. Yep, definitely one of her most embarrassing, awkward moments. However, she forced herself to look him straight in the eye.

Before Ginny could reply, Draco smirked and said as he stepped out from underneath the cloak, "Who knew at least one of you Weasleys could be so sneaky yet so helpful at the same time."

And then Draco disappeared into the Slytherin House, leaving a completely unsettled and startled Ginny standing in the hallway staring after him.

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A/N: Ha, how did you guys like that little bit between Ginny and Draco there at the end? I bet ya'll were thinking and hoping that they would kiss then, but I fooled you. Nah, I'm just kidding. I have a feeling that lots of you know exactly what is going on in the plot of the story, but I can be assured that absolutely nobody is prepared for the huge twist in the story that will be coming up. I surprised even myself with it, and I am pretty happy with it. But back to the Ginny/Draco/whenwilltheyeverkissthing…you will just have to wait for that. Or will it ever happen…? Bwhaha. Review and you shall see.

One more thing, on a more serious side, I know I just moved, and that was the reason for the delay in updating, but there's a chance that I won't be able to update for a while again. I'm saying probably no more than a three week wait, but then again, there might not be that long of a wait. But you know with moving and all, everything is all crazy and there's like no time to do anything but work. As it is at the moment, I'm sitting on a hard lawn chair in a completely empty house with bugs all over the place because the bug man came and sprayed a few days ago and it rained so those two factors scared all the bugs out of hiding and I really hate bugs so its miserable and I have to sleep on the floor and I think that's all the complaining I'll do now. Lol sorry 'bout that. Ok. Now go review. Please.

Lauren