Chapter 12: Bread and Circuses

"Oi Weasley!" Ginny's head snapped around and she stared wide eyed at him. His grin grew and his eyes sparkled. "Got an admirer, eh?" Ginny's face was completely flushed. Lavender, who had been laughing not a moment before, suddenly thrusted her chin out and narrowed her eyes.

"Of course she does you prick. Any guy with half a brain can see what a catch she is. Much too good for you certainly. So why don't you sod off, and go ruin the life of some other girl?" Draco's mirth was gone, and in its place was anger. "Shut it you asinine bint. You couldn't spot a real man if you tried. Watching you run after Weasley last year must have been the most pathetic display I've ever seen. And you didn't even get him in the end." Lavender tensed, clutched at her wand, and began walking over to the Slytherin table. Alarmed, Ginny stood up and hurried over to get between them. Was Lavender mad? What was she planning to do? Hex someone in the middle of the Great Hall during breakfast with all the professors watching?

And to think, she had actually woken up excited for Valentine's Day. It was on a Saturday this year, and it was a Hogsmeade day like no other. Nearly everyone had a date, but even the prospect of having to see couples holding hands and giggling all day hadn't kept her from being excited. In an effort to restore some cheer to the world, Hogsmeade was going all out. There would be bands playing in the street, vendors with stalls selling all sorts of things, street shows performing on corners. Even first and second years were allowed to go.

Part of her knew she should detest it. It was an obvious effort to make them forget about all the horrible things they had endured this year. Being tortured for detention, having friends and family on the run, under arrest, or under suspicion. It was an attempt to make them believe everything was fine under a puppet government. Still, she couldn't help but buy into it. This was going to be the most fun she'd had in ages. And now, she would be the most festively dressed person there, thanks to Draco's gift.

She had been completely taken aback, when having sat down to breakfast, a school owl had soared overhead and dropped a bright red envelope onto her sausages. Dozens of eyes were now on the envelope, and conversation around her stilled. Ginny's anxiety had gone into overdrive. A howler. Had her parents somehow found out about her and Draco? Had she done something that led to her dad's arrest? She had been trying so hard to keep her head down since the dog.

Heart thumping, palms sweating, she ripped it open and tensed. The envelope flew up, folded up into a mouth, puckered for a kiss, and then opened for an explosion of confetti, paper hearts, and glitter. Bright, glittering letters lit up in the air. A message for everyone to read, although no voice accompanied it. It read simply, BE MINE. And then the letters fizzled out of sight. After a moment of stunned silence, her housemates began to talk and laugh. She sat there unmoving, unable to believe what had just happened. He had glitter bombed her. No one would ever believe it had been him. It was too at odds with how people viewed him. But they would know that somebody liked her.

Other girls would know someone was interested in her. That she had gotten a boy's attention on Valentine's Day. It was petty and possibly a little mean, but Ginny felt smug. Let them wonder who liked her. Let them be jealous. There was a group of girls that had been telling her for months now that no one would ever want her. That boys would only see her as used and tainted. That she was nothing but a slag.

Now, standing in the Great Hall between Draco and Lavender, she found herself scrambling for something to say. Something to do. Something that would diffuse the tension, but keep Lavender from realizing this was all a set up. That there was no secret admirer. That Draco had only been trying to make her feel wanted. "Jealous Malfoy? I notice you don't have anything plopping into your breakfast." She hoped her look could convey what she was thinking. That he would pick up on her plea to ignore Lavender and focus on her.

He looked at her blankly at first, but then twisted his face up and sneered. "Oh yes. Be covered in glitter and pathetic little paper hearts? How did you know? Please. I'd rather get hit in the head with a bludger."

"Well feel free to plummet off your broom when that happens. Certainly, all of us would be better off for it." Ginny blinked in shock, and even Draco was speechless. Lavender used the stunned silence as an opportunity to grab Ginny's arm, turn them away, and begin walking back to the Gryffindor table. Draco yelled a threat at their backs about how they'd shortly be taught how to speak to their betters, but Lavender ignored it. Her grip around Ginny's arm was tight enough that Ginny had no option other than to keep pace if she wanted to avoid being dragged across the Hall by the older girl.

Back at the table, people were telling Lavender 'well done' and smiling. Ginny stayed quiet. She had known her friends didn't like Draco. But to tell him that they wished him dead? It seemed cruel and malicious. She knew he didn't want any of them dead. He didn't even want any of them tortured or arrested. Was Lavender Brown actually more full of hate than Draco Malfoy?

She didn't think she was blinded by love. She couldn't only be thinking these things because she cared more and more about him every week. It was the right thing to do, the right thing to say. Ginny steeled herself, and looked up at Lavender with a fierce glare. "That was crossing a line Lavender." The students around her stopped smiling, and looked at her with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. Except Lavender, who puffed out her chest and looked at Ginny defensively. "Crossing a line? Me? He's the one who…you know exactly what he'll be doing after graduation. I'm not the one about to go off and terrorize innocent people."

Ginny spoke in a quiet hiss, loud enough for only the people nearest her to hear. "We're all doing things we don't want to. We're all scared, but hating each other is not the answer. Even in combat, Harry tries to do nothing but disarm death eaters. He'd be horrified at you telling anyone that you wanted them to die." Lavender's face went red. Ginny continued. "If you can't follow Harry's example, at least think of what Dumbledore always told us. About staying unified, about how the best thing to do to fight He Who Must Not Be Named was to trust in each other and work together."

A sense of sadness overtook everyone close enough to have heard her, and then Neville spoke. "Ginny's right. Dumbeldore never turned his back on a student. Not even someone like Malfoy. But isn't that how he got killed? Trusting people he shouldn't have? I get what you're saying Gin, but it's too idealistic. We want different things than people like Malfoy, and there's no getting around that." Ginny wanted to scream at him. Scream at everyone surrounding her. How could they really think this is what 'people like Malfoy' wanted? You Know Who had somehow managed to sniff out the most sadistic witches and wizards in the entire country, and they had become the face of death eaters. There were less than a dozen death eaters that actually seemed to like the violence. As far as Ginny could tell, all the other death eaters preferred not to see it up close.

But saying that would accomplish nothing good. There was no way for her to make people understand without putting Draco in danger. "Fine. You're right. We can't be unified. Still, I don't think we should wish each other dead." Breakfast was a tense affair after that. Once she was done eating, she got up and went to head outside. The carriages to get them to Hogsmeade were scheduled to leave in an hour. Until then, she planned to stay right here, hoping to be left alone.

This particular courtyard had always been her favourite. She sat on the edge of the stone fountain, and watched as the streams of water shot forth. It was cold enough that the water should have frozen overnight, but some enchantment had prevented it. The fountain itself was beautiful. Two water nymphs worked together to hold up a wailing toddler, from whose mouth spewed three streams of water. Having been curious, she had asked Hermione to translate the runes carved into the fountain, and found out the fountain was a tribute to the story of Ailfryd the Gurgler.

The legend was that as a baby, Ailfryd was often left by the edges of the lochs as his father hunted water monsters, and thus overheard the conversations of the water nymphs. Mimicking the sounds, he learned their language. Then one day when he was two or three, he saw his father being attacked by one of the water monsters, and was able to cry for the nymphs' help. Shocked by his ability to speak their language, the nymphs went to save his father, and formed a friendship with Ailfryd. He was the only wizard in recorded history to be allowed into their underwater kingdom. His account of it was still often studied as fact, despite it being centuries old and having a high likelihood of being embellished heavily by Ailfryd.

She wondered if she or her classmates would ever make history like that. Would Neville discover some new way to use a plant? Would it revolutionize how a potion was made? Would he find a cure to some untreatable malady? Would Luna discover a new species one day; prove one of her creatures was actually real? There was so much possibility, so much life to be lived.

And none of it would matter if they were all dead. She knew it was Draco's voice in her head. Knew that all of his talk about surviving and enduring had gotten to her. This wasn't the time to be thinking about futures. It was the time to be thinking about war and death and sacrifice. But she didn't want to. She wanted to be happy. To have fun. There was a moment where Ginny just sat, not thinking about anything. And then she pulled out her wand. When was the last time she had used magic just for fun? Far too long.

She began to charm the flagstones. A half hour later, she was smiling widely as her wand moved the stones around her in a perfect circle. This time last year, she could have levitated the stones, but never would she have managed to keep them in motion without some shaking and clattering back to the ground. Now, they whipped around her creating a cross breeze that caressed her face. If she closed her eyes, she could almost feel like she was flying. Feeling determined and full of confidence, Ginny snapped her eyes open and tried to move the flagstones in increasingly more complicated patterns. She made figure eights, parallel lines, letters of the alphabet, and finally a heart.

She stared at the heart and had the errant thought that she wished Draco was here so she could show him. She wanted to do something. Give him something. She knew it couldn't be big or obvious, but maybe…. The flagstones clattered to the ground. Ginny quickly flew them back into their spots, each nestling right back in amongst its neighbors. All but one. The missing flagstone was one of the smallest in the courtyard. She was able to hold it with one hand as she used her other hand to point her wand at it.

She used a very controlled 'secare' spell to cut a W into the stone. Then, underneath, she made an M so that the bottom of the W touched the top of the M. The final design looked like a diamond with four lines coming out of it. No one who didn't know what to look for would be able to figure it out. Flipping the stone over, Ginny took a deep breath and bit her lip. It took incredible concentration to make sure the tip of her wand remained knife sharp as she cut the letters into the stone. By the time she was done, there was sweat on her brow. But she had written it.

She was trying to think of a way to charm it somehow, make it look nicer, when the clock chimed 10 o'clock. She was out of time. She frowned at it, knowing it didn't look like much quite yet, but it was a good start at least. Charming it to be lightweight, she dropped it into her robe pocket and raced to where the carriages were waiting.

Not particularly eager to be around Lavender so soon after what happened at breakfast, Ginny ended up sharing a carriage with her old dormmates Lizzie and Antigone. Antigone had followed Lizzie's lead and only begun speaking to her again once Lizzie made it clear she had reaccepted Ginny. Ginny could have let this bother her, but honestly, she didn't care enough. They had never been best friends. More like friends of convenience.

Inside the carriage, Antigone sat with her boyfriend on one bench, while Ginny and Lizzie sat across. It had the potential to be an awkward ride, but in fact, Antigone was doing a bang up job of pretending the last few months of ignoring Ginny had never happened. She had launched right into conversation, and Ginny felt herself smiling as the girls went back and forth with each other. Eventually of course, the events of breakfast had to come up, but even that wasn't awkward.

"So you don't have any idea at all who it was?" Ginny shrugged, and Antigone rolled her eyes. "Boys are so thick. How in Merlin's name did he expect anything to happen without signing his name? Idiots, the lot of them."

"Oi! Sitting right here." Smiling at her boyfriend, Antigone grabbed his hand and kissed his cheek. "And while the flowers were lovely, did you sign the card?" She batted her eyes innocently, smile still in place, as the girls watched him go red. "And just who else would they be from?"

Antigone let go of his hand and waved it dramatically through the air. "Oh you know, one of my many admirers. Did I tell you about that fifth year who was sweet enough to let me borrow his cloak? He saw me headed out to Herbology without one. I was just lamenting the cold, when he appeared out of nowhere, offering it to me like a perfect gentleman." Ginny suppressed her laughter at the look on Titus' face.

Her mind drifted as Antigone and Titus continued to talk, her thoughts straying to her own relationship. What if another boy really had been interested in her? Given her a gift this morning? What would Draco's reaction have been? Her heart beat faster as she imagined multiple scenarios. Draco storming over and burning the envelope. Draco yanking her up and kissing her, declaring to the Hall that he was the only man she needed. Him taking her to an empty classroom and fucking her possessively, reminding her that she was his.

She wished suddenly that she was in a carriage alone. That she could pull out her flagstone and keep working on it. "Oh we're here!" Ginny's head lifted, and her ears perked up. The sounds of the other carriages were getting louder, as were the noises of Hogsmeade. Already, Ginny could hear laughter, happiness, and cheer. No one spoke as they all waited in anticipation for the threstals to halt. The promise of a festival was almost too good to be true. She worked to temper her excitement, not quite trusting that the wizarding world would be able to have a simple day of fun. And then the carriage ground to a stop, the door popping open.

Stepping out of the carriage, Ginny couldn't help but gasp. The main street of Hogsmeade was already full of people milling about, looking at the stalls set up that were selling everything from cider to jewelry. Looking up, she saw a group of witches that were diving through levitating hoops of fire. A group of small children were off to her left, clustered around a puppet show. Music wafted through the air, though the source wasn't visible. And right in front of her face was a big, pink bubble. Ginny watched as a carriage full of first years burst open, shrieks of delight quickly following.

"Oh this is brilliant! Come on Ginny! Don't just stand there! Let's go!" Laughing, Ginny allowed herself to be pulled into the crowd by Lizzie. They spent nearly an hour looking at stalls and talking to the vendors. Half a dozen of them had been more than happy to talk, recognizing Ginny as Arthur's girl or the sister of one of her older brothers. They had all kept the conversation light, aware that death eaters were likely in the crowd. And yet, it was nice to be reminded that through her family, she was well connected with the wider wizarding world.

But being carefree could never last long. They were outside of Honeydukes, sipping steaming mugs of Maple Mead, when Ginny found herself frozen in place. Her muscles had gone taut, her breathing had stopped, and she hoped desperately to be anywhere else. "Enjoying yourselves ladies?" Ginny managed a small jerk of her head, but otherwise didn't move. She recognized him. Travers. He wasn't dressed as a deatheater. In fact, he looked almost pleasant. He was wearing Ministry robes and had on thick glasses, a huge smile adorning his face. Ginny watched Lizzie smile back and excitedly tell him that this had been the best Hogsmeade trip ever. He nodded, confided that the Minister was thinking of something special for May Day as well, and then left them to check in with other students.

"Did you hear that Gin? A May Day celebration! Oh, I wonder what they'll do? A maypole obviously. Oh! What if they do the traditional dancing? My grandmum always wanted me to learn, but my parents never quite…Ginny? Are you alright?" She didn't know why that particular interaction had hit her so hard. But it had.

She knew from things she had overheard that Travers was a deatheater. That he was working to carry out his Lord's plans. But he was also here. In public. Working as a Ministry official and making sure they were having fun. He had even smiled at them for Merlin's sake! The deatheaters weren't working to kill them all. She had known that, but this was the first time she had really experienced it outside of school. They weren't harmless. They were working to kill members of the Order, meaning her family and friends. They were changing laws to persecute muggleborns. But for most of the wizarding population, they weren't a threat. They were being left alone.

As she looked around the festival, it was as if she was seeing it with new eyes. How many of these people didn't know that the Minister was imperiused? How many of them thought You Know Who and the death eaters were still underground? How many of them were pretending that all the changes and new laws meant nothing important? "Lizzie, that was a death eater." She watched as the other girl's smile disappeared. "What?"

Ginny swallowed and looked around. "Not here. Keep talking about Beltane. Where do you think the bonfire will be?" Lizzie hesitated, and then slowly began talking again. Ginny paid hardly any attention. Her thoughts were a whirl. Up ahead, a play was being put on. The actors were in the middle of the street, a huge crowd of spectators circled around. A sonorous charm worked to make the actors' voices carry easily, and Ginny recognized it as the story of Darius the Doomed.

It was a common story, all about a wizard who married a muggle. At first, their marriage is happy and then she falls ill. Darius insists that she rests, and takes care of the housework and cooking for her. Stunned by the ease in which he accomplishes everything, she becomes frequently tired, ill, and even just lazy, knowing he will do all her work for her without issue. Magic or not, doing all the work wears on Darius, and he demands she help more. She refuses, saying there is no point to her wasting her energy on something when he can just use magic. He ends up overwhelmed, trying to maintain everything by himself. In the version her mother had always told her, the story ends when he goes out to farm, leaving multiple charms going on inside. The charm that was washing clothes speeds up and ends up leaving the clothes in tatters. The charm set to chop vegetables begins to go amuck, chopping the cutting board, the floor, the chair legs, and anything else it can find. The charm to wash the dishes causes the sink to overflow and the dishes to slide off the counter and shatter on the floor. Appalled at the disaster, the wife realizes magic isn't always the answer, and agrees to start helping again. The theme of the story is to understand that magic takes work as well.

Ginny watched with alarm though, as the kitchen disaster scene cleared, and the wife stomped up to the husband angrily. "You old dung bat! Look what you did! With magic, you should be able to fix all our problems!" The man playing Darius looked down and shuffled his feet. "But dear, I told you this would happen. If only…" The woman pointed a finger at him and squinted meanly. "Fix it now or I'll tell all the neighbors of your magic." He looked up in fright, and then fell to his knees. "Please! I love you!" She sneered and crossed her arms. "If you loved me, you would use your magic to get us a manor and a vault of gold. You would create beautiful dresses and jewels for me to wear." Ginny noticed the children in the crowd were all booing the woman, and felt uneasy.

"I told you, I can't. Magic doesn't.." "Oh poo! Magic can do whatever you want it to! You're only being mean and selfish. Give me the life I deserve! Give it now!" The play continued with Darius tearfully trying to explain that magic didn't work that way, but his wife would hear none of it. Eventually, she lost her temper, and stormed out, shouting that he had brought his fate upon himself. The play ended with the narrator stepping on stage, lamenting that the villagers had run Darius out of town, never to be heard from again. Then, he reminded them all that the story was a timeless tale, and to be ever vigilant against a muggle discovering their magic.

Ginny could only stare. They had changed the theme. Changed it so the lesson was that muggles would only want to use you for your magic, threatening you if you didn't give them all they desired. It had been done well. It had a ring of truth to it. The children had eaten it up, seeing the muggle wife as a terrible villain and Darius as an idiot for ever trusting her. The worst part? There was nothing in the play that she could point to and say it couldn't happen.

She knew halfbloods that had a muggle parent. By all accounts, their parents were wonderful people and very much in love. But there were also selfish, horrible people in the world. And the possibility that one of those people might be a muggle who would try and use magic for their own gain was not inconceivable. You did have to be vigilant. Of course you couldn't let just any muggle know about magic. You had to get to know them, trust them, be sure they were a good person. Most of the stories she had heard, the witch or wizard hadn't told their spouse about magic until they were married or had kids.

She scanned the crowd, and managed to catch a glimpse of him. Telling Lizzie she had to go, Ginny shoved her way through the crowd. On the corner, Seamus was sitting, his face a bright red. Ginny ignored Neville, and crouched down to be eye level with him. "You alright?" Seamus looked up, and clenched his fists. "It's not like that. Da had a row with mum one night 'bout why she couldna' just vanish the rubbish, but they were kissin' an hour later." Ginny nodded, and worked to keep her own curiosity at bay. How did it work then? Was there really no jealousy over one of them being able to do magic? How had the two cultures melded? Did Seamus get pepper up potion when sick, or some sort of muggle medicine? Did the family floo places, or did they all pile into a car? She knew it would be rude to ask. But the truth was she couldn't imagine marrying a muggle. When she imagined her future family, it was very much magical.

"Aw, poor Finnegan. Play hit a little too close to home for you?" Ginny's head snapped up to see that Pansy Parkinson and Tracey Davis were standing before them. Before she even had a moment to react, Seamus had jumped up, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Fuck off Parkinson." Ginny's hand was in her pocket, clutched around her wand, ready to do battle. But strangely, Seamus was still wandless and seemed in no rush to duel.

Instead, he slid his gaze over to Tracey. "What did you think Davis?" Tracey furrowed her brow in confusion for a moment, and then she sneered. "I think they depicted it wonderfully. Any witch or wizard stupid enough to marry a muggle deserves a life of misery. If I were you with a muggle for a father, I'd have run from home ages ago."

He smiled at her, but it was a very unsettling smile. All Ginny could think of was a predator's smile. "I'm the one who should denounce my parents? Run from home? That's rich. From what I've heard, domestic abuse is just another day at home sweet home. Raging temper your dad has, eh?" Tracey had gone stiff and pale. Seamus only seemed more invigorated by her reaction. "Can't blame your dad really. Stuck with an imbiber for a wife." Ginny's eyes widened and she barely kept from gasping. An imbiber was one of those desperately ragged people, huddled under some shabby cloak in Kncokturn Alley, begging for the next bit of potion they'd become addicted to. Pansy's eyes narrowed into slits as she stepped in front of Tracey who looked near tears. "Watch your mouth! We'll see what your mum does when they start obliviating the muggles. Your dad won't remember you or your pathetic mum."

"Pansy, that law is nothing but a rumour at the moment. And absolutely no one would thank you for working people up over it." Draco's voice cut through, deep and authoritative. Ginny jerked her head around at the voice, not having noticed him come over. As always, his mere presence seemed to excite her, and she had to forcibly keep herself from being drawn to him. From staring at him. There were more important things afoot. "But Draco, he…"

"I said drop it. Whatever he did or said is not worth it. Now keep your mouth shut and go. You're attracting attention." As one, they all seemed to become aware of the three Ministry officials watching them. The officials looked grim and ready for action. Their group was disturbing the peace; poking a hole in the happy façade the Ministry wanted to maintain. Pansy suddenly looped her arm through Tracey's and smiled. And then as cheerfully as possible, she looked Seamus in the face and said "With any luck, you'll be fatherless by summer. If not, trust that I will be heavily advocating for obliviating any muggle that knows of us. Come on Trace." And then they were off, leaving Neville, Seamus and Ginny with Draco and Theodore Nott.

To everyone's shock, it was Theo who spoke next. "Your mum's a Healer then?" Seamus flushed at the question, and Ginny was relieved to see that he felt at least a bit embarrassed about what he had said to Tracey. "My aunt is." Nott nodded, and made no comment. He didn't have to. Now that the heat of the moment had passed, Seamus was pouring out words, needing to explain. "I didn't mean to say all that. It's just absolute bullocks that she'd stand there judging my parents when it's hers that are so bloody awful! D'you know her mum's been treated for overdosing over a dozen times? Always comes in bruised too, so my aunt says. Layered with glamour charms."

No one spoke as Seamus continued, and eventually his voice petered out into nothing. He stared at them all, and then Draco spoke. "Look, I get it Finnigan. Go for the family, take the cheap shot. It's fine. It's what I would have done. Come on Theo. Heard they're selling firewhiskey somewhere around here." Ginny couldn't help but feel the sting of disappointment as the Slytherins left. He hadn't even acknowledged her. She might as well not even have been there.

Seamus stood there, gaping like a fish, and then cursed up a storm. Neville and Ginny shared an alarmed look, but Seamus didn't even notice. Eventually, he calmed down enough to speak coherently. "It's what I would have done. Absolute prick. Now I got no bloody choice. A proper apology. Would rather face off with a giant than apologize to her. Where do you think they went to then?" The last bit was directed at them, and Ginny soon found herself roped into searching for Tracey Davis.

Fifteen long minutes later, she caught a glimpse of Seamus outside of the Hogs' Head, sheepishly talking to Tracey. Horribly annoyed at having wasted her time in a futile search, Ginny went off to find Lizzie and enjoy the rest of the day. For the most part, it worked. They had a late lunch, walked around, listened to the live music, and blew pink bubbles. Ginny could almost ignore the fact that seeing all the couples and hearing all the love songs wasn't making her chest ache with want.

As dusk fell, the carriages carried them back to the Castle where Ginny had a quiet dinner and a late night in her room, working on her flagstone. At the moment, the flagstone seemed like her only comfort in the world. She knew it was a dramatic thought. That her mind was unstable. But the flagstone felt so solid, so real, when nothing else did.

It felt as if her whole life was an illusion at the moment. As much as she had enjoyed the day, she had also hated it. People were dying, being tortured. Luna was being held prisoner. And the world seemed intent on ignoring it. Life went on. She could be angry at them for not taking a stand, for being scared, except she was too. And the only way she could think to be happy in this world, this world of Him being in charge, was to retreat to the countryside and isolate herself. She could create her own paradise out there. Have a life of peace, happiness, and safety.

Staring at her flagstone, she drew comfort from what she saw. The design on the front now shimmered a sparkling green. Around the edges, she had managed to chisel runes. One for family. One for peace. One for love. One for protection. The runes glowed gold, and she felt intensely bound to them. They were promises to herself. Promises that her life would have these things. That she was making the right choice. She went to sleep that night, clutching the flagstone to herself.

"Gin, it's….I love it. It's brilliant." Ginny's entire face was one big grin. Draco was sitting cross legged on her bed, flipping the flagstone back over and rereading it. For Our Future. It was what she had carved into the back, and he had his own small grin on as he read over it again.

"I was thinking one day, maybe, it could be put in our garden or something." He looked up, hearing the nervousness in her voice, and placed the flagstone carefully onto the end table. Her heart beat erratically as he grabbed her, yanking her into his lap. "Whatever you want. But now it's my turn to show off. Close your eyes." Ginny did so without hesitation, trusting him completely.

She had no idea what he was planning to do. They were both still fully dressed, not counting shoes, so it wouldn't be sex related. He had already come down here with a box of assorted sweets, so she didn't think it'd be another gift. She was wrong. It was sexual. He was taking off her shirt, and she sighed at the feel of his fingers. She knew what would come next. He would remove her bra and then tease her nipples. Slow and agonizing, but worth the reward. But to her shock, her bra remained on and his fingers disappeared. Instead, something totally unexpected happened.

Her eyes flew open at the feeling of cool metal sliding around her upper arm. His eyes snapped to hers. "It'll come off only for you. If someone tries to force it off, it will burn them." She looked down at her arm and could only stare. Encircling her upper arm was a thin but wide band of silver, forged into a complex pattern of runes and designs. Was it some form of jewelry?

"It's an arm band. Not the most fashionable I know, but it's what the Vikings used to wear. It's more than a few centuries old at this point, but the magic is still potent. My mother gave it to me, an old family heirloom, but I want you to have it. If you're ever in danger, it will heat up to let you know. Not the about to get detention type of danger. More like the someone is looking to kill you type."

"Is it dark magic?" She watched his brow furrow and then he shook his head. "I don't think so, no. I mean, it's protection magic, isn't it?" Ginny took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. "What you said means it can read people's intentions. Get into their heads. I'm not, I'm not so sure I'm comfortable with that." She knew he was beginning to get angry. Offended. No doubt he had expected her to think it sweet. And she did appreciate the sentiment. Wanting to protect her and all. But she couldn't stand magic that messed with anyone's minds. Not after Tom. Not after that horrible diary.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley, you are wearing that armband, and it is not up for discussion." She looked at him in shock, taking note of his serious expression, and something swooped through her. In that moment, he wasn't a teenager. He was a man. A future husband and father who fully expected to be obeyed as master of his household. She could have been intimidated, but really, she was just turned on. "Alright." They stared at each other for a long moment, and then they were snogging. Ginny's arms were thrown around his neck and his were securely on her hips, holding her steady in his lap.

Pulling back, Ginny traced his jawline while taking in his features. She wondered what their child would look like. "What is it?" Ginny knew she didn't have to say it. That she could simply say nothing and they could go back to snogging. But her entire body felt light and happy, and her confidence about their relationship was at an all time high. And as sure as she was about what he felt for her, she wanted to hear it. Wanted the verbal confirmation.

"Just, who would have ever thought it? That such a spoiled brat would grow into the man I've fallen in love with." She watched him blink, digest what she said, and then smile back. A wave of relief went through her. "And who would have thought the scrappy little pauper would become the witch I love." Her entire face lit up and a wave of energy rushed through her. "Really? You do?" His kissed her then. A long, deep kiss, and then he locked gazes with her. "Yes. I do."