Chapter 24: Hate is a strong word.

Ginny was determined to be an adult and although common sense dictated that she go and speak to Draco and clear everything up she didn't think she was ready for that just yet. So on Thursday after practice instead of going home she apparated outside of the Burrow intent on ending all of the lies.

Ginny had always been close to her mother when she had been growing up, they'd had to be as they were the only women in a house full of men, but when Ginny had gone off to Hogwarts things had begun to change. It hadn't helped that she had run off right after her graduation with Harry against her mother's wishes. What was worse was that they'd returned broken up, effectively ruining all chances of making Harry an official part of the family. Of course it didn't help that she'd then turned down the Ministry position her father had found her and gone off to work with Fred.

Ginny took a deep breath as she opened the kitchen door and walked in not surprised to see her mother sitting at the kitchen table drinking tea and listening to a soap on the Wireless. Her mother looked up and set down the cup.

"Is everything all right, Ginny?" She asked standing up and running to Ginny.

"Mum, I'm fine." Ginny reassured her as she was pushed into a chair.

"Then why are you here?" Her mother asked as she poured a cup of tea for her. Ginny was hurt that things had gotten so bad that her mother only expected her when things went wrong. "Are you having problems with Brian?"

"Mum, Brian and I broke up more than two months ago. I thought you knew." Ginny said shocked and vaguely remembered shrugging off a question about him on Sunday.

"Oh," her mother said, hurt flashing across her face briefly.

"I have been dating someone else for the last two months," Ginny said slowly.

"Oh?"

Ginny was really starting to get annoyed by her mother's monosyllabic answers no wonder they'd drifted apart, "Yes, I've been seeing Draco Malfoy."

"What?" Her mother stood her face red, Ginny smiled happy to have finally gotten a reaction out of her. "Why would you do that to us! After what that family has done to us what that man has done to your father, to you!"

"What man? Because if you're referring to Lucius Malfoy, Draco is not him! HE has done nothing wrong!"

"He poisoned Ron!"

"Not on purpose!"

"Of course not, because he was trying to kill Albus Dumbledore!"

"But he didn't! Harry himself told us how the minute Dumbledore told him there was a way of saving his family he lowered his wand. He did what he had to do to protect his family, the same as any of us would do!"

"We would never murder anyone!"

Ginny ignored that comment and continued, "Besides Lucius didn't know that Tom Riddle would try to kill me."

"I suppose your dear Draco told you this?"

"Yes, and I believe him." Ginny said confidently although inside she felt terribly guilty because the truth was she hadn't believed him but was now determined to put aside all doubts and trust him as he'd been able to trust her, until she'd snooped through his things and personal thoughts that is.

"Get out," her mother said quietly.

"What! You can't kick me out!"

"Why not?" Her mother asked raising an eyebrow.

"I'm your daughter!" Ginny exclaimed upset, she'd never kick any of the boys out of the house, even the twins.

"Are you now? You haven't acted like my daughter for the past twelve years, ever since that diary. It changed you and now you are dating a Death Eater"

"Draco's not a Death Eater and this has nothing to do with the diary and it didn't change me, not the way you mean, it just opened my eyes to the reality of the world, that no one, no matter how good is safe from evil people."

"I thought you didn't blame Lucius Malfoy for that?" Her mother said coldly.

"I was speaking of Tom Riddle." Ginny said and stood up, "I think I will go now, I see that I made a mistake by coming here." She said and walked out of the kitchen she stood outside for a few minutes completely at a loss as to what she should do now that things hadn't gone how she'd expected. She heard her mother crying inside and fought down the guilt that began to gnaw her stomach and she apparated away.

Ginny sat on the lawn chair and wondered whether she ought to go inside or not, I really should just go home.

"How long have you been out there?" Ron asked her walking outside.

"I don't know, a few minutes?" She answered.

"Why?" He leaned against the chair across from hers.

"I was wondering whether or not I should talk to Hermione," she said, "is she home?"

"Where else would she be?" Ron asked leading her into the house. "She's upstairs in the baby's room, pretending to be organizing." He grabbed a plate with a sandwich and a cup. "Do you want anything?"

"Nah, what do you mean pretending?" Ginny asked following him upstairs.

"She's working, besides I don't know what else she's going to organize. That room's been ready for weeks, hell, she's probably told the kid the exact time it's supposed to show up." Ron waved his cup down the hall towards the baby room but Ginny continued to follow him into the T.V. room and threw herself on top of the old sofa.

Ron laughed at the T.V. and Ginny looked up to see a commercial for a cleaning liquid to be used in dishwashers, "what are you watching anyway?"

"Commercials, the things these Muggles come up with is hilarious," Ron changed the channel as the programme began; the same commercial began to play, "they always show the same ones, when are they going to make new ones?" He changed the channel a few times until he found one he liked.

"I've been meaning to ask you, what ever made you look at Muggle medical books the other day?"

"Jane, I was telling her about my patient, the Auror, and she said it sounded very much like a Muggle disease so I took her advice and looked it up in a few books and it was the same. Although it didn't help me find a cure, I was able to come up with a temporary solution. What really helped were Snape's papers much as I hate to admit it. So now the whole thing is up to the Potions Department since you know I'm rubbish at potions."

"What Auror?" Ginny asked annoyed at Ron's attitudes about Snape, it had always bothered her how everyone in her family still seemed to hate him even though if it weren't for him they'd never have won the war.

"Ginny, you really have been busy with your boyfriend haven't you?"

"I don't want to talk about him," she said seriously, her temper flaring.

"What, did the git finally show his true colors?" He said with obvious glee.

"No, I did." She said quietly.

"What happened?" He asked putting his plate down on the small table next to sofa and leaning towards her.

"I've ruined everything, this whole time he's been wonderful and I've been holding him at arm's length and I looked in his pensieve and I made Mum cry today." She wailed throwing herself into his arms.

"Ron! Will you lower that- Ginny! What's wrong?" Hermione said shuffling into the room.

"I'm a horrible person," Ginny said pulling away from Ron who got up and made Hermione sit down.

"No, you're not." Hermione said as Ron picked up his half eaten sandwich and cup from the table. "What happened?"

"On Monday, I went to his office to break up with him, but he wasn't there so I looked in his pensieve," Ginny said.

"You what? Ginevra Weasley, that was unconscionable!"

"I didn't set out to do it! It was just there, I couldn't help myself, the thing is everything was just like he'd said, and I felt terrible and then he was there, he saw me and I-I"

"You attacked him, what did you say?" Hermione asked frowning.

"I called him a liar." Then rushing to prove that she'd been right to do so she added, "he'd told me he didn't sell Dark Arts products but on his desk were papers that said he did, in other countries. He said he'd meant in England, that the things he sells are perfectly legal where he sells them."

"Ginny, you have to understand he's a business man, all business men are do those things," Hermione said gently.

"I know! I'm not stupid, it's just at the time I wasn't thinking and then I said he was just being a Slytherin saying one thing and meaning another and he got angry and told me to grow up." She looked at Hermione who looked like she agreed with Draco's assessment. "I stomped out of the room, but I got home and I-I sent in the application."

"Finally! How long have I been at you to send that in? No! 'I like doing research for Fred, I like filing papers, I want to be a trophy wife.' Honestly!" Hermione huffed "and all he has to do is tell you to grow up!"

"It wasn't that, he said other things!"

"So that's why you were crying that doesn't sound too bad, just go and apologize."

"No, I was crying because I'd made Mum cry, she hates Draco and me too!"

"She doesn't hate you she was just shocked," Hermione put her arm around Ginny correctly surmising the nature of her conversation with Molly, "and she doesn't hate Draco!"

"Yes she does, and so do you and so does everyone!" Ginny started crying again noticing how Hermione didn't tell her she was wrong.

A/N: Thurs. May 19, 2004. Here we are, didn't make you wait too long this time did I? The next chapter will be up as soon as I can sit down and type it up.