A/N: Thank you so much to reviewers! I love you all. Late-January. Ginny is forced into blackmail, and she tells someone a secret. I'm sorry it took me so long to update!! I'M SO ASHAMED!! It took me twenty-six chapters to notice a grammar error in my disclaimer!! ARGH!

Disclaimer: I am not lucky enough to be as smart enough as to invent these characters myself. They are not mine. Too bad. –pout-

The Stone Speaks

Chapter Twenty-Six: Mysterious Stranger

GINNY

"Yes, Minerva, I understand that she is unwell and should be treated – the fact remains that she was not here last evening, and in the morning she was suddenly here, wounded, but already being Healed to a standard nearly equal to myself!"

Ginny woke to Madam Pomfrey's fierce whispering, and, though she was wide awake, pretended to be asleep so as to hear this conversation. She rolled over so that they wouldn't be able to see that her eyes were open.

Professor McGonagall's voice spoke next. "Wake her, and question her as to what happened," she demanded. There was a shuffling of feet, and then someone roughly shook Ginny's shoulder. She made a big show out of squinting, stretching and yawning widely, and staring, looking confused, at Madam Pomfrey.

"What happened?" Professor McGonagall asked, quite fiercely. "Why are you here?"

Ginny blinked. "I – I don't know," she lied, "I'm really sorry. I left the Gryffindor tower and I was wandering around after hours. I learnt my lesson, though, when something jumped out at me. I think it was a suit of armour, thinking that I was an intruder. Anyway, I only remember falling... and then being carried here and treated by a mysterious person."

Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey were staring at her, and then exchanged a dubious look.

"Er – I think I passed out," Ginny added lamely, "and I'm sorry that I sneaked out of the Gryffindor tower after hours. I won't do it again."

Professor McGonagall heaved a sigh. "Well, we really need to thank that mysterious man. Those were very serious injuries, Ms. Weasley; had he not found you… you probably would not be here now," she said solemnly. She surveyed Ginny through her glasses, and then said, "Madam Pomfrey has given you leave. You are fit to go. And if you should see your," McGonagall coughed, "knight in shining armour," McGonagall pushed her glasses further up her long nose, "then do not fail to tell me what house he was in, so that I may award him points."

Ginny nodded eagerly, and swung out of the bed. A spasm of pain shot through her side, but she bit back a yelp, and hobbled clumsily towards the door. Instantly, she was bombarded by a crowd of people all shouting and jostling her.

"Ginny, Ginny -" Luna said urgently, trying to push through the mass of people, flailing for her friend's attention.

"Ohmigod, Ginny, I was so scared! We just got woken up by Professor McGonagall because you'd been found in the Hospital Wing without being addressed there," Hermione babbled, "and so we rushed right up, but Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let us in because she said it was private. What did you do?"

Ron started shaking Ginny. "Bloody hell! Never freak me out like that again!" he shouted. "I was really worried! I nearly owled mum, for heaven's sake, I was so terrified that you were dying or something! Don't do that!"

Harry wrapped his arms around Ginny, and, shockingly, tried to kiss her. She didn't know why, but she jolted away, out of his hold, and staggered into Luna. "What the -" Harry said, bewildered. "One day she's demanding kiss me, and the next she's rejecting me!"

"You're a big boy, Harry, get over it," Ginny snapped, and let Luna drag her away. "Hey, Lu, what's up?"

"Zabini knows," Luna said, getting straight to the point. Her usually-dreamy grey eyes were worried and highly distressed. "He knows about you and Malfoy going to the Forbidden Forest."

"I – what – but – how do you know about that – how does he know?" Ginny stammered, totally confused.

Luna shook her head, her two ash-blonde plaits flying over her shoulders. "It doesn't matter right now," she said, "the fact is, that Zabini that if he told everyone, you'd be totally screwed," she began to count off her fingers, "you'd probably be expelled for going into the Forest, you'd be dumped by Harry for going somewhere with Malfoy, Ron would kill you, Hermione would refuse to talk to you, and the Slytherins would never let you live this down."

Ginny slapped her hand to her forehead. "Oh no," she moaned, "this is all my fault." Then, realization: "Zabini isn't one to deliberately torture people just for the fun of it. What does he want?"

Luna grimaced. "Fifty Galleons."

All of the breath rushed from Ginny's lungs. "But – I don't have fifty Galleons!" she hissed. "What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

Luna sighed. "I don't know. I can give you ten Galleons, but you'll have to scrape up the other fourty yourself – sorry. Does Draco have any money to lend you?" she asked.

Ginny nodded nervously. "Probably. I dunno if he'll let me have it, though," she replied.

They both fell into a contemplating silence; Luna looked up. "Ginny, I want to tell you that Harry tried to kiss me," she said unblushingly. Ginny stared up at one of her best friends, astonished. Luna continued, "I'm sorry. I didn't let him. I wanted to tell you first, seeing as he is your boyfriend. Not like Mione. I thought that was quite mean, and I told her. She put Harry back in his place after I put her through a good talking-to."

Ginny felt a rush of compassion towards Luna. "Really?" she said softly.

Luna smiled. "I may like to dream, Ginevra, but I'm not stupid," she said bluntly, and Ginny felt ashamed of all of the times she had doubted Luna's intelligence.

Ginny looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. Luna's arm slid around Ginny's hunched shoulders, gave the redhead a quick hug, and then scurried away, muttering something about being late for her meeting with the centaurs.

Harry came up behind Ginny and folded his arms around her bandaged waist. "Hey, beautiful," he whispered in her ear, the edge of his glasses nudging her head. He kissed her cheek, his breath tickling her neck and shifting her hair across her shoulders.

"Get a room!" yelled Ron, while Hermione gave him a disapproving look, before having a heated conversation in whispers. Ginny heard, we're supposed to encourage him, and get him off my sister. She rolled her eyes (luckily Harry didn't see), and, feeling deeply as though she was betraying someone, gave him a quick kiss before pulling from his hold and moving away.

"Gin, where're you going?" Harry asked, looking half-disappointed and half-relieved.

"Er," Ginny said, racking her brain for something to say. "To find Draco Malfoy so that I can borrow forty Galleons from him to pay Blaise Zabini into not telling you that I frequently sneak out with your worst enemy?" Probably wouldn't work. "Er… I have to go and get something," she said, knowing that it was the worst excuse she'd ever come up with.

Harry frowned, evidently seeing through her lie. "Can I come?" he asked, smiling broadly at her, green eyes twinkling merrily.

"Um. No," said Ginny, and, seeing his face fall, added quickly, "it's – it's to do with your present. For… Valentine's Day. You don't want to spoil your romantic gift, do you?" Ohh yeah. One-nil to Ginny. Well done, brain.

"Oh." Harry looked taken-aback. "Bit early, don't you think?"

"Would you rather I was late?" Ginny teased; Harry shook his head with a laugh, and let her go. She headed towards the dungeons, hoping to be able to sneak into the Slytherin common room and find Draco. As she stepped into the cold labyrinth of the underground of Hogwarts, her fingers found the necklace that now never left her throat, and, invisible, she tiptoed to the bust of Salazar Slytherin.

"Potion's breath," whispered Ginny – Draco had told her the Slytherin password, and she had told him the Gryffindor, on strict promises that they wouldn't use this knowledge to attack either house in the night – and crept in.

Blaise Zabini, the arrogant idiot himself, was slouched on the sofa, and looked up irritably as the wall swung open to reveal that no-one was standing there. "Oi!" he shouted, "someone shut the door."

Before anyone could bump into someone (meaning Ginny) who could not be seen, she hurried through the common room, and saw a tall, lean boy bent over a roll of parchment, platinum-blonde hair swinging into his pale face. Ginny smiled, and crouched beside him; she picked up a quill, dipped it in ink, drew a new parchment, and wrote hello on it.

Draco's attention was all fixed on the small, neat writing. Then, underneath that, the words appeared:

Guess who? You should have a pretty good idea – and if you don't, then you truly are thick. Go into the corridor. G x

Draco stood, sweeping his things into his bag, and then slung it over his shoulder and left the common room. Once he was sure that no-one was around who could hear him, he said with a weary smile, "Okay, where are you?"

Ginny reached up for the amulet and shimmered into view beside Draco. "Boo," she said, and, cutting straight to the point, finished, "I need forty Galleons."

Draco gaped at her. "Er, why?" he asked, looking as though he had been Confunded several times.

"Your dear friend, Blaise Zabini, knows about our little night-time venture, and is demanding fifty Galleons not to tell all of Hogwarts and get us expelled," Ginny said dryly.

Draco's 'Confunded' look fell about three times heavier on his face. "But – what?" he spluttered, glaring. "I'll kill that stupid little asshole, I swear -"

"No!" Ginny interrupted sharply. "Don't give him any more reason to tell everyone. Just… please help me out here. I would pay for it myself but… I can't." Ginny felt ashamed and bitter about her family's poorness, and she glanced floor-wards before looking up into Draco's blue eyes. Peculiarly, a smirk was built heavily upon his lips. "What?" Ginny asked, suspicious.

"Sure," drawled Draco, inspecting his fingers casually, his smirk growing in size, "on one condition."

Ginny's heart sank with dread. Oh, great, what the hell could Draco Rich Boy Malfoy possibly want with the Poor Ugly Weasley Brat? This won't be good. "Yes?" she said, fighting to stay calm, though her mind was pounding with images of having to do Draco's homework or even having to kiss him…

"Remember something about what you want to be when you're older? Something that you had to show me?" Draco cocked one eyebrow. "Go on."

Ginny let out a breath that she hadn't known that she was holding, and rolled back her head with relief. "Er," she said, "sure." She started off towards the dungeon steps, beckoning for Draco to follow. They marched up many sets of stairs, winding through passageways that Ginny could tell that Draco was struggling to memorize. Finally, she stopped in front of a withered old door with the words BROOM CUPBOARD emblazoned upon it.

"You can't tell anyone," Ginny said, her expression suddenly very serious, as her mind shrieked, Ginny, what are you doing? This is your big secret, you can't just tell someone! "If you tell a soul, I swear, you will end up on the receiving end of a very unpleasant Bat-Bogey Hex."

Draco nodded sincerely. "You have my word," he said softly, and stepped back to let Ginny do her thing.

"Well, you know how the paintings in Hogwarts all move? Someone has to paint them, and charm them to life… and I just thought, you know…" Ginny trailed off, leaving Draco to conclude the left; she looked up and down the ridiculously narrow walkaway, and then whispered, "Horus incaltrium." The door shuddered in its frame, and then its door-handle twisted into the shape of a bird in mid-flight. Ginny pushed it open, and wordlessly sent a globe of light from her wand to the chandeliers, setting each miniscule candle aflame.

She stepped out of the doorway so that Draco could view her studio properly. Paintings. Paintings on the walls, stacked on the floor, lined up in shabby cupboards. They were mostly of Ginny (she had no-one to pose for her without having to tell them why) or of pictures of her friends.

There was Luna gazing dreamily into space; Hermione bent over a book; Harry laughing about something; Harry looking sullen; Hermione smiling cutely beside Ron; Ron, Harry and Hermione all with their arms casually slung around each others' shoulders, grinning; Pippa Tonks looking embarrassed about something; Ginny, hand in hand with Harry. Watching Draco's facial expressions as his gaze drifted across each picture – something unreadable crossed his eyes as he saw the last one of Ginny and Harry.

"Well… what do you think?" Ginny asked nervously.

Draco seemed stunned. "It's… it's incredible," he said honestly. "What's through there?" he pointed towards another door, with Ginny Weasley – do not enter painted on it in crude orange paint.

"Nothing!" Ginny said hastily, leaping sideways to block Draco's path. "Nothing, I swear, you don't want to go in there, it's just a cupboard."

"Just a cupboard, eh?" Draco smirked, "then let me see." He tried to side-step around her, but Ginny shuffled left, then right, then left again, to get in his way.

"No."

"Aw, please?" Draco pulled a puppy-dog face. Then he looked interestedly at the wall. "Hey, did you really paint that? It's amazing."

"Which one?" asked Ginny, turning to follow his gaze, but before she could see anything, he had zipped past her, racing through the door. "Draco!" It was too late.

He had frozen, staring through into Ginny's artist studio. There were paintbrushes stuck clumsily in pots all around the room, and on a big easel was a giant painting that was obviously still in progress. It depicted a huge, shaggy grey monster, roaring; a tall, lean, blonde boy looking determinedly towards it, wand pointed bravely at the creature's face – and they were, quite clearly, in the Forbidden Forest.

"Umm," said Ginny, "okay, we're done here, nothing to see." She hooked her arm through Draco's elbow and dragged him backwards. However, despite him being skinny, he was surprisingly strong, and very difficult to move; she soon gave up and slunk away through the door, back to her gallery.

"It's…" Draco seemed to be struggling for words, "I… I look exactly like that. It's … perfect," he finally said, and Ginny quickly pulled her hair out of its still-muddy ponytail so that her hair could hide her now-scarlet cheeks. She was bright red, but she felt happier than she had done in a very long time.

"Thanks," she finally said, and when she returned her gaze to Draco's face, she found that he was looking at her with a strange expression, sort of like happiness and sadness all mixed together. "So," she said, smiling, "how about that forty Galleons?"

Draco's eyes narrowed mischievously. "One more condition," he said, grinning, holding up a finger. He swirled it around, jabbed his finger towards the gallery, and said with another puppy-face. "Can I have one?"

Ginny blushed again. Her first fan – Draco Malfoy. "Um. Sure," she said, frowning slightly at the oddity of it all. "Which one?" She moved back into the other room, closing the studio door tightly after Draco.

Draco glanced around, and then pointed. "That one." It was a relatively small painting, in great detail – of Ginny. It potrayed her sitting by the lake, dabbling her bare feet in the water, smiling, with Hermione and Luna grinning behind her.

"What – but – why?" Ginny stammered. "I mean, you can have it, yeah," she picked up the painting and handed it to Draco, "but why do you want that one?"

Draco frowned at it. "I dunno," he said, after a moment of regarding Ginny's painted face. "I like it." He grinned down at Ginny, and then added, "thanks. I'll give you the forty Galleons when I can get it out of Gringotts, okay?"

Ginny nodded, and as she tilted her head up to look into Draco's face, she realized that he was very close, and they were all alone… Draco was looking at her intently, and her breathing was slowing down… "I have to go," Ginny interrupted, stepping away before anything awkward happened. "I'll… I'll see you later." Then she left the studio in a great hurry, and, as she hastened down the narrow corridor to her next lesson, she wondered why she felt slightly disappointed.

A/N: Heh. Ginny is starting to feel some luuurrvvv… XD Please review.