Snape was standing by the fire when Ginny persuaded her eyelids to open. A violent shiver shook her, then subsided. The aroma of potato and leek soup tickled her nostrils, and she leaned forward to retrieve some.
It was disturbingly cold. Looking up at Snape, Ginny asked, "How long was I out?"
Snape looked over at her. "About half an hour," he replied tartly. He aimed a warming charm at the bowl, and Ginny snatched her hands away as the pottery burned her fingers.
"Thanks," she replied. "Where's Hermione?"
"Gone to do your dirty work," he said, glancing over at Malfoy.
"Oh," Ginny said, hoping that word would convey all her thoughts.
Snape seemed to get the gist. He gave her a nasty smile, then added, "I believe I should go and start preparing a new batch of the strengthening potion. The efficacy of this one seems to be waning. Enjoy your soup," he said as he swept from the room.
Ginny sighed, then jumped a little as the door slammed. Malfoy gave a short bark of laughter, opened his eyes.
"And he accuses me of being melodramatic!"
Ginny started, wondering how he had overheard that piece of information.
Malfoy caught her expression. "Oh, he's always said that of me," he said pleasantly. He gave her a sly sideways look. "Why, has he said it recently?"
Ginny felt her jaw lock. She was on the back foot. With six older brothers (three older brothers, the traitorous little voice said in her mind, pinching her stomach painfully), she had always hated being on the defensive. "Oh, just that you didn't seem to want to live. Do you always pretend to be unconscious? Is that how you make your uncanny business deals? No insider trading, just plenty of feigned illness?"
Malfoy, far from getting riled up, looked amused. Ginny paused to listen to herself. Damn, she thought, too defensive. Rather juvenile, in fact.
"Oh, please, don't let me stop you, you were just starting to get interesting," he said, settling back into his chair with a piece of buttered bread from the table. He took a large, unconcerned bite.
Ginny scowled, then proceeded to ignore him. She took up her (very hot) bowl, and began to eat the soup. It had been her favourite when she was younger, and it brought back fond memories of a time when her family had been so close, and her whole world.
Lost in memories, it took her a moment to realise that Malfoy was speaking.
"Do you love Potter?" He asked. He seemed rather insistent.
Ginny pondered for a moment. "No," she eventually replied. "Why, do you?"
He gave her a look that told her just how juvenile that sentiment was. "No, but I hated him. Did you know, I always wanted everything that he had? No? His fame, his scar, his broom, his friends, his success…" He trailed off.
"This going somewhere?" Perhaps she had spoken a little too sharply, because he narrowed his eyes.
"I knew it was you," he said.
The seed of panic and helplessness that had stuck in her nearly a year ago now burst into full flower. "What?" she demanded.
"I knew you put the ring on," he clarified. "Surprised? Oh, I suppose you are. I didn't know right at first. A lurch in my stomach… I cut short some very important business meetings to come back to the Estate and perform a very thorough search of the premises. Sure enough, they were gone. Nobody knew where. But then, nobody really knew they existed." He gave her a wry smile, amused at her shock. "I decided to discover who had taken them. Who I was married to," again, the self-mocking smile. "I paraded around Diagon Alley for two weeks before I felt an itch. I was eating lunch at the time, I recall. Ritzy café, quite good steak. I waited, turned around. And who did I see walking away? You.
"I must admit that I was shocked. I had expected Pansy. Though, I had actually prepared for that eventuality. She would have received a nasty surprise had she put on the ring." His smile told her that she didn't want to know. She was spellbound with horror. "So I decided to… inform you. I began to spin my web. I fed out a line about the Paradise Pearls, knowing that Severus was up to something. I hadn't really spoken to him… not since… Well, another time for that." He seemed unsettled for a moment, but moved on. "And he came to you. I knew eventually he would. There aren't many pureblood families who have stooped to thievery. Then I sent my hounds after you, knowing all the while exactly what was going on. Your performances were admirable. And finally, I prevailed upon your mercy and good nature to keep me alive." He finished with a flourish of his half-eaten bread.
Ginny stared at him. Eleven months of her life were swirling around her, suddenly taking on new perspective. She kept coming back to the times he had insisted on kissing her hand. Most gentlemanly: and unrepeated.
They had all underestimated him. Also underestimated the charms on the rings. Ginny felt sick. "But why?" she choked out. "What are you getting out of this?"
He seemed surprised. "What am I getting out of this? You are the one who put on the ring!"
Ginny exhaled a noise that could have been laughter, could have been a sob. "Gods, I just wanted to sell them! I put the stupid thing on, and I didn't even know what it did! Can't you just take it off?" She offered her hand desperately.
Malfoy stared at her. A small part of her that stood back and observed was quite satisfied that he didn't seem to have considered this as an option. "What?"
Ginny could feel the tears burning in her throat, in her sinuses. She held them in mercilessly. Like hell she'd let him see her cry. Unfortunately, holding in the tears kept her from speaking.
Perhaps silence was a worse torture than any words she could have spoken. Malfoy's already-pale face turned ashen. "What?" he repeated. "You aren't out to kill me? Though, I suppose I ruled that out when I begged for your help," he turned away from her, stared at the fire. "And you're not after money. No, I suppose, with the Leaky Cauldron's business booming, you don't need that either. You truly did not know?" He asked her, a strange lostness in his expression.
Ginny shook her head. A traitorous bead of water slid down her face.
"I… I need some time to think," he said. He closed his grey eyes, slid a hand over his face. Ginny clamped her teeth firmly together, grabbed her emotions and thrust them down. At least I'm not entirely on the back foot anymore, she thought darkly to herself.
Hermione entered the room. Assuming that Malfoy was still incapacitated, she approached Ginny. She handed over the ring without a word. Ginny's had shook as she took the shiny object. "Severus sent me up with another dose of the strengthening potion. Shall I put yours on the table?" Hermione asked, noticing that Ginny didn't seem well but mistaking the reason.
"No, no, just give it here. Put Malfoy's on the table. I'll make sure he drinks it when he wakes up."
"Anything else I can do?" Hermione seemed eager to help. Ginny wondered what had happened with Pansy.
"No, I think I just need some time to be alone."
Hermione aimed a glance at Malfoy. Ginny shrugged, and Hermione left.
Ginny downed the potion quickly. There was a strange burn to the taste. The potion was obviously stronger, however, as she began to feel better almost immediately. "You should drink that, Malfoy," she said. "Might help you think."
Malfoy opened an eye to look at her. He seemed to assess whether she was mocking him. She kept her face bland. He took the glass and drained it.
"Well?" Ginny asked. "What are we going to do?"
Malfoy stared at her. Then, he began to laugh. A small chuckle swelled into a bellowing roar. Ginny, swept up in the absurdity of the situation, laughed with him.
Wiping tears from his face, Malfoy said, "You can bloody stop calling me Malfoy, to start with."
Ginny grinned at him. "But it's got such a nice ring to it."
And that set them off again. After a few moments, Malfoy calmed down enough to say, "Buggered if I know, Ginny."
Ginny, still smiling, replied, "Well, then we're even."