"Where have you been?"
"Are you all right?"
Ginny stopped in front of the portrait and looked over at her brother, Harry and Hermione, who all seemed concerned about her whereabouts the previous night.
Oh, I was just locked in a room with Malfoy. Nothing to worry about.
She could imagine Ron's head exploding with that knowledge. So she did what any smart person would do. She lied.
"I forgot the password," she answered. "So I found a classroom and slept there."
She left before they could say anything else. The lie she'd told settled nicely with her, because if they knew the truth, she'd never hear the end of it. She was on her way to The Great Hall when she spotted a group of Slytherins, and she wondered if they knew.
She saw Malfoy leaning against the wall. His eyes drifted to her for a brief moment, and then dropped, and he continued his conversation.
But as Ginny moved along down the corridor, someone called out to her.
"Hey, Weasley, keep moving. No one here's interested. You might want to go find Potter—oh, wait, I forgot. He's too busy dating someone who is actually worth his time."
Stopping, Ginny turned, her eyes narrowed at Pansy Parkinson.
"Don't you think that insults a little old?" she asked. "You should be able to come up with something new, don't you think?"
The pug-faced Slytherin frowned and broke away from her friends. "Obviously what I say bothers you if you have to stop and reply."
Ginny laughed. "Trust me, Parkinson, you're not worth my time."
She watched Draco's mouth lift into a smirk, and his eyes slid back to hers again.
"She has some nerve, talking to me like that. Where does she get off thinking she's better than any of us? Because she sure as hell isn't. If I had my wand with me, she would have been sorry." After a few moments of silence: "Are you even listening to me?"
He turned to stare at her. She hadn't shut up about the Weaslette since she walked in. It's not like he hadn't been there when the incident occurred. But she just wouldn't stop. He was good at ignoring her, especially when she got worked up, but for some reason tonight was a little different.
"Yes," he answered. "Can we talk about something else?"
"I can't believe you," Pansy snapped, pulling the sheet tighter around herself. "She humiliated me, and that's all you have to say? She was a bitch."
Draco pinched the bridge of the nose and groaned. "You humiliate her on a daily basis and now you're mad because she fought back?"
"Are you actually defending her?" Pansy asked. "Oh my God, you are." When she started to collect her clothing, he didn't stop her.
And when she slammed the door so hard that the objects on his desk rattled, he didn't stop her.
But most importantly, and most unsettling, was that he didn't correct her.
"Are you all right?"
Ginny looked up from her book and nodded. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
Neville sighed and sat down next to her. "I heard Pansy gave you a hard time this morning and I was just—"
Of course he'd heard. By mid-afternoon, everyone had. He wasn't the first person to wonder if her feelings were hurt, or how she was dealing with being stepped on like that.
"Worried?" she offered with a small smile. "Don't. It's okay. I can take care of myself."
Neville was quiet for a moment, then he said, "It's not true, is it? About Harry, I mean. Things just didn't work out, right? He didn't—you know?"
"Cheat?" Ginny asked. "Of course not. Where on earth did you hear that?"
Now he was uncomfortable.
"Neville." Her voice was hard.
"Oh, please don't say my name that way. I hate when you do that."
"If you'd just tell me, then I would calm down."
Neville sighed. "Hannah Abbott asked me. She heard about what Pansy said, and she wanted to know if it was true. I think she likes Harry."
Ginny shrugged. "Harry can date whoever he likes."
"Okay, then," Neville said, nodding. "That's good. So, uh, are you seeing anyone?" When she glared at him, he put his hands up. "I'm just asking for a friend."
"Oh yeah? Who?"
"Nick?" Neville answered awkwardly.
"As in Nearly Headless Nick?" Ginny asked, smiling. "Oh, you have to tell him that I think he's really nice and all, but I have to decline. So who is this friend you're talking about?"
Neville swallowed nervously and said quietly, "Well, me."
"You?" Ginny said, her eyes wide. "Oh, I didn't know—but I'm not really seeing anyone right now. I'm just—there's so much going on—and I just can't do the whole dating thing. I'm sorry."
But he was smiling. "Oh, I knew that. Thanks, though, for not laughing in my face."
She nudged him. "I wouldn't do that."
Neville grinned, but turned his face away from her. "Oh no," he said, looking at her. "Incoming."
A shadow fell over them, and Ginny looked up to see Malfoy standing over her. He nodded curtly at Neville, then spoke.
"Pansy's on the warpath, Weaslette, you might want to watch your back."
Her eyes narrowed. "Why are you telling me this?"
He smirked. "Let's just say I'm quite tired of her at the moment. Besides, an oncoming attack without knowledge from the one being attacked is despicable. Do you think you can take her?"
"I didn't do anything to her."
To her surprise, Malfoy crouched down next to her. "To Pansy, you don't really have to do anything. You exist, and you're not like her, so she's pissed."
"Because I stood up for myself?" Ginny said. "She's not as scary as she makes herself seem, you know. She's just a bitch."
"Funny." Draco's tone was amused. "That's what she said about you." Then he stood, brushed off his pants, and said, "Longbottom, make sure she doesn't get too bloody. Oh, and Weasley? Incoming."
Ginny heard the Slytherin before she saw her. She was flanked by two other girls.
"I'm not going to fight you," the redhead said, standing. "You have a problem with me? Fine. But I'm not going to waste a spell on you."
"That's what I was thinking," Pansy said, before her palm connected with Ginny's cheek.