XXXXXX

It was a somber evening and it fit the mood inside headquarters as dinner was served. Lupin and Tonks remained as the other Order members left. The twins wanted to leave as well but Tonks had managed to convince them to stay at least through the meal, knowing the Weasley's needed to be together right now. Ginny had let her know that Malfoy was asleep and that was probably a good thing for right now as she wanted things to be as easy as possible for everyone.

Tonks carefully looked around and saw that Ron really wasn't eating, just pushing food around his plate, he really must be upset to have no appetite. Fred and George barely finished half of what their own food before excusing themselves and heading back to their own place. Harry and Hermione too didn't really eat or talk, as they could feel what the Weasley's were going through.

Bill ate more than anyone before getting up to write a letter to Charlie, telling him to come home as soon as possible but mentioned nothing of Percy. That was news that needed to be told in person, not in writting. Molly then soon excused herself from the table and headed up to her room for the night, promising to clean up first thing tomorrow but the others assured her they would handle it.

Knowing that there was nothing that could be said or done to put them at ease, both Tonks and Lupin finally exited the house, bidding the others a good night before leaving. Once everything was clean and put away, everyone went upstairs for the night, all except two. Ginny sat in the living room with her father, talking.

"So you and the Malfoy boy?" Arthur began.

Ginny nodded. Her eyes were a little red, she had done her fair share of crying after Bill told her the news. She still had a hard time believing it. This whole night, you would have thought Percy was dead by the way they were acting. And to be painfully honest, she wished he was. She would have rather heard the news that he had died instead of being on the side of the Dark Lord.

"Do you like him?"

"A little, yeah." She softly replied.

She then ran her hands together as she knew her parents probably were less than thrilled about the idea of the two of them…

"Dad, if you don't want me to be with him, then I won't."

"I didn't say that." Arthur assured. Right now, the last thing he wanted was to possibly do something or say something that alienated another one of his children. "I'm just…concerned, that's all."

"I know you've heard things about him from Ron. But he's different when he's around me."

"I'm sure he's not a bad kid, just a little...misguided."

After all, how could he not be when he grew up with such a prejudice father? Maybe Draco just needed the chance to be around some...different people for once. Maybe he could change his ways, he still had time. Maybe Ginny could be the one that saved him.

"You don't trust him?" Ginny then asked.

"I trust you. You know you know what you're doing. You're so smart and…"

Arthur shook his head.

"I couldn't have asked for a better daughter."

Ginny started to tear up after that as she smiled.

"So if Draco and I are a couple…"

"Your mother and I are fine with it. We just want you to be happy."

She then got up and threw her arms around Arthur's neck, giving him a tight hug. They both needed one at the moment. The news they were told earlier was still on both their minds, Ginny could tell her father was still thinking about it, they all were even if no one spoke of it during dinner. What they were feeling couldn't be put into words, Ginny then leaned back into her seat as she looked at her dad.

"What happened with Percy…it wasn't your fault." She told him.

Arthur stared at his daughter for a moment before making a noise in his throat and turning his gaze away.

"I was just trying to look out for him."

"I know."

But he didn't want this to turn into an emotion-filled cry fest. They already had that and they didn't need it right now. What they all really needed was a good night's sleep.

"Why don't you go on to bed, sweetheart?" Arthur suggested.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Arthur gave his daughter a kiss on the cheek before she turned around and headed up the stairs. She then remembered she was sharing a room with Draco for the night as Harry and Hermione were sharing as were Ron and Bill. This certainly was going to be a little…weird, separate beds or not. When she walked in she found him laying on his back with his hands folded behind his head, looking up at the ceiling.

"You know, this is a pretty nice house." Draco commented.

"This was the parents of Sirius Black's house."

"What?" Draco sat up a little as he was suprised by that. "My mother never told me about this place."

Ginny shrugged as she prepared herself for bed while Draco continued to just daydream. He was thinking about his mother and his father. How he would react if he knew where he was right now. He knew a little of what his father had been up to over the past few weeks but thankfully was not asked.

Lucius had used the imperius curse on several high-ranking ministry officials, maybe even the minister himself at this point. They were learning things everyday, such as how to get past defense shields and other protections on important places. Draco then started to wonder if they knew about this place.

"So what was all that yelling in the next room earlier?" Draco then asked, remembering the commotion.

"I don't know." Ginny lied as she combed her hair. "I didn't ask."

"How could you not ask? Your brothers sounded upset. I kept hearing 'Percy this' and 'Percy that.' Who's Percy?"

Ginny slammed her comb down on the dresser before turning to face him.

"He's my brother. Anymore questions?"

Draco didn't respond as he looked at Ginny in bewilderment as she turned back around and began quietly sobbing to herself. Slowly, he got out of bed and walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

"He's a death eater." Ginny said while wiping her eyes. "My brother is a death eater."

Ginny then turned around and hugged Draco tightly, burying her face in his chest. At that moment, the blonde Slytherin didn't know how to react as he wasn't good at these sorts of things. Placing her arms around her, he guided her back over to the bed and they took a seat. When they separated Draco put his hand up to Ginny's face and brushed a few tears away.

Ginny then realized that she had stopped Draco from possibly becoming a death eater but lost Percy. If she could change things around, would she? Ginny couldn't answer that right now.

"Are you okay?" He then asked.

"I'll be fine."

"You know I was thinking, by now my father has to be wondering why I haven't showed up yet. I wonder what he's going to do…"

He then trailed off as Ginny narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, I'm sure daddy's going to be very upset with you. After all there's a mudblood here and a bunch of muggle-lovers." She snapped.

"What's with you?" Draco asked as he looked back at her. "I wasn't easy to come here but I did. But now I'm thinking that maybe I shouldn't have."

Ginny then got up as she headed back to her bed. Draco wasn't officially part of the Order yet. If he did join than that would put him and his father on opposite sides in this whole thing. Now that Percy was with the Dark Lord she could understand what it felt like to have family on different sides. But she didn't want to start to care about Draco only to lose him back to the dark side.

"I just lost my brother and I don't plan on losing anyone else." Ginny stated. "If you don't want to be here, than leave, leave now. But if you're going to be with us, than be with us."

Getting into bed, Ginny roughly threw the covers over herself as Draco stared at her still form. She just didn't understand, his whole life his father had told him what to do, how to think, how to feel. His father would go mad if he had known that Draco had merely kissed the "Weasley" girl, let alone pursuing a relationship with her. He still really didn't even know why he was interested in Ginny, out of all the girls he could get but maybe that was it.

His father wouldn't approve. He was tired of doing things just to please his father. Draco didn't hate his father, he could never hate him but he wanted to do things for himself for a change. But the thought of being on opposites sides from his father in this whole conflict, it sent chills down his spine.

Slowly getting to his feet, Draco walked over to Ginny's bed and layed down next to her. She didn't move as he listened to her breath for a few moments before replying.

"I think the thing is…I'm just really scared."

Ginny turned herself to face him and looked Draco right in the eye.

"Me too. But my dad always use to tell me...you should always face what you're afraid of. "