Blaise walked into breakfast late that morning. He was hoping to avoid seeing Ginny, but as he walked in, he saw her sitting there with Draco and Astoria. He sighed inwardly and went over to the table to sit down across from Draco and next to Astoria.
"Hey." He said starting to put food on his plate.
"Hey." They answered back looking up briefly then continuing to eat.
"Draco," Blaise said after a few moments "Did you finish the ancient runes assignment?"
Draco looked at him for a minute then answered "No… Man! I have to go! Catch you guys later." He went sprinting out the great hall and down the corridor towards the dungeons.
Blaise immediately went back to eating his breakfast and ignored the two girls. Ginny just stared at him completely confused. What in the world was that about? She thought curiously. Astoria gave her a look and then got up from the table announcing, "I'm going to go get my books, see you guys later." Then she left.
As soon as she left, Blaise looked up from his food and said in a low voice "Ginny, if you want to break up then do it. I will not make you play this game anymore."
"That's not it, Blaise." She hissed back at him. "I am happy to help you, though I'm not sure what I am helping you with, but I just want to be myself while doing it. It becomes way to complicated and when people find out, it goes south in an instant."
Blaise didn't answer at first, then he said "Ok."
"Ok what?"
"I'll break up with the blond version of you and in a few weeks we can start the whole thing over again with the real you."
"No." Ginny said matter-a-factly.
"What?" Blaise asked bewildered.
"Just make it known that it was me." Ginny said smiling. "Just say we wanted to keep it a secret to see where it went and now that it's pretty serious were coming out with it."
Blaise sat there pensively for a few moments and Ginny watched him intently. There was no emotion on his face and Ginny tried extremely hard to read him, but got nowhere. Finally, he said, "Let's do it."
Ginny grinned "Good, but one question. Why do you want a fake girlfriend?"
"I want the idiotic girls who fawn over me to leave me alone. If I am dating one of the most intimidating girls in the school, I am almost positive they won't give me another look. And, when we break up they will be still be too scared to date your ex that it will serve the same purpose as actually dating you." Blaise finished and got up to leave.
"Wait." Ginny said grabbing his hand across the table. "When?"
Blaise smirked "Tonight at dinner. That's when the most people are in this room. We'll meet outside the doors at 6:30."
"Ok," Ginny said letting go of his hand and blushing slightly. "See you then."
As soon as Astoria was out of sight from people, she went running down the corridor towards the Dungeons after Draco. She had watched him enough to know where he went when he was "doing his ancient runes homework." She entered the common room and went to the portrait of werewolves howling at a full moon, she gently pressed her finger against the moon and watched as the panel behind the picture opened. She quickly checked to make sure no one was there and then stepped through. She quietly went down the spiral staircase in front of her and came to a door. It was a jar so she stepped to the side of it and began to listen intently.
"You have failed me again, young Malfoy!" she heard a voice say. Must be he-who-must-not-be-named she thought leaning in closer.
"No!" Draco yelled. "I have not. I merely haven't completed the task yet. I have another plan, my lord. The youngest Weasley has recently been transferred into Slytherin. You know how much Potter cares for her. We can use her."
"Potter has nothing to do with your assignment." Voldemort spat.
"But my lord, what better way to get to both my target and Potter than have Potters Inc. off on a wild goose chase for the Weasley. It would make the perfect distraction, I could get to my target so much easier if the safeguards were out of the way." Draco answered coyly.
Voldemort didn't answer for a few moments then said "maybe I haven't given you enough credit, young Malfoy. You do have some cleverness you. Very well, you shall have until the end of the school year to complete this task. You will gain the Weasley's trust and then use it to attack potter giving you the chance to reach your target."
"Yes, my lord." Draco answered solemnly.
"Leave now, I am finished with you." Voldemort said. Astoria ran for her life. She sprinted up the stairs, out the panel and into the girls' room as fast as humanly possible. She slammed the door and stood there panting for a minute.
"Um… Tori? Are you ok?" Ginny's voice said from the other side of the room
Astoria looked up terrified and said "OH! Yeah! I'm fine. I got distracted when I was on my way to get my books and had to run here to be on time for class." She then walked over to her bed, picked up her books off the floor and left hurriedly while Ginny simply stared at her.
What do I do now? Astoria thought as she briskly walked in the direction of the portal. I don't know who Draco's target is, but he's planning on using Ginny to get to him. Do I tell Ginny or wait for more information? He does have until the end of the school year, surely he will have other meetings. Maybe I could…
Her thoughts were abruptly cut short but a large foreign object in her way. She ran smack into something that seemed like a tall person and fell flat on her bum. She looked up to see none other than Draco Malfoy staring down at her, a look of deep frustration in his eyes.
"I do believe we need to talk." He said harshly.