Ginny was escorted to a seat at the end of the Slytherin table far away from the Gryffindors. She noticed a peculiar seat at the head of their table, Gryffindor had no such seat. Ginny pondered this as she glanced around. Ravenclaw had a chair like this one, theirs stood empty, as if no one had taken the seat for quite some time and Hufflepuff's seat was pushed back into the shadows collecting dust. Ginny brought a hand to her burning eyes and rubbed them fiercely.
She glanced to her left where Pansy had taken the second seat off of the throne-chair. She bowed her head at Pansy, "My thanks Miss Parkinson."
"Anytime Miss Weasley." Pansy replied, grinning widely.
Just as the Slytherins sat down, in what seemed a random order, Draco and Blaise entered the Great Hall and strode down the aisle "plotting".
"Zabini? Why is Ginny sitting at our table? And why the hell is she in the Bride's chair?" Draco demanded, cutting his eyes to his companion.
"I don't know Malfoy. But you should check out the Gryffindorks. Potter and Weasley look particularly peeved off." Blaise replied calmly.
Draco made a humming noise in his throat as he glanced from his table to Potter's. "Potter does seem a bit, peaked."
And so continued the "amiable" conversation as the pair neared their seats. The table stood as manner dictated and poor Ginny fell on her ass from the unexpectedness. The Slytherins had the grace to refrain from laughing, and Blaise came to a stop beside her to hoist her to her feet. "Sorry about that Gin-bug."
Ginny sighed and dusted off her butt, "I haven't even been to my first effing class and already I've broken my hand, been kissed by an insufferable git, had two of my supposed "friends" verbally assault me, and now I've been dropped on my ass in front of the great hall! All I need is somebody to tell me I've been promoted to 7th year potions with my bloody git of a brother and everything'll be just peachy!" Ginny sat down in a huff, folding her arms across her chest and tucking her chin down.
She failed to notice that the rest of the table didn't sit down. She also failed to notice that Draco was rubbing the back of his neck and moving to kneel beside her.
"Ginny," Draco whispered, fearing to set her of again, "Ginny, my dear, Professor Snape wanted me to give you this." Draco pulled a folded letter out of his pocket and put it in her outstretched hand.
Ginny didn't even lift her head. She opened the letter, scanned it, and calmly held it over the flame of the candle on the table. She dropped the ashes into a smoldering pile on her plate. Then she closed her eyes tightly and dropped her head with a loud thump onto the wood of the table.
Draco waved his hand at his housemates and they sat down in that "random" order again. Blaise took his seat in the chair to the immediate left of the throne and Draco swept past Ginny's slumped form and took his seat in the throne. He reached across the corner of the table and placed his hand on the back of her neck. "Will somebody please explain what is going on here?"
Ginny shuddered slightly, drawing Draco's gaze to her long enough for Millicent to rise from her seat. She came around Ginny's chair and knelt next to Draco. He cut his eyes to his fourth, but left his hand where it was.
"Malfoy, the house had to interfere on your Bride's behalf." Millicent looked up at Draco in amusement, "Although I suppose she could have handled it. Potter and Weasley started in on her about her alleged activities."
Draco's faced drained of what little color it had. "They accused her of what, whoring herself?"
Ginny flinched under his hand. Draco's eyes widened more at this action and he softly stroked the back of her neck with his cool fingers. Ginny quieted under his hand, her breath released in a shaky sigh.
Draco nodded at Millicent to continue.
"We have them on the Exile list sir. I'm going to put in a request for Ravenclaw's allegiance." Millicent glanced at Pansy before continuing, "I also wish permission to petition Snape to move the Bride into the Slytherin dorms until such time Potter and Weasley grow brains."
Draco seemed to ponder this for a moment, "I think that's wise. Ravenclaw has no ruler; you have to negotiate with their Duce Consul, Chang and Carmichael. As for Potter, he is to be treated as any exile. Ignore him, but use whatever means necessary to deny him access to Miss Weasley. She is my Bride, and should be protected at all costs. But Weasley, oh he shall suffer dearly for what he has done. We shall do whatever we must do to prove our displeasure." Draco nodded once sharply and the students dropped their attention to their plates.
Millicent stood and made her way back to the empty seat beside Ginny. She sat down and magically cleared the ash from Ginny's plate. She eased the Bride's torso up so she could fill the plate with lots of protein.
Draco eased forward in his chair to move his stroking fingers down from her neck to rub between her shoulder blades. "Ginny?" His soft voice carried no farther than her ears.
She lifted her head from the table and glanced around herself at the happily chattering students. She was startled when Millicent shoved a plate full of bacon and eggs under her nose. "Eat Miss Weasley."
Ginny took the plate gingerly and whispered a soft thank you. She turned her head back to Draco to find him discussing something with Blaise in rapid French. She cocked her head to the side and caught most of what they were discussing as she scarffed her breakfast.
They eventually noticed her scrutiny and their conversation teetered off.
"Do I have something on my face Darling?" Blaise asked innocently.
Ginny snorted and took the last bite of her bacon, "Cela fonctionne mieux si vous vous servez d'un langage que je ne sais pas."
The two boys exchanged sharp glances. "Since when did you learn French Weasel?" Draco demanded, his right hand tracing her wrist as he ate with his left.
"Since when did you eat with your left hand?" Ginny replied rolling her eyes.
Draco closed his hand around her wrist and tugged to get her attention. "There are a lot of things I can do with my left hand, my dear." He waggled his eyebrows lewdly.
"You look ridiculous I hope you realize that." Pansy added helpfully as she leaned around Blaise's bulky frame. "So what did our dear Snapey-poo want?"
Ginny giggled at Draco's look of outrage. She turned to meet Pansy's sparkling blue eyes and noticed how her face had lost its baby fat. She was never going to be gorgeous, but at least she lost the "pug" look.
"Oh, I've been promoted to 7th year potions with you guys and the Gryffindors." Ginny replied, gagging a little as she thought of double potions with her brother and Potter.
"Merlin! Thank you good God almighty!" Pansy clapped her hands and glanced across the table at Millicent. "You know what this means right?"
She nodded, "An all girls potion Team!"
Both girls squealed and bounced excitedly. Ginny smiled; pleased she had potions partners out of her own house.
Draco started his stroking again, almost as if it was a habit. He was pleased his Third and Fourth had the Bride under their wings. 'Perhaps I should assign them permanently? I could bump Nott and Vincent up a notch. Oh how Salazzar would be rolling about now.'