Chapter One

Authour’s Notes: Since I first started this story back in December of 2002, my writing has drastically improved. I’ve learnt so much about writing simply by being a part of the Harry Potter fandom.

I decided to go back and edit the first thirteen chapters for continuity errors, typos, grammar, style, etc. So that you, the reader, may better enjoy this story. Since I started this fic long before OotP came out, it is now considered an AU, but there are still OotP spoilers sprinkled throughout which actually made An Ideal Death Eater, and some of the main plot points, more closely related to canon.

Now for the warnings:

I have portrayed the characters in this story as closely as possible to canon. At times, they may seem out of character, but I ask that you keep reading because things you don‘t understand now will become clearer eventually. Everything unfolds and I try not to rush things. One of my main goals for AIDE is for the characters as we know them in canon to grow up, so this story deals with real issues whilst still maintaining the old world feel of the Harry Potterverse.

There are no evil people in this fic, aside from Voldemort, perhaps. J
For every action, there is a consequence. For every consequence, there is a lesson to be learnt. Every character has more depth than what is immediately shown, so I ask that you don’t drop this story simply because one of your favourite characters is shown temporarily in a bad light.

AIDE is dark at times, humorous in others. I attempt to resist cliché and capture originality. Sometimes I will fail, other times I will succeed. There will be torture, slash, het, and character deaths. It all may get a bit graphic at times, but I assure you that I’ll give fair warning before you read something graphically violent or sexual. If you don’t feel up to reading a humorously dark fic, then stop now and find something else to read. For those who stay, please make sure to leave constructive reviews at the end.

Cheers,

Sing

 

 

Summer’s end was signalled by a high-pitched whistle that echoed through Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters. The train to Hogwarts appeared to be the same shiny red it was the last time they had stood there, maybe even more so covered by a thick sheen of rain. With heavy hearts, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley boarded the Hogwarts Express, knowing that this was to be their final year as students attending that prestigious institute of learning. Ginny, entering her sixth year, trailed behind them.

"Just think, Hermione, after this year there won't be any more revision. You’ll be heartbroken," Ron teased as they all sat down in the cushy compartment Ginny had found empty.

"Oh," Hermione groaned, throwing herself in the seat across from Ron. Harry glanced up in mild surprise. "Don't remind me. Unlike some others, I actually enjoy learning new things. But, just because we are leaving Hogwarts soon, doesn't mean that we have to stop learning. I'll be attending the Aurors´ Academy in Belfast. I just received my acceptance letter yesterday."

"Way to go! At least now I know I won't be by myself next year." Harry pounded Hermione on the back hard before he forgot that she was quite a bit smaller than him and stopped. "Oh, sorry, Hermione."

"That's all right, Harry. I know you're excited," she coughed out after the air had caught up with her lungs once more.

"You're both going to Aurors´ Academy?" Ron exclaimed, crossing his arms and pouting like a petulant child. "What about me?"

Harry sighed, ready for another argument, another explanation. "You didn't want to go, remember?"

"Yeah, but that was only because . . . well, I didn't want to leave Hermione and Ginny in England by themselves," he finished quietly.

Dark brown eyes flashed with annoyance at the edge of Harry‘s vision. "You thought I wouldn't be accepted into the Academy, Ron?" Hermione asked, her tone deceptively sweet.

"Well, not that exactly . . ." Ron trailed off. "Aww ruddy hell, you're gonna bosh me anyway. So it doesn't matter what I say now, does it?"

"Ronald Weasley! I've asked you not to swear in front of me. Think of your sister at least." Hermione shook her head and picked at the edge of her cloak.

Ron glanced at his sister, his mouth twitching, and then back to Hermione across from him. "I said ruddy, and hell‘s not a bad word. ´Sides, she's a mouth like a sailor that one does. You should hear her at home!"

"It’s small wonder with examples such as yourself," Hermione said, icily prim.

"Hermione, maybe you should give S.P.A.S a rest just now. We have a ways to go and the train hasn’t even started moving yet," Harry sighed out of the side of his mouth.

"S.P.A.S?"

Ron snorted at Ginny. "Yeah. Society for the Prevention of Adolescent Swearing."

Harry rolled his eyes; it was going to be a long trip.

Suddenly, the door to the compartment was flung open and a dark-hooded figure stepped forward, filling the frame with his shoulders. Silvery droplets clung to the expensive black velvet and seemed to wink as the fabric shifted.

And the drama was only just beginning.

Ron sucked in a breath and screamed. "Aah! A Death Eater!"

The figure snorted and pushed the hood back, allowing the washed out sunlight to gleam softly over his moon-tinted hair.

"Bloody hell," Harry breathed. "Is that old Spindle-legs there?"

This statement earned him a hard thump from Hermione and he winced. "Sorry, Hermione."

Ron recovered himself, flushing briefly with anger and embarrassment. "Same bloody thing as a Death Eater."

Hermione was staring at Draco Malfoy in puzzlement, not even bothering to reprimand Ron. Ginny just swallowed, her eyes the size of dinner plates.

"He looks . . . different."

"Yeah," Ron piped up, fully recovered. "He isn’t a spider."

Harry snorted and Draco only glared more fiercely.

"Don’t think I’ve forgotten your little joke from last year, Potter. I’ll be returning the favour soon, have no doubt about that."

"So what, you decided to come and scare us half to death in that get-up? Not much of a revenge if you ask me." Ron snickered.

Draco narrowed his eyes dangerously. "No, I figured I would give you all fair warning." He turned to sweep out of the small room but paused to aim a crisp glance at Harry on his way out. "Be on your toes this year, Potter."

With his exit, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and Ginny rubbed arms that had suddenly gone numb with cold.

"What did you do to him last year, Harry?" Ginny asked, a little unsure she wanted to hear the answer.

Ron smacked her arm in a friendly manner and guffawed. "Oh it was priceless, really. Harry there turned him into a spider on the train home before hols and he was almost squashed by the food trolley coming through!"

"I wouldn’t laugh too hard, Ron. You screamed like a girl when you saw him come racing towards you on eight legs," Harry smirked. "Besides, I didn't even think of his getting almost squashed," he added in a whisper to himself.

"Wasn’t my fault! I’m scared of spiders, you know that." Ron slumped forward and crossed his arms. Ginny however, was howling with mirth.

"I wish I could have seen it! Ron screaming and Malfoy skittering." She wiggled her fingers in a motion that could only be determined by Harry as that of a spider, creeping about.

"Was it just me or did Malfoy seem—
" Hermione broke off, searching her extensive vocabulary for the proper word. "Wider?"

"Well, he’d almost have to be wouldn’t he? Couldn’t have gotten any thinner than he was before," Harry answered.

"Aye, that grub was about the lankiest git I’ve ever seen. Even worse than poor Harry here after the twins tested that growth toffee on him."

"Hey!"

"Well, you are pretty thin, Harry." Hermione patted his arm soothingly.

"I’ll catch it up soon enough," he argued. “It wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for that toffee. I’m not supposed to be this tall!”

Ginny shook her head. "The way these two eat, I’m surprised they haven’t tripled in size. If I ate as much as they do, you’d have to roll me down the street."

"They’re boys, Ginny. They can do all sorts of things that would put us in an early grave," Hermione said before heaving a long-suffering groan.

"Too right! I’d hate to see you both in the Quivering Rooster or some such place. Not fit for ladies."

Ginny and Hermione turned a cool glance in Ron’s direction. "Have you been frequenting such a place, Ron?" Ginny asked coolly.

Ron sent a silent plea to Harry for help, but he only shook his head. "Sorry mate, you opened your mouth."

"I didn’t go by my bleedin´ self!"

Harry’s ears turned bright red as the girls glanced at him. "We—
I mean—
"

"Oh Ron!” Hermione shrilled. “What would your mum say?"

"She won’t know if you don’t squeal on us."

"But that place is dangerous! There are all sorts of bad elements there," Hermione gasped. "Think of those horrid women strutting about in almost nothing."

Harry smothered a grin and winked at Ron from beside Hermione.

"I think they were thinking of those horrid women, Hermione," Ginny snapped peevishly. "Honestly, and Ron wouldn’t even let me go on an innocent trip to visit Colin this summer."

"Innocent?" Ron roared. "That bloke has had his way with more girls than you could count. Like I’d leave you alone with the likes of him. Creepy little feck."

"He has not!" Ginny shouted back fiercely. "He only told you guys that because—
" she stopped and closed her mouth quickly.

"What?"

"Nothing. It isn’t any of your business."

"Like he—
"

"Ron!” Harry barked. He could feel a pressure behind his eyes start to build and he knew he was going to have a migraine soon enough if Ron didn‘t just stop. “Leave her alone, all right."

"But she—
"

"Drop it; you're acting like a two year-old. Let’s all try to get some rest before we’re back at Hogwarts. We were all up late packing for school," Harry grunted as he bunched up his cloak and stuffed it behind his head.

He didn’t feel the need to sleep so much as he was just tired of the bickering. Ron muttered something off colour under his breath and followed suit. Hermione yawned and put her feet up on Ron’s lap, resting her head on Harry’s shoulder. Ginny’s legs weren’t long enough to reach across the seat so she tucked her heels underneath her and leaned over to put her head on Ron’s shoulder.

It was this scene to which Harry awoke later, startled to realise that they were already at Hogwarts Station.

*~*~*~*~*

Harry rubbed sleep-crusted eyes as he gazed around the room. Dusk was setting in and he could hear the last of the students stomping off the train.

"Wake up everyone, we’re here."

Hermione yawned and stretched small, slim fingers up into the air above her head. "Already? We just went to sleep."

"Ron, wake up." Harry shook him lightly and frowned when it failed to rouse him. "Ron!" he snapped.

"Butterflies! Aaah!" Ron jumped up as if he had just sat on a Blast-Ended Skrewt. Ginny fell to the floor and smashed her face against the seat’s edge.

"Ow! What did you do that for?" she cried, rubbing at the blood dribbling down her chin. Harry felt his lip twitch for only a moment before he helped her up and put his handkerchief against the wound. The Weasleys were all overly dramatic.

"We’ll take you to Madame Pomfrey as soon as we get inside Hogwarts," he assured her.

Hermione stopped fussing with her cloak and crossed her arms, smirking up at Ron. "Butterflies?"

He scowled. "Yeah, butterflies. They’d scare you too if there was loads of them flittering about your head."

"Were."

"Were what?"

"Never mind," Hermione moaned as she moved over to Ginny. "Let me take a look at that." Ginny lifted her chin obligingly as Hermione prodded the wound gently with her finger.

"That will need a suture charm, and I don´t know how to do that yet. But I can make it stop bleeding." Hermione raised her wand and touched it to Ginny´s bottom lip. "Sanguin Ligare!"

Instantly the blood stopped gushing and the wound sealed over. The split was deep though, it would need to be put back together or poor Ginny would appear as if she had an upside-down harelip.

"Hey!" Ron shouted. "The door is locked."

"Locked?" Harry frowned. "Use your wand if it’s stuck."

"Alohamora!"

The door remained stubbornly locked, despite Ron’s desperate attempts at pulling it open.

"You’ll only injure yourself, you perverse thing. Someone must have charmed it," Hermione calmly stated what seemed like an obvious conclusion to her.

"Malfoy," breathed both Harry and Ron.

Ginny‘s face paled and her mouth fell open, her breath coming in small pants before she ran over to the door and tugged the handle as hard as she could. "Help! Let us out of here." Ginny pounded on the door, hyperventilating slightly as she struggled with the lock. "I can´t stand being stuck in here like this!" she sobbed.

"Shh, Ginny. It’ll be alright," Hermione soothed as she made Ginny take a seat and breathe calmly and deeply before turning to look outside. "Ron, see if the window will go up. We may be able to float down if we can squeeze our way out of it."

Both Harry and Ron pushed and pulled with all of their might. It didn’t budge by a fingerbreadth.

"Rumpere!" Ron screamed at the casement. It did nothing; the window was magically shielded. The spell bounced off and hit Harry’s glasses instead, causing them to shatter.

"Thanks, Ron," Harry mumbled as he removed his glasses and fumbled for his wand to repair them.

"Sorry." Ron flushed brightly and toed the floor with the tip of his shoe.

Suddenly, the train lurched and began to leave Hogwarts Station. Through the window, they could all see Malfoy smirking at them. He raised a hand in mocking farewell and Ginny returned it, rudely.

"Ginny!" Hermione slapped her hand. "I don’t care if he is a prat, that was just awful."

She shrugged and took her seat again. "We’re stuck on the train and going back to London. He did it, so he deserved a full salute."

"We’re going to miss the feast," Ron moaned as he and Harry’s stomachs rumbled loudly, the sound echoing off of the walls. “Again.”

"Is all you think about food related?" Ginny snapped.

"Well, not all I think about . . ." he mused.

"Oh, right. I forgot about your collection of Playwizard under the creaky step on the stairs at home."

Ron´s eyes bulged. "How did you—
"

"Percy showed me. He thought I may want to burn them if you ever hacked me off too badly."

"Percy is an annoying, swotty git. I’m gonna—
"

"This isn’t helping anything!" Harry raised his voice and cut Ron off before he had a chance to detail his brother’s demise.

"Well, what are we going to do? Sit around and play Exploding Snap? We are on our way back to London!" Ron yelled, red-faced and panting from a curious mix of frustration and embarrassment.

"Both of you stop it, I’m getting a migraine." Ginny put a hand to her head and leaned back into her seat.

Harry looked around the compartment forlornly. What a way to begin his seventh year.

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

~ William Blake~

 

"Mr Malfoy," Professor McGonagall pulled the boy aside after his Advanced Transfiguration class was through.

"Yes, Professor?"

"Professor Dumbledore sent me a note stating that you are to go directly to his office after this class was over."

Draco studied the note in her hand blankly, idly wondering what sort of punishment was in store for him after his little trick on Potter and his crew.

"Go on, he´s expecting you," McGonagall urged with a tiny push to his back.

Draco grumbled as he made his way toward the Headmaster’s office. He knew where it was, but since his Head of House, Professor Snape, dealt with most problems Draco had never been there before.

The spiral stairs were down and he stepped into the small nook, waiting to be taken up towards whatever fate had in store for him today. It was bad enough that Potter and his group managed to make it back from London so quickly. Only took one night and in they stomped, bright and fresh as if they had spent the evening in their dorms sleeping on feather mattresses instead of a cramped train car.

Draco groused some more before finally stepping up to the Headmaster’s door and knocking softly.

"Come in, Draco."

He sucked a deep breath through his nose and walked into the warm, cluttered room. The heat was almost too much. The permanent frost that usually covered his body was being shocked off to retreat elsewhere for the time being. His fingers tingled as they started to thaw. It was nearly close to being full-blown pain.

"You wished to see me, Headmaster?" Draco bowed his head in what he hoped was taken as a gesture of respect and subservience. Obedience was a lesson thoroughly drilled into his brain from day one.

"Yes, come take a seat." Dumbledore gestured to the chair before his desk. Draco sat as he was bid and waited impatiently for the Headmaster to say something.

It was a long time in coming.

Dumbledore tilted his head to the side and surveyed the boy long and hard before finally beginning to speak.

"You’ve grown this summer, Draco."

"Yes, Headmaster."

The man waved this aside. "Call me Dumbledore. Enough of that Headmaster bit; makes me want to look around for who you’re addressing."

Draco did not smile.

"Lemon sherbet?" Dumbledore offered.

"No, thank you."

Dumbledore shrugged and popped a few of the sweets in his mouth, chewing them softly before he continued.

"You look to be more of a man this year, Draco. I understand the other students were teasing you last term because you were so tall and thin. But you’ve filled out, I see."

"Yes, sir." Draco fought hard to keep the bite out of his words. Spindle-legs, among others, had not been his first choice of nicknames.

"That’s good, that’s good." Dumbledore leaned back and put another of the Muggle sweets into his mouth. "I think you know why you are here today, Draco."

Malfoy lifted an elegant brow. "Not exactly, sir. Perhaps you could enlighten me?"

"You were seen charming a compartment door on the Hogwarts Express yesterday."

He didn’t have to say which door; Draco knew full well which door it had been. "I believe they were mistaken, sir."

"Possible," Dumbledore nodded, his old voice strong and sure. "Very possible. However, I’ve summoned you here for another reason. All punishment aside, I believe you suffered enough on your way home last year for me to further bother you with house points and that sort of rubbish. I’ll leave that between Mr Potter and yourself."

"Then why am I here, sir?" Draco asked, honestly puzzled.

Dumbledore sighed and steepled his fingers closely. "What I am about to say can be taken anyway that you wish. I only mean to inform and possibly prevent further harm to yourself and others."

Others being Potter and his followers, of course. Draco swore silently to himself but continued to arrange a blank mask on the outside.

"I would like for you, if at all possible, to at least restrain your temper when it comes to Mr Potter and his friends. I know that the rivalry between you is legendary, but for the sake of the world, put it aside and concentrate on your studies this year.

"I don’t expect you to be friends, merely not so openly hostile towards each other. I’ve already had this conversation with Mr Potter and the rest of his group. So you shouldn’t have too much of a problem with instigation on their part." The old man knitted his eyebrows together and looked over his half-moon spectacles to further relate the serious nature of his words. "They are all in grave peril each and every time they step outside of Hogwarts. Harry for obvious reasons; Miss Granger and Mr Weasley because of their connection to him.

"The incident on the train, although seemingly harmless, could have cost them their very lives. Voldemort´s supporters are everywhere and see everything. It was a ripe opportunity to finally have done with The Boy Who Lived and we can’t allow it to happen again." Dumbledore shook his head sadly before continuing. "It is dark times we are in now, boy. Darker still yet to come. It’s not the time for petty rivalries."

"I understand, Headmaster," Draco parroted the acceptable response, fully well aware that he had called him `Headmaster´ once again. Why the old man thought he could be trusted was unclear to him. Maybe he was being toyed with. Any fool knew that Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater. And it was furthermore commonly known among the Hogwarts crowd that Draco was just as dark and unfeeling as his father. Draco revelled in their petty assumptions.

"Do you truly understand, I wonder." Dumbledore faded back into his thoughts, obviously musing something carefully. "You may go, young Malfoy."

Draco stood to leave but was instantly set upon by a large, scarlet-feathered bird. He tried to shove it off his shoulder but to no avail.

"What does it want?" he ground out, not caring anymore that he sounded hardly civil. The professor did nothing, merely waiting for what would happen next. The beautiful phoenix spread its wings and bent down to carefully rip open Draco’s fine, Egyptian cotton shirt with its beak.

"Sir, get this thing off of me at once!" Draco shouted, attempting in vain to push the bird away.

Dumbledore didn’t answer, didn’t move, still watching with hooded eyes as the bird finally revealed Draco’s pale chest under the remains of his white oxford. From the corner of its eye appeared a large, pearly drop of fluid, which seemed to hover a moment in the air before splashing on Draco’s skin.

From the instant of contact, Draco felt a burning where the tear had fallen. Heat radiated and spread out to every pore of his body. Light-headed, he fell back against the chair and grabbed his aching chest in one hand. The bird sent out a keen of song that further aggravated Draco’s sensitive brain before flying off to land on top of a large cage in the corner of the room.

"What did it do to me?" Draco cried, still clutching his chest with a violently trembling hand.

"I’m sorry, my boy,” Dumbledore answered mildly. “I don’t like to bother Fawkes when he is keen on doing something. That was only a tear that you felt. Apparently he felt you in need of healing."

"Healing?" Draco whispered furiously, looking down to see if there was actually a wound where the tear fell. There was none. "I’m burning all over!"

There was a twinkle in Dumbledore’s eye that Draco almost missed. "You may want to see Madame Pomfrey then. It’s possible you are allergic to phoenix tears."

"Y-yes,” Draco whispered, hating the way his voice trembled. “I think I’ll do that. Am I dismissed?"

"Of course, go and see Poppy now. Maybe she can help."

Draco nodded dumbly and stood to leave. How he managed to stumble to the Infirmary, he hadn’t the faintest clue. He only knew that there was a roaring fire in his chest, and his brain fairly exploded in full sensory overload as each sound, each step he took, every drip of water down the cool, stone walls crashed against him like waves breaking on shore.

Madame Pomfrey checked him over, placing a wonderfully cool hand on his feverish brow before clucking her tongue and sending him straight to a standard bed.

It was only after she had administered a very pungent, foul-tasting potion that he was allowed to rest. The thunder in his head was dulling, as if someone had pulled up a blanket to shroud his mind. Sighing half-contented, Draco drifted off to sleep.

 

 

Reviewing is good for the soul.

Chapter Two

It was two days before Draco felt confident enough to attend classes again. The burning had faded into slight and ever-present warmth surrounding his extremities. A light buzzing was the only trace that there had ever been such a massive rush to his tired brain. Madame Pomfrey assured Draco, in strangely unconfident tones that fell flat on Draco’s ears, that this was normal and it would fade soon enough on its own.

‘Soon enough’ never seemed to arrive though. The air in the dungeons where the Slytherin dormitories resided was damp and chill. It had bothered him before only in the way a stray hair that tickles your check would. Now it was warm because he was warm, and it brought a sense of foreboding each time he came down to sleep at night or study in the common room. He found himself looking over his shoulder, waiting for that damnable bird to attack him once more and finish the job it started in the Headmaster’s office.

It was for this reason that Draco decided to start studying in the library after classes were ended each day. Whenever he could, the lower levels of the castle were avoided except to sleep at night. The dungeons were supposed to be chill and damp, he muttered often to himself. Not warm, not sultry, not muggy with heat from his body.

Insomnia was yet another of the mysterious side-effects from a phoenix’s tear. Vivid images and flashes of colour connected to strange longings and fears hounded every waking moment, and par for the course, those which were not so much waking as sleepwalking.

Draco’s grades suffered for this; even in Potions where everyone knew he was the professor’s pet. Lack of concentration was also a concern in Quidditch where the Slytherin team was worked harder than ever at each practice, often not returning until late at night just before curfew was called.

Slytherin would open the season in the first game of the year against none other than Gryffindor. All players were required to be in top form and Draco clearly wasn’t.

He wasn’t looking forward to this game.

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

In spite of being nary an inch over five feet, Ginny knew that she was considered one of the most remarkable Chasers the Gryffindor Quidditch team had seen in many a year.

She flew lightening quick, notwithstanding her ancient Cleansweep, dodging Bludgers with mad loops and swirls as if she had been born a bird and not a very small girl. Having six brothers who lived, ate, and breathed Quidditch helped tremendously in this regard, even if by doing so she was considered something of a tomboy.

Her sensible wool cap flew off after a particularly dangerous flip and she let her dark auburn curls blow behind her like a flag. She was well aware that the sun-lightened streaks of gold she’d carefully mixed through her hair with a charm made it apparent from a long distance that she was a Gryffindor. It was the first game of the season, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, and Ginny grinned as the crowd took note of this with wild applause.

“Ginny! Heads up!” Ron chucked the Quaffle in her general direction, confidant that she would catch it. Which she did of course, flying off toward the Slytherin goal and feinting to the left in order to confuse their Keeper. It was a very stupid move on his part, she thought, and Ginny allowed herself to grin only after she had sent the Quaffle past his right side. Oldest trick in the book.

Cheers went up from the stands as she circled the hoop in a lazy victory dance and sped down almost vertically to retrieve the ball. Millicent Bulstrode, one of Slytherin’s Chasers, beat her to the punch though and raced off across half of the pitch before Ginny could blink an eye.

Determined, Ginny leaned forward over her broom and was coming close to the centre hoop, the rest of the team far ahead attempting to cut Millicent off. Gregory Goyle of the Slytherin team was flying nearby however, Beater at the ready, and whacked a Bludger hard towards Ginny’s head for no apparent reason. Ginny’s eyes widened and she flew sharply up, closer to the central hoop in order to avoid it.

The Bludger missed its target, what she assumed was her head, and hit her broom handle instead, cracking the antique in half. Ginny felt it snap and started to fall before she made a wild leap and grabbed the centre ring with one hand.

Looking around, Ginny noticed that none of her team-mates were anywhere close, they had gathered near the Gryffindor post where Millicent was in a tangle of arms and feet with Seamus Finnigan. Ginny rolled her eyes and tightened her grip on the ring, the cold metal biting into the soft flesh of her palms.

Not even the announcer was aware of her predicament in all the commotion from across the pitch.

Breathing heavily, Ginny tried to pull herself up in order to better grip the wet, slippery ring. But she was positive that the weather and fate seemed against her that day. Ginny felt her one hand slip and she started to fall.

Shutting her eyes, Ginny silently prayed that she would fall on a soft, not terribly breakable part of her anatomy. She was jerked out of that plea by the feel of a broomstick beneath her, her breath lodged in her throat. The slight weight of her landing made the broom overbalance, sending it into a wild somersault while the person riding the broom clutched onto her from behind.

When it rebalanced, she took a moment to clear her head and glanced behind her, instantly wishing that she hadn’t.

“I didn’t know it was raining Weasleys today or I would have brought my brolly,” Malfoy snickered, his pale eyes gleaming and his face flushed with exertion.

Biting back a retort, Ginny sighed and turned to face the front. “Could you please fly me to the ground, Malfoy?”

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

Draco spared a glance around the pitch and noticed that Ginny’s team-mates were still embroiled in watching the mad dash for the Quaffle over at the Gryffindor end.

“I could . . .” he mused. “Or I could dump you here and see if you could make your own way down.”

He could hear her teeth grinding and she twisted the handle of his broom in her tiny hands, likely wishing that it was his neck. Draco grinned. “Please, fly me down, Malfoy.”

It was hardly a suitably phrased request.

“Since you asked so nicely.” Draco pushed the broom down into a steep, vertical dive, imagining her horrified face with a smirk as she gasped and leaned back. Apparently the littlest Weasley wasn’t so arsing confident when she wasn’t the one controlling the broom.

This felt better, Draco thought to himself. Just a little friendly torture between enemies. For the first time in weeks, his head was clear and he knew exactly what he was about.

They were about twenty feet above the ground when he saw it: the Snitch!

Draco nervously glanced behind him, noticing that the Gryffindors had finally realised their star Chaser was riding on his broom, but they were still far in the rear. Looking above and to the right was Potter, pushing forward and solely occupied with keeping the Snitch in sight and ignoring all else. Draco grinned in anticipation as a plan formed itself in his mind. Distraction, he learned at an early age, is the key to all spur-of-the-moment plans.

He pushed Ginny’s back until her chest was firmly planted in his broom handle, covering her body completely with his own. She gave only a muffled squeak and tried desperately to push him off. He moved his hands in front of hers and leaned closer, trying to build speed and conceal her bright red hair with his cloak.

The Snitch was so close he could almost taste it! Just above and ahead. Potter was closing in though, right behind him, hand stretched and seeking.

“Hold the broom steady or we‘ll both go under!” Draco whispered to the thoroughly squashed Ginny under his chest. He didn’t wait to see if she replied, but brought his feet up to hold and stood carefully on the broom handle, deliberately using Ginny’s bottom for balance.

Potter pulled up swiftly beside Draco, his chin dropping when he finally saw Ginny clutching the broom under her for dear life and apparently being groped by his rival. The distraction was enough though, and it gave Draco the advantage he needed. The Snitch was already firm in his grasp! The tiny wings fluttering against his fingers, trying to escape, but he wouldn’t let it escape. Not ever again.

Trailing them closely was the entire Gryffindor team, murder in their gaze. Harry was the closest though, almost able to touch them. Draco sped off faster, allowing time for a victory loop-de-loop and a friendly smack to Ginny’s behind before touching the ground.

She fell over with a soft thud upon landing, grass brushing in sharp contrast to her reddened cheeks.

“It should rain Weasleys more often, apparently it’s a lucky omen,” Draco drawled, dusting off his cloak and staring at the prize in his hand with something close to disbelief as he studied the golden Snitch laying on top of his leather gloves. “Should have checked Trelawney’s forecast.”

Draco didn’t have much time to feel smug though when Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor team showed up.

“You’re dead, Malfoy!” Ron Weasley shouted, ignoring his sister who still lay huddled on the ground and shivering.

Draco turned around, allowing himself to coolly look the redhead up and down as if measuring his value. “Wrong, Weasley. She’d be dead if she hadn’t fallen on my broom. I thought you Gryffindors were all about family and bravery,” he sneered, even though he well knew that Ginny probably wouldn‘t have died from the fall unless she landed on her neck. “But I suppose you wouldn’t have noticed if your precious sister nearly died because you were too busy being crammed up Millicent’s arse.”

“Son of a b—”

Ron was only barely contained by Seamus and Harry, their arms wrapping around his torso from behind. But by the looks on their faces, it was obvious they weren’t terribly keen on holding him there. Time to go.

“Well, I suppose this little beauty put Slytherin in the lead for the Cup, eh?” Draco held the glinting Snitch up in the late autumn sun, inspecting it closely between thumb and forefinger before pocketing it. Madame Hooch be damned, he was going to keep this as a souvenir of his victory over Potter. Finally, something to write home about. “Later, losers.”

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

The Gryffindor common room was fairly quiet that evening. Rain pelted the windows and lent a dull grey cast over what was a normally colourful room.

Seamus and Ron were playing chess in a dreary corner and Hermione was reading a book so close to the fire that her hair crackled on occasion from contact with the heat. Ginny reclined on a sofa, covered by her cloak and staring into the flames. Everyone else was either studying or out on the Quidditch pitch receiving a harsh lecture about teamwork and several laps around the field courtesy of their Captain, Mr Harry Potter.

Somewhere inside, she knew that no one blamed her for what had happened earlier that day. Brooms break and Malfoy always was a rotten tosser, so that wasn’t anything new. But fear . . . that was something else entirely. Ginny felt sure that she could have kept Malfoy from getting the Snitch if she had only had the temerity to make him lose his balance or fly the broom closer to the ground. But fear kept her from it and the game was lost. Not only that, but the slimy little git actually managed to get house points for keeping her from breaking her neck!

She had been so terrified after the match that Harry had been forced to send her to the common room with Ron and Seamus half-carrying her into the warmth it promised. At least it had given them an excuse to stay out of the rain.

There had been no control, it wasn’t her broom and he had—
Ginny stopped and shuddered as she recalled Malfoy’s hand steadying himself by grasping her bottom in his hot fingers.

It was peculiar though. Malfoy had always struck her as someone who would be just frostbitten as his attitude, skin cool like a snake. Instead they had burned her even through the thick padding of robes and corduroy trousers. Ginny almost wondered if he had branded his handprints into her backside.

“I’m going to take a shower, Ron,” Ginny murmured as she stood and stretched, walking towards the sixth-year baths. Ron grunted his assent and waved a hand in her general direction to show that he had heard her.

Stripping down, Ginny felt the need to check just to make sure there was no visible sign of Draco Malfoy’s ferret-like fingers on her body. There were none, as expected. And though the rational part of her knew it was foolish, the emotional side stated that it was necessary to bathe his indelible presence away.

The showers were soon steaming, curling her hair about her face, and suddenly Ginny felt ill at ease. It wasn’t helping anything but was in fact making the sense of Draco Malfoy’s aura even stronger.

Disgusted, Ginny turned off the showers and put her dirty uniform back on. Maybe a nap before supper would help. With this thought in mind, she trundled down the hall to the sixth-year dormitories and fell onto the soft, feather mattress of her bed.

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

Harry was thoroughly worn out and drenched to the skin when he came through the portrait hole and into the common room some hours after dusk.

Ron was playing a game of chess in the corner with Seamus, and Hermione was reading as always before the backdrop of a roaring fire. No one else was around as his team-mates had already retired to the shower rooms just off the pitch.

Harry sighed and flopped down in front of the fire, accidentally hitting Hermione's book with one hand. He could see her blink with her mouth open to make a comment from the corner of his eye, and he looked up to see her studying him. Her lips closed quickly and her eyes softened.

"Harry, are you all right?" Hermione laid a hand on his arm in concern. He flinched, not expecting her to touch him.

"Nothing much, I just have a bad feeling about this year. It's been too quiet for too long and it seems like everywhere I look there are signs of bad things to come." A log in the fireplace splintered loudly, appearing to confirm his fears. Hermione only sniffed in disgust.

"You've been in Professor Trelawney's class for too long. That old crackpot has been filling your head with nonsense for years and it's finally started to sink in. You should have dropped Divination ages ago."

Harry crossed his arms and scowled, making Hermione drop her hand to the rough hearthstone. "I'm not talking about real signs. It's just . . . I have a horrible feeling that Voldemort will chose this year to strike."

Hermione looked toward the ceiling, not quite rolling her eyes, but the message was clear. "You said the same thing last year and the year before that. Honestly, Harry, you need to calm down."

He furrowed his brow and leaned forward almost menacingly. "How can I calm down?" he asked in a deceptively calm voice. "Voldemort is always there, and if he isn't, there is something else: Death Eaters, Basilisks, evil professors. I want to calm down."

"Yes, he is always a threat, things could go wrong at any time. But you can't live your life in fear of retaliation!" Her usually quiet voice was starting to become shrill as more words poured forth. Ron and Seamus looked up from their game in the corner and were watching the exchange silently. "I don't care if you want to ignore me and sit in your room, drinking Fire Whiskey every night and fail all of your classes because I'm not going to put up with it anymore. When you decide to grow up, I'll be here. But until then, I'm not talking to you. I can't watch you do this anymore." Her lip trembled slightly and there was a crack in her voice as she said the last word.

Hermione stood swiftly and grabbed her book, stomping up the stairs as fast as her short legs could carry her. Harry was about to go after her, but decided to let her cool off instead. He raked a shaking hand through his wet hair and closed weary eyes against the fire, which was making them dry up and sting.

If Harry had looked up at that moment, he would have seen the glint of dark amusement from two eyes hidden in the shadows.

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

It had been two weeks since the infamous Quidditch match against Slytherin and Ginny was beginning to feel normal again. Hermione and Harry apparently had had a falling out and that left she and Ron to pick up the pieces. One of them was always with Hermione, talking to her between classes or asking for help with assignments. The best way to keep Hermione from withdrawing completely was to make her concentrate on schoolwork. Harry, of course, kept himself company with a bottle of Ogden's Fire Whiskey, like always. This did nothing for Hermione’s nerves of course, and lately she had been even worse company than before, petulantly snapping at anything with or without a pulse.

Ginny had been up late the night before, studying for her Potions exam, so she was yawning as she made her way into the Great Hall for breakfast. The effect of her lazy stretches was startling on the entire male population. They all stopped to stare at her, whispering furiously behind hands to their fellows. Ginny pretended not to notice, deciding that it must be because of the incident, even though that was ages ago. She plopped down into her seat and grabbed a piece of toast, liberally smearing it with butter and jam.

Hermione was sitting beside her instead of at her usual place between Harry and Ron. She also noticed the furtive glances and giggling, for once not as caught up in her own problems. "Ginny, why is everyone staring at you?" she whispered.

Ginny looked around, dropping her toast when she became aware that everyone was staring at her, not just Slytherin house. The entire Hall gave a guilty jerk and went back to eating their breakfasts.

"I-I haven't the faintest, Hermione." Ginny was shaking. It was first year all over again. The whispers, the stares, the look of disappointment from others at their table. What did she do?

"Are you sure?" Hermione prodded.

"Yes, I'm sure. I haven't done anything."

Suddenly there was a roar of applause when almost every boy in the Hall stood up and shouted praise as Colin Creevey came skidding in to breakfast. He gawped about, panic etched clearly into his skin. Everyone laughed and sat back down to enjoy their meal.

Ginny glanced up into his startled eyes as he raced over to her chair and started trying to drag her out of it by force. She slammed down her fork and pushed him away. "Colin! What on earth are you doing?"

He didn't stop though, but became more insistent as words poured out. "I need to talk to you, it's urgent."

Ginny looked back down at her plate while she absently plucked his shaking hand off of her arm. "Whatever it is, you can say in front of Hermione, she can keep a secret."

Colin shook his head. "No, this is something about you, not just me."

"Go on, Ginny. Obviously it's important."

Ginny gave Hermione a sceptical glance. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, go ahead, I'll be fine.” The corners of her mouth quirked up wryly. “You don‘t need to suffer my infantile temper anymore than you do already."

This was all the assurance Colin needed and he proceeded to drag Ginny out of the Hall and into a disused classroom. He spared a glance around the room, looking for intruders. His entire body was shaking and for the first time, Ginny was truly worried about him.

"Colin?" she placed a hand on his chest, feeling his heart beat rapidly against her palm. "What's the matter?"

"What's the matter? You wouldn't ask that so calmly if you knew what has happened."

"What?" Ginny‘s eyes widened.

Colin took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Someone stole my portfolio."

Ginny gasped and took a step back. All of the stares she had been getting this morning at breakfast were suddenly making sense and she knew without having to ask. "Why didn't you tell me before? D-did they . . ."

Colin nodded. "It's worse than that though, Gin. Whoever stole it sold some of the pictures."

She felt certain that her eyes were the approximate size of dinner plates. "Sold! Sold to who?"

Colin backed up a few paces, seemingly ready to physically defend himself against her notorious wrath. "Playwizard magazine."

"Playwizard!" she screeched, her throat suddenly raw from the force. "Someone sold your nude studies to Playwizard!"

Ginny paced up and down the room, barely restraining herself from taking her anger out on Colin. Who would do such a thing? "What about the pictures of Padma and Parvati?"

Colin shrugged. "I don't know. They aren't in the magazine though, it's just you."

She sneered, "How thoughtful of them."

"I'm sorry, Gin."

"Sorry? You're sorry? My life is ruined because I wanted to help you get into art school and you're sorry!"

"I didn't know! I thought that they would be safe. And your life isn't ruined. People will forget about this eventually, Gin. Just give it some time. It‘s not as if you were completely unclothed. Just, erm, mostly."

Ginny covered her face in a lattice of trembling fingers. "What will my mum say? And all the boys in school are probably ogling me this very minute." She straightened up and she could see the homicide written clear in her eyes just from looking at his face. Colin skirted back a little further. "I want to know who did this, and then I'm going to kill them."

Her voice had been quiet, but there was determination and a very dangerous fury, which belied the silence that stretched between the two friends. Colin edged forward and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "If it'll make you feel better, you can tell everyone my little secret."

Ginny glanced up at Colin, startled. Yeah, she was getting stared at, and later on it would probably progress into catcalls and pinches to her backside. But Colin . . . he would probably be beaten on a daily basis and called names she couldn't bear thinking about. She put an arm about his waist and squeezed.

"Oh no, Colin. I couldn't possibly do that to you. They would eat you alive."

Colin's lips twisted wryly, his forehead beaded with sweat. "No worse than what they are going to do to you."

"No, it would be much worse. Believe me about that. This isn‘t your Muggle world, I‘m afraid." Ginny sighed and rested her head on his chest, all her anger at him melting. "Poor Colin."

He laughed. "Poor Colin? How you can hug me after what I've let happen is beyond my ability to know. You truly are a saint."

Ginny scoffed and smacked his arm in a playful manner. "I'm hardly a saint. Come on, we need to get back to the Hall and have some breakfast. Something tells me that this is going to be a long day."

 

Reviewing is good for your soul, and mine, too!

“Ginny!”

She groaned. Ron was pounding up the stairs to the girl’s dormitories at a furious pace, bellowing her name as he went along. There was no use in hiding from him, they were brother and sister and eventually would have to see each other again. Stupid arse wouldn’t even let her bathe in peace.

“I’m in the bath, Ron.”

Stomp, stomp, stomp, slam! Ron stood in the doorway, red-faced and brandishing a magazine, not noticing that she was in a state of undress. Fortunately for her, bubbles were covering the most important parts.

“Can I help you?” Ginny asked acidly.

“Sweet Merlin, cover yourself!” Ron raced over with a towel and attempted to wrap it around her shoulders.

She batted it away with one hand. “Why bother, everyone’s seen me in less than this already.”

If it were possible, Ron’s face turned a more violent shade of purple and a vein throbbed on his neck in an interesting manner. He indicated the magazine by a shake of his hand.

“Care to explain this to me?”

“Not really, but since I know you won’t let me finish my bath until I do . . .” Ginny tossed her head to the side, bubbles half-covering her face. “Colin needed nude studies to complete his portfolio for art school. So I helped him out. I didn’t know that someone stole the pictures last week.”

“That’s just what he told you.”

“No,” Ginny disagreed vehemently. “You don’t even know him. Colin would never do that to me. Besides, the pictures of Padma and Parvati aren’t in there." She pointed at the magazine with a dripping finger. “So this was done to get me personally.”

Ron’s eyes widened. “Padma and Parvati posed for him too? I’m gonna kill the poncy little—”

Ginny’s eyes flashed in anger. “Don’t you dare call him that!”

Ron was quiet for a moment, breathing deeply of the steamy air through his nose. Something in his expression broke and he started forward. “Gin, whoever did this is going to pay. If you say that Colin didn’t do this, then I believe you. But I’m still going to have a talk with him. I don’t want to know what you and he are on about, and I don’t—”

“He’s gay, Ron,” Ginny cut him off wearily. “He is nothing but my very best friend.”

Ron’s eyes grew even larger. “He’s gay? But all of those girls that he’s been with . . .”

“He says it is pretty common behaviour before someone realises they like people of the same gender. I’ve done a lot of research and have tried to be there for him the best I could. Don’t you dare go and open your mouth now.”

“I won’t, I promise. But if he didn’t—” Ron’s face flushed an even deeper shade of red. “Malfoy,” he ground out.

Ginny rolled her eyes. “You always go back to him when something goes wrong. How on earth would he know about, much less be able to steal, Colin’s pictures?”

Ron’s hands wrung themselves over and over before fisting and dropping to his sides. “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”

“Then by all means, find out if you can. But can I please finish my bath?” The bubbles were starting to disappear and soon there would be nothing left to cover her naughty bits but the clear water. Ron nodded, deep in contemplation, and closed the door, leaving Ginny to her thoughts.

*~*~*~*~*

The next day, Ginny ventured out into the hallways with her head held high. She had taken extra care with her appearance that morning. Liberally covering her face with Lockhart’s Fabulous Freckle Fader and applying the small amount of paint charms she used with special precision. It wouldn’t do for her to look as if all of the gossip was affecting her sleep, which it was.

All talk stopped as she passed by and it took every ounce of courage and control to keep walking and ignore the stares. It had taken almost five years and Colin’s gentle insistence for her to gain the self-assurance she had now; it would not be ruined because of some stupid photographs. The Potions classroom was just a little further, if she could just sit down and get lost in her textbook . . .

“Mmmn, Weasley. Loved the one of you and the Patil girls draped over that sofa like the tarts you are. Now I’ll have something to bait my mastiffs into mating with at home.” The words were spoken softly into her ear and she stopped. The warm breath of the speaker was still moist on her neck. He was the one who stole the photographs! Ron had been right all along, but how had it been done?

Ginny turned round quickly as Draco was straightening up, grinning with sharp, white teeth. “You stole Colin’s pictures!”

This accusation received nothing but a haughty smirk in return. Ginny looked up and realised that her head only reached just above chest height on the arrogant beast. But her arms were at exactly the right level . . .

“At least you won’t be mating anymore.” She had the satisfaction of watching the puzzlement shift his features before pulling back her fist to slam into his crotch. The boy crumpled and almost fell on top of her before she regained the good sense to step back.
He lay there, holding his goods, face purple. “You’ll pay for that, you little bitch.”

Ginny had to admire the fact that his words weren’t squeaky like Ron’s had been when she’d done the same thing to him last year, but were instead a breathy hiss. People gathered in a ring, watching as Draco writhed on the floor in agony. She glanced around, thankful that Ron wasn’t nearby to ‘protect’ her from Malfoy’s wrath. Besides, it wasn’t as if he was going to be able to move anytime soon. She smiled sweetly down at him and blew a mocking kiss.

“It’s been fun, Malfoy. Remind me to—ahhh!” The world tumbled end over end as Draco grabbed her ankle and dragged her onto the floor, the back of her head clunking painfully on the hard, stone floor.

His face was pressed close as he whispered almost into her mouth. “You aren’t going anywhere, Weasley.”

Draco sat up and flipped her body over his lap. Ginny thrashed wildly about and she could feel him grunt as he struggled to hold her down. She could just see as he raised his large, long fingered hand and paddled her thoroughly on the bottom like a small child. The fact that he had just been embarrassed was nothing to the ridicule she would garner from this. More ridicule, blast him. Malfoy soon pushed her off of him and stood up, watching as she rubbed her backside fiercely.

“Now hurry along, little girl. Maybe next time you’ll remember that you shouldn’t try to run with the big boys.”

Ginny glared up at him from her position on the floor and watched as he swept out of the dungeons toward wherever he had been going in the first place. The crowds soon dispersed, guffawing and shaking their heads. Not only had she hit her head and been spanked like a two year-old in front of her peers, but now Ginny was late for her Potions exam.

*~*~*~*~*

It had been a long day and Draco sighed wearily as he flopped down on the green leather sofa in the empty Slytherin common room. The hard-won clarity of the morning had been reduced so far that it took every ounce of control he had not to break into tears. So it stood to reason that he didn’t want to deal with Pansy tonight when she slithered down the stairs.

“Oh Dray-co! You look so worn out! Let me kiss you all better.” She sat down on his lap, uninvited, and tried to kiss him on the lips. Draco allowed a hiss of pain escape and shoved her off onto the floor.

“Get off me, woman!” He rubbed at his crotch slightly and winced.

“Poor Dray-co, are you still hurting?”

“What do you think, you twat?” he ground out.

She tilted her head to the side, allowing hands to support her weight on the cold stone floor. “You must be really angry at Potter to have sold those pictures to Playwizard. When that little weasel tells him it was you, he’ll have your rocks on a stick.”
Draco shoved a hand through his hair, disrupting its usual coiffed perfection. “You think I don’t know that?”

“Then why did you tell her?” she persisted.

“I didn’t tell her outright. I just wanted a good laugh was all.”

Pansy narrowed her eyes and took in his form. “You‘ve been acting odd lately. What happened to you?”

“Nothing’s happened to me. I’ve just been tired is all.”

“Mmn-hmmn. It isn’t like you to give away the game before you’re ready to do so.”

Draco grunted in response and ignored Pansy, staring into the fire.

“You know,” she murmured, touching a hand to his thigh and slipping it further up. “I think I know just what you need.”

“Not tonight, Pansy. I‘m weary.”

“You don’t have to do anything but sit there.”

“I said not tonight!” he snapped. Pansy leaned back, her face openly fearful.

“You are different, Draco.” She actually forgot to say his name in an affected way, eyes widening. “Crabbe and Goyle say that you won’t let them walk with you anymore and you actually received house points for saving that chit’s life!”

“Crabbe and Goyle irritate me even more than you do. And as for the Weasley girl, do you really think I wouldn’t have been punished if I just pushed her off of my broom?”

“W-well . . .” she floundered, her fingers twisting in the rug under her hand.

“Exactly. Now if you don’t mind, I was busy before you came in flouting your non-existent charms.”

Pansy jumped to her feet, facial flesh quivering with rage. “I’m never sleeping with you again, Draco Malfoy. Never!”

“Next time you make a threat, Pansy darling, take away something other than that over-used little quim of yours. Because frankly, I was starting to lose interest anyway.”

“I hate you!” Pansy shouted, tears streaming down her flushed cheeks as she ran up the stairs to the girl‘s dormitories.

“Ah well, nice to see I still haven’t lost my touch,” Draco whispered to himself, absorbed once more by the green flames of the fireplace.

*~*~*~*~*

“You punched Malfoy in the rocks? Are you mad?”

Ginny sighed, trust Ron to overreact. “What did you expect me to do after what he said to me?”

“You should have come and found me instead of clocking him like that. You were asking for trouble.”

“Well, I found it apparently. Anyway, it doesn’t matter, what’s done is done. And I‘m perfectly capable of defending myself, thanks much.”

“Do you realise that you’ve practically started a war? Malfoy will never leave us alone now. After what Dumbledore said—”

“Have you already forgotten that he was the one who sold those pictures of me?”

“Well, no—”

“Malfoy is the one who started this, not me.”

“But Gin—”

“But Gin, nothing!” she snapped fiercely. “I’m not a little girl anymore, Ron.”

“You certainly are little! Malfoy is at least three inches taller than me and I’m six-foot! I don’t care how well you think you can defend yourself, you are still too small to be running around pounding people in the goods. You’re lucky that all he did was spank you.”

“It was enough,” Ginny admitted, ruefully rubbing her bottom. “He has hands like an iron skillet.”

Ron shook his head. “I’m going to go have a talk with Harry, if he’ll listen. We have to be prepared for what Malfoy might do next, and what I‘m going to do to Malfoy.”

“It’ll be easy enough for him to do something with Harry and Hermione fighting like they are.”

“You can’t fight with someone if you don’t acknowledge they exist,” Ron stated, his face suddenly even and vacant.

“I think Hermione went over the top. If she really wants to help Harry, she should just talk to him instead of screaming her head off and pretending he‘s not there. She’s scared of losing him and thinks that this is the best way but it’s not.”

Ron visibly flinched at her words but hung his head instead of saying anything further on the subject. “I’m going to go and talk with Harry.”

As Ron made his way out of the room, Ginny called out. “See if you can get him to talk to Hermione and I’ll see what I can do with her.”

Ron stood there, staring blankly at his sister a moment before nodding. “Yeah, you do that.”

*~*~*~*~*

“Hermione, you have to talk to Harry. This has been dragging out for far too long.”

The girl sniffed and tossed her long, frizzy brown curls over one shoulder. “I have nothing to say to that disgusting drunkard.”

Ginny pursed her lips and studied Hermione for a moment before speaking. “You know, it isn’t like you to pick a fight with Harry. Usually it’s Ron you’re angry with, this just doesn’t feel right to me.”

“No, Ginny,” Hermione whispered severely, turning to look her directly in the eyes. “You know what doesn’t feel right? Harry drowning his problems in a bottle instead of talking it over with Ron or I. Not only that, but when he does finally start talking about what's bothering him, he starts in on the same rubbish we’ve hashed and rehashed for years!”

“Then it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s been after him lately.”

“But I can’t live my life when Harry is always going on about You-Know-Who! It makes me wonder why I even bother studying for my N.E.W.T’s at all.”

“So that’s what has you so upset. You’re afraid that Harry’s right and he won’t be able to stop You-Know-Who from killing you.”

“Not just me, everyone. I’m afraid for everyone and I can’t— I can’t live this way. The constant fear, looking over my shoulder for You-Know-Who in every corner. It makes me wonder why I haven’t run screaming back to the Muggle world. Then Ron is always saying something about how doom and gloom Harry is and how he drowns his troubles in a few pints and a few girls down in Hogsmeade almost every weekend. I can’t bring myself to call him on it, and it isn’t even really my business what he does in Hogsmeade, but I’m worried about him. We‘re all falling apart.”

“Hermione, just go and talk things out with Harry. You’ll feel better. If You-Know-Who really is going to do something soon, then this is certainly not the time to be bickering with your friends.”

“I suppose you’re philosophy is something like ‘make the best of the time you have, eh?” Hermione queried contritely.

“Something like that.” Ginny made a shooing motion with her hands. “Now go on up there and talk to Harry and Ron, maybe this can all be worked out before Christmas hols and we can have some fun this year.”

Hermione smiled in a heartbreakingly true way and made her way out of the common room and up to the boy’s dormitories while Ginny took the opportunity to get some Potions homework done.

*~*~*~*~*

It was nearing midnight when Ginny put the finishing touches on the two foot Asphodel essay Snape wanted as punishment for being late to class that morning. Ginny rubbed the back of her neck and stretched, glancing up to the boy’s dormitory entrance. Things had been quiet up there for some time now and it made her curious.

She pressed the blotter firmly over her Potions essay and rolled it up. No one else was in the common room this late except for Neville who had fallen asleep over his Herbology homework on the floor in front of the fire.

Carefully, Ginny stepped over Neville and made her way upstairs to the seventh-year boy’s dorm. The door creaked as she opened it and there was mumbling from Seamus’ bed as he turned over, clutching a stuffed Quaffle to his chest and burying his face in it contentedly. Ron and Neville’s beds were empty, but Harry’s had the curtains partly drawn. Ginny lifted her hand to draw them back and smiled softly when she took in the scene before her.

Harry was on the left side, glasses halfway down his nose, his face relaxed and tranquil. Hermione laid in the middle, squished between the two boys with an arm around each of their shoulders protectively. Ron curled up into her side, resting his flushed and sticky face on top of her stomach.

Ginny sighed, feeling left out, but happy that they had all resolved the problem. Things were back to normal again. Hermione and the boys always had a closeness that became less restrained as the years passed and danger brought them nearer to each other. No matter how much Harry tried to keep them at a distance.

Most people would see their behaviour as odd or even aberrant. But this was as natural as breathing to the Trio. Trio. That is what they were, and there was no room left for a fourth to join them on the bed and make it a quartet.

Ginny pulled the quilt her mum had made for Harry the year before out of his trunk and draped it over their slumbering bodies, careful not to wake them. She gave in to her urge to smooth Ron’s hair before wandering back down the stairwell. Ginny woke Neville from his place before the fire and scooted him along to bed before going upstairs herself.

Huddled away from the creeping autumn chill by thick blankets and curtains, Ginny wished, not for the first time, that she had more friends like Hermione and Harry were to Ron.

Weeks went by and things returned to normal. Harry didn’t spend every night in the loving arms of Ogden’s Old Fire Whiskey and Hermione stopped pretending that he didn’t exist. Ron put the fear of Merlin in the entire male population of the school in regards to treating Ginny respectfully and the days wore on.

Christmas holidays were closer than ever, and in the mad rush to do well on mid-term exams, Draco Malfoy actually forgot to berate Harry and his friends at every given opportunity. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t do it again, though.

All in all, life was good if not exactly relaxing. Quidditch matches were still brutally competitive as ever and Ginny strained to overcome her newfound fear of brooms.

"Ginny, it isn’t like it’s Malfoy’s broom or anything. Just fly the sodding thing. It’s the last match before hols and then you can practice some more at home. Harry’s had you on the bench since that Slytherin game and you have to play today."

"Why did Claire have to be sick today? Couldn’t she have been sick tomorrow?"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Like she really woke up and decided `oh, I think I’ll be sick so Ginny has to get her fat arse off of the bench´."

"My arse is not fat!"

"It will be if you don’t get off it and get some exercise. At least then I won’t have to worry about Malfoy selling more pictures of you to Playwizard."

"How dare you!" Ginny shrieked as she rapped Ron smartly on the head with her broom and turned to walk away, hoping that her ruffled dignity was apparent from the straight set of her shoulders.

"Oi, Ginny!" Harry called from across the pitch. "I’m glad to see that you’re feeling better, but could you please not hit my Chaser over the head? We’ve still a game to play."

Ginny grumbled as she mounted her broom, resisting the urge to send Harry a rude gesture in reply. At least she could content herself in the fact that this game was against Hufflepuff instead of Slytherin. It could be done, just a friendly game of Quidditch and then tomorrow they would all be leaving for the Burrow.

She looked up into the stands to see Hermione fluttering her hand madly and Ginny smiled, waving back as she took off from the ground. Colin was somewhere close to Hermione, a few rows back, and was staring lustily at Ernie MacMillan, totally ignoring Ginny.

Madame Hooch pitched the Quaffle high into the air and Ginny took a deep breath before pelting after it, not having time to wave at Colin. Justin Finch-Fletchley grabbed it first as he whooped and raced off towards the Gryffindor goal. Narrowing her eyes, Ginny leaned forward over her broom to gain speed and stopped in mid-air as a flashback of being bent over by Malfoy flooded her mind. She shook her head to clear it and pushed blindly forward. ‘He isn’t here, just keep playing,’ Ginny berated herself. Justin was far ahead and Ron and Seamus were already catching him up.

Ginny spared a glance at Hermione for support and drew up short when she saw Malfoy talking to her. Whatever it was that he said must have hurt because Hermione was huddling down into her robes as far as possible. As he leaned forward to smirk superiorly into her face, Ginny’s temper snapped and she flew straight for the stands, regardless of the fact that she was in the middle of a Quidditch match. Hermione had already had enough and was making her way past Malfoy to get down the stairs when it happened.

Tripping over someone’s rucksack, Hermione’s arms wind-milled for only a second before she lost balance completely and fell backwards over the railing. She screamed once and was plunging towards the ground at a great rate of speed. Malfoy’s mouth was a perfect `o´ as he rushed forward to catch her but too late.

Ginny was close by and threw her broom recklessly into a downward spiral, shouting Hermione’s name and praying to catch her before the earth did. For a moment, about twenty feet from the ground, Ginny could feel Hermione’s hand touch her own and gripped it tightly to slow her descent. Closer, closer, closer, Ginny told herself. But she wasn’t fast enough and Hermione slipped, stopped, and bounced once before becoming very still.

Just narrowly avoiding the ground herself, Ginny pulled up and landed, jumping off of her broom to cradle Hermione in her arms. Harry and Ron weren’t very far behind and the latter leapt from his broom before it was less than three feet from the ground.

"Hermione!" was echoed by both of the boys, a cry that pierced the crowd’s whispering, as they knelt beside the motionless form.

"I-I tried to catch her, but I wasn’t fast enough and my hands slipped. I’m so sorry—" The last word was partially cut off as a sob escaped Ginny’s mouth and she clapped a hand over it, rocking Hermione back and forth. Madame Hooch was running across the pitch with Madame Pomfrey in tow.

"What happened here?" Madame Hooch demanded.

"Hermione tripped and fell over the railing. I couldn’t catch her in time," Ginny cried, holding onto Hermione more protectively than before.

"I see. You shouldn’t have moved her, Miss Weasley. Now put her down so Poppy can have a look," Hooch said brusquely as she removed Ginny’s arms from around Hermione and placed them by her sides.

Madame Pomfrey looked down at Hermione and shook her head, allowing her wand to pass over Hermione’s body and clucking when the light encasing the tip turned a different colour.

"She isn’t dead. But there’s some internal bleeding and broken bones. I may have to call someone in from St. Mungo’s to operate. You should feel lucky that you slowed her fall or she’d be dead now."

"But she’ll be all right?" Harry pleaded, gripping the tiny woman by the shoulders.

"Maybe, it all depends on how fast we can get that bleeding under control. A human body can—"

"What are you waiting for then! Take her back to Hogwarts and call that fellow from St. Mungo’s!" Ron shouted, cutting off Madame Pomfrey.

The sister frowned at him but didn’t comment as she created a stretcher and made it float over the pitch towards the castle and into the Infirmary.


*~*~*~*~*


"How bloody long does it take to do surgery on someone?" Ron asked, pushing a freckled hand through his limp hair.

"Don’t say bloody," was the only response Ron received from Harry.

Ginny was just as worried as the other two, who had resorted to pacing and staring blankly at the walls. Harry had taken it upon himself to make Hermione’s presence felt by correcting Ron periodically when he wasn’t blanking out, and Ron grumbled and swore as he walked from the Infirmary doors and back to the wall in a dizzy circuit.

It was early evening and Ginny’s stomach was rumbling. She pushed herself off of the bench opposite of the Infirmary and stretched her aching limbs.

"I’m going down to the kitchens to get us something to eat. Any preferences?" Her enquiry was met with silence on Harry’s part and Ron shook his head.

"I couldn’t think of eating anything right now, my stomach is all tied up in knots."

Ginny nodded. "I’ll bring back some sandwiches and juice, just in case."

The hallways were dark and rush torches were spaced neatly down each side of the corridor all along this wing. What light they cast was dim and flickering at best. Just as she was turning the corner en route to the kitchens, a tall figure shrouded in black knocked her down. Ginny started to apologise before she realised that they had knocked her down and stopped. Then she caught a glimpse of their face and froze.

"Malfoy?" she queried, turning her head to the side just to make sure that Ron wasn’t going to make an appearance and then looked up again toward the cloaked figure. His face was half-hidden under his hood and what little there was showing didn’t give much indication of his thoughts, if any.

"What are you doing here? Come to finish her off?" Ginny sneered as she put her hands down on the rough stones to help her stand back up. Malfoy didn’t move to offer assistance, but pulled even deeper into his cloak.

"I didn’t mean for her to fall," he said so faintly that Ginny had a difficult time making out the words.

"You didn’t push her but you may as well have done."

"I tried to catch her!" Draco defended angrily.

"I know," Ginny sighed. "I saw you reach for her. But we were both too late." She looked up into his face but could see nothing but darkness. "Anyway, why do you care? She’s just a Mudblood. I thought Malfoys didn’t associate with her kind."

"I don’t care."

"Then why are you here?"

Draco actually flinched at this and Ginny tried to blink the surprise from her expression. "Are you feeling guilty, Malfoy?" she ventured.

"Of course not," he snapped, but the response lacked his usual bite and Ginny could see how his shoulders were slouching down. It wasn’t like him at all.

"You do. You feel guilty because you upset her so badly that she lost her balance and fell. You feel bad because you couldn’t catch her before she—"

"Shut up," he whispered hoarsely. "Just shut up. You don’t know anything about me, so don’t presume."

"Why do you care, Malfoy?" she persisted. "Why do you care what happens to one of us?"

Draco opened his mouth to respond and shut it tightly as Ron came skidding around the corner, not noticing him there.

"Ginny, she’s awake! We can go in to see her now."

Ginny turned back to say something to Malfoy but he was gone. She peered into the shadows, but there was nothing so she allowed Ron to guide her back to the Infirmary.


*~*~*~*~*


"How are you feeling, Hermione?" Ginny asked, taking up her left hand as the right was being occupied in Harry’s tight grip.

She turned her head slightly to the left and smiled weakly. "I feel like I was hit by a Bludger."

Ginny laughed through thankful tears and gave her hand a squeeze. "No, just the ground."

Hermione nodded and closed her eyes wearily. "Where’s Ron?" she asked, eyes still closed.

"I’m here, Hermione." Ron sat on the bed when Ginny rose to vacate the coveted spot. Hermione nodded again and relaxed more deeply into the bed.

Before she had the chance to fall asleep, Ginny asked: "What did Malfoy say to make you so upset?"

Hermione blinked her eyes at the question and shrugged. "It wasn’t important, just Malfoy being a Malfoy."

Ron was quickly becoming purple with rage and Harry’s hand shook on top of Hermione’s coverlet.

"What did he say, Hermione?" Harry ground out. "I want to know what to tell him while I’m mashing his aristocratic nose into the floor."

Ginny almost said that Malfoy had tried to catch her, but kept silent as Hermione began to speak.

"He said that . . ." she swallowed. "He said that I’m a tease."

Ron drew back and gaped like a fish. "A tease? How are you a tease?"

"Because I’m always, you know, I’m always hugging you two and being affectionate."

"That doesn’t mean anything, we’re just close is all," Harry said, leaning back against the chair with his arms crossed. He had dropped Hermione’s hand in the process and now had a very dark look upon his face.

Ron had picked up her other hand and now held them both. "Hermione, don’t ever listen to something that stupid arse says again. Do you understand?" He shook her hands slightly for emphasis and placed a gentle kiss over her knuckles. "He’s only jealous because he doesn’t have a—a friend as good as you."

Harry snorted, "I don’t think Malfoy has any friends."

Ginny decided to broach a new topic. "Are you still coming to the Burrow for Christmas, Hermione?"

"Oh, I don’t know, Ginny. I’m still feeling awfully weak and Madame Pomfrey said that I have to be here for her to watch over me for at least another two days just to make sure that I don’t bleed anymore."

"We’ll stay here with you then," Ron said quickly.

Hermione only shook her head. "No, you all should go; I’ll be along before Christmas. Just as long as Mrs Weasley doesn’t mind that I sleep most of the time."

"She won’t mind, Hermione. In fact, I’m going to owl Mum right now and let her know about what happened." Ginny dipped her head down and gave Hermione a quick kiss on the forehead, followed by Harry and Ron.

"We’ll leave so you can rest now," Harry said with one last pat to her hand. Ron didn’t want to go, but Ginny grabbed his arm and dragged him away.

"Come on, Ron. We’ll write to Mum and ask her to set Hermione up in Bill’s room since he won’t be home for the holidays."

Ron nodded and allowed Ginny to lead he and Harry out of the sickroom.