Ginny knew what she was doing was stupid, but she was tired of the golden trio leaving her out of their fun. If she followed Malfoy and successfully spied on him, then they’d have to let her come along with them on their next adventure.

She looked both ways down the deserted hallway and then listened for footsteps. The cold stone floor conducted sound like a drum. If she didn’t hear any footsteps besides the boy’s she was following, then no one else was in the general vicinity. Moving ahead in a crouch, she saw Draco’s blond head disappear behind a tapestry. As she moved stealthily toward it, she thought about why she was doing this.

Part of her wanted Harry to ask her for help, just so she could tell him she had better things to do. The war was mostly over. The worst of the Death Eaters had been rounded up. Both Harry and Ron thought that Draco and his housemates were still working for the splintered factions of Death Eaters. Voldemort, or what was left of him, was still out there.

When Ginny reached the tapestry, she took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Did Draco know she was following him? Was he waiting for her, wand in hand? She lifted the edge of the tapestry with her wand and waited. Nothing happened. No stinging hexes came her way, so she slid behind the tapestry to see what she would find.

An entrance to a stairwell was hidden beneath the tapestry. The staircase went up. Lucky for her, it didn’t appear to move like the other stairs in the castle. Holding her wand tight in her hand, she ascended the stairs with her back pressed against the right hand wall.

The sound of her own breathing seemed far too loud in the empty stairwell. She assessed the situation. If Draco was out of her line of sight, there was no way he could hear her breathing. The only other sound was the whisper of the cold draft that raised goose bumps on her arms.

As she slowly ascended the steps, she wondered if Dumbledore would allow the Slytherins back into Hogwarts if they were still fighting for the wrong side. It wasn’t very likely, but who knew? Dumbledore seemed to believe the best in everyone. In her opinion some people just didn’t have any good in them.

The stairwell curved to the right, so she could no longer see what was coming next. She froze when she heard the sound of a door creaking open. What was Draco up to? Her heart raced as she wondered what she would find at the top of the stairs. As she rounded the corner, a partially open door came into view. That must have been the noise she heard.

If Draco was in that room, how could she sneak up on him? She’d imagined following him down hallways and spying into rooms to see what he was doing. Finding him in the only room that led off an enclosed staircase was not part of the plan, and it certainly didn’t leave her any place to hide.

Should she turn back?

A sound like rusty hinges giving way reached her ears. Maybe there was another room off of whatever lay beyond this door. Footsteps sounded and then drifted off. He must have moved onto another room. What if he hadn’t? What if he’d just opened a storage closet and walked inside. He’d see her the moment she entered the room.

She bit her lip and considered her options. It was Friday night. She didn’t have a boyfriend to spend time with, but all of her friends did. It was either follow Malfoy, or spend the evening in her room.

Creeping up the last few stairs to the doorway, she peered around the doorframe. A hand grabbed her by the shirt collar and yanked her into the room. Before she had time to react, her wand was torn from her grasp. She gasped as her back hit the stone wall, and a wand pressed against her throat.

Gray eyes bored into hers, and she found herself unable to move. Her brain screamed that she should hit or kick, but her body was frozen by fear. The boy, no the man, who stood before her made her blood run cold. This was not Draco Malfoy the eighteen-year-old student, this was Draco Malfoy the future, or possibly current, Death Eater.

“Did Potter send you to spy on me?” His face was so close she could feel his breath as he spit out the accusation. The intensity of his stare seemed to push against her, pressing her into the wall.

She’d be damned if she’d give him the satisfaction of showing how scared she was. Hoping her voice wouldn’t shake, she said, “This has nothing to do with Harry.”

He studied her like a puzzle as he kept her pinned in place. “Why are you here?”

She opened her mouth, but had no idea what to say. ‘I’m here because I have no life’ didn’t seem like a good answer. Her face heated as she realized how pathetic she truly was.

His features softened and the wand dropped from her throat. A look of smug satisfaction crept over his face. “I knew it. Zabini said I was mental, but I knew I was right.”

Ginny had no time to ask what he meant. The hand at her neck pulled her body flush against his. His mouth crashed down on hers. For a moment, she froze and then her survival instincts kicked in. She’d kiss him, wait for her opportunity, and then run.

Angst, anger and want seemed to flow through the kiss setting her nerves on edge and making her heart beat double time. How was she going to get away from him?

His mouth moved to her ear and he whispered, “It’s funny. I’ve watched you for so long. All this time, you were watching me too.”

As his lips skimmed down her neck, she realized she had been watching him, but not for the reason he thought. Panic twisted her insides as his hand skimmed under her shirt. Praying he’d be reasonable, she gently pushed his hand away.

He pulled back from her, confused. She gave him a tentative smile. “I’m not used to things going so fast.” Trying to show she wasn’t rejecting him, she laced her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck and pulled him in for another kiss. He responded with enthusiasm.

When he pulled away from her, she was breathing heavily, and it wasn’t all from fear. Sure, she’d run away in a heartbeat, given a chance, but kissing him wasn’t awful. Heat radiated off his body counteracting the chill she’d had earlier.

He reached out to wrap a lock of her hair around his fingers, rubbing it between his thumb and forefinger. “I hated this hair color before you came along.”

That was probably the worst compliment she’d ever received. She didn’t think it would be wise to point that out. Instead, she reached up to touch the hair by his right temple. “I used to dream about having blond hair.”

Good lord, why had she told him that?

A tapping sound had Draco spinning around with his wand drawn. For the first time, Ginny was able to look at the room she stood in. It was a small classroom given over to storage. The rusty hinge noise she heard must have come from the small trunk open on the floor. There wasn’t enough light for her to discern it’s contents.

The tapping came again, and Ginny realized it was coming from a small window in the far wall. Draco pointed his wand at the window and murmured several spells she didn’t know. The glass in the window dissolved, and a hawk flew into the room.

One moment, the hawk was there, and the next moment a man stood in its place. If she’d ever seen the man before, she would have crossed the street to avoid him. Evil shone from his eyes. His twisted grin told of taking pleasure in other people’s pain. When he noticed Ginny he stepped toward her.

“What is she doing here?”

Time to leave. Moving toward the door, she said, “You’re busy. I should go.”

Draco grabbed her wrist and pulled to her to his side. “No. Stay.”

She most certainly did not want to stay. Trying to appear calm, she asked, “What’s going on?”

“Family business.” Draco pointed at the trunk. “What you wanted is in there.”

The man dropped to his knees and studied the open trunk. She wondered why he didn’t just reach in and grab whatever was inside. Then he could leave, and she could find a way to escape as well.

The man drew patterns in the air with his wand. Ginny could feel dark magic pulsing in the room. “What’s he doing?”

Draco put a finger to his lips signaling she should be quiet. Dark vapors rose from the trunk. The man inhaled like he was gasping for his last breath. When he’d sucked down all the darkness, his eyes blazed with power. An evil grin lit his face as he stood to face Draco. He opened his mouth to speak, and coughed instead. He coughed so hard that he doubled over. A bloody froth bubbled from his lips before he dropped to his knees.

“This is for my father.” Draco pointed his wand at the man. Ginny turned her head away, but that didn’t stop her from hearing a strange gurgling cry. Terrified, she tried to pull from Draco’s grasp. He held her wrist in a grip of iron. Keeping her eyes down, she began to shake as crimson liquid flowed across the floor past the toes of her shoes.

“It’s over,” Draco told her. A hand cupped her chin and she was forced to meet his gaze. “This man betrayed my father. He came here tonight in an attempt to extort money from my mother. Look at him, Ginny.”

She didn’t want to look, but knew Draco wouldn’t be happy if she refused. She needed to keep him happy, so he would allow her to leave this room. She needed to play along until she could get away from him.

Her eyes followed the trail of blood across the floor to where the man lay crumpled in a heap. A hex had sliced his throat so deeply she could see bone. Her body shook more violently. Draco wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her. He lowered his head to whisper in her ear. “This is what happens to people who betray me.”

His lips brushed across her cheek. “You would never betray me, would you?”

Unable to speak, she shook her head.

He turned her away from the body. “I know you’re scared, but you’ve no need to fear me. Only those who betray me, or try to deceive me will meet this fate.”

Clasping her hand, he led her out the door.

Tears filled her eyes as her future unfurled before her. She would pretend she’d watched him for years. She would pretend she wanted to be with him. She would pretend she didn’t mind giving up her friends and family for him. Maybe after a while, she’d believe it herself.