A/N: This chapter ran away with itself. I originally started with about three pages and it slowly evolved into 10 and went to places unplanned. Please read and Review.

Timeline: This is set after Ginny 7th year and she's supposed to be 18, Draco almost 20. I'm keeping the death count in DH the same, however how Harry defeated Voldie isn't. Draco didn't get punched in the face or run around screaming like a girl. I might go into what happened later, but as of my current outline I have no plans to. What does this mean? It means you get to imagine the final battle however you want with the exception of the death toll.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all its characters belong to J.K. Rowling, blah blah blah- you know the drill

Chapter Three: Trust Issues

On June 10th I met an Auror named Credence Curmudgeon. Credence was in her thirties, petite, and looked like she couldn't hurt a fly. My theory was somewhat proven when she informed me she was an 'In-house' Auror. A few months ago I would be ignorant of the meaning, but I had done my homework. 'In House' Aurors were those who passed every examination with flying colors except for field training. These Aurors handled the legal side of the department, covered debriefings, and sometimes became handlers for undercover field agents.

The next few hours were spent going over contracts, confidentiality forms, rules and regulations, and about every type of legal obligation in the existence of humanity. Credence didn't seem too happy that I actually read what I was signing, but I didn't care; after the Diary I learned to read the fine print.

"What is this about Magical Propagation?" I asked. It was squeezed in amongst the secrecy clause and Accident Coverage.

"Oh, that's just for spell experimentation. Our researchers have been testing out new spells and potions. It means that you give your consent to try them later on in the program if you so choose." Credence said, her voice betraying her boredom. It didn't seem like a huge problem so I continued my perusal.

After I had finished all my signing I was taken to a Healer for my physical. There is nothing quite like being stripped naked, poked and prodded with cold steel instruments, and then have your body mass index calculated. I was deemed in good health and was given a potion, to help your immune system, and sent on my way to Registration.

The first hour of Registration is waiting in line for an hour. At the end of this line there is a small booth where an 'In House' asks you to sign in, checks your wand, takes fingerprints, and then hands you a pamphlet, map, and a room number. I was in room 13.

I walked down the hall scanning the doors as I went. Each door had a number and a heading below it. One was Offense, two Defense, three Potions, and on it went until I reached door thirteen. Thirteen just had a number, but no title. I shrugged it off as a mistake and proceeded into the room. It resembled a boardroom. A few wizards and witches were seated at the long table already, but no one was conversing. Silence permeated the room so fully I found it all a bit stifling. Unwilling to break the quiet and be made a fool I took a seat next to a slim, black haired witch; she didn't even look at me. A few minutes later the chair next to me was pulled out and a man gracefully lowered himself into the chair. I didn't bother to look at him really, a quick glance at his figure related that he was fairly tall, lithe yet muscular, and blond.

Ten minutes ticked by and all twelve seats were filled by the time an actual came into the room. The best way to describe this woman is she's beautiful and cold. The piercing blues darted from face to face and when they rested on me I felt a shiver up my spine. Pale skin illuminated her sapphire orbs, but did not help to warm them. She was nothing imposing about her stature since she was maybe 5'5" and her build was average, not bulky nor thin. Hair black as ink was pulled back into a severe bun, so tight it seemed to be giving her a slight facelift. She stood at the front of the table and gave tight, thin-lipped smile.

"My name is Alvina Veruca and I am here to hopefully induct you into Department 13," She announced, looking appraisingly around the room. "You have all been selected specifically for Department 13 for your superior skills. We are the best of the best, however if you are looking for glory and notoriety in the field I suggest you leaving. Thus department isn't about public opinion, far from it in fact. Aurors trained in this department will be unknown to all, but the highest-ranking officials. "

A few murmurs started up and I watched as two witches and a wizard exit the room. Alvina said nothing, but her eyes seemed to be reassessing each of us, as though trying to see into our souls. I've had my soul tampered with quite enough for one lifetime and so I stared straight at her, my eyes as cold and impassive as her own. I cannot be sure, but I believe the slight inclination of her head was an acknowledgement of my demeanor.

"Good. Now that we've sorted out the fame seekers, let us continue. We are a very secret part of the ministry, so secret that even the minister is unaware of us. Now I must inform you that if you choose to remain your training will keep you apart from wizarding society for over a year. You will have no contact with family or friends. In fact your partner is your only family here, your only friend. Trust is not something easily given or received in this line of work. Those of you not interested in such a task may leave, you'll be reassigned to a different department, no questions asked."

I watched as the remaining recruits started bustling out of the room, by the time the door closed there were only three of us present, Alvina, myself, and the bloke next to me. I can't blame those who left, as it is a lot to ask a person to give everything up. This is a job for someone like me, someone who has lost everything already.

"I'm surprised! Usually we have one person left if any, but two! Perfect." Alvina said her hard eyes trained on us. "Hmmm…if you don't mind the intrusion, but I must ask…what makes you think you're ready for this? What makes you better than the rest of those we deemed qualified?" She looked at me first and so I spoke up.

"I dumped Harry Potter. I would rather be the one to make me disappear than some vengeful fan girl. My parents are on the verge of disowning me and I've spent the past year dodging hexes flung from those I once considered friends. Why not go MIA for a spell?" I said with a shrug.

"Interesting, Miss Weasley. I suppose that is a better reason than some." She said. "And you…" she glanced down at the opened file in her hands," Mr. Malfoy?"

My head whipped around so fast I could practically hear the wind. I had not bothered to pay attention to him, but in light of his identity, I perused his figure eagerly. He was taller now and well muscled. His baby fat was gone and he now bore a strong jaw and aquiline nose. If I were to be honest with myself, I would admit that he had become a very, very attractive man. Somehow in the past year Draco Malfoy had grown up, grown up quite well in fact. It was a dizzying concept.

"My parents are currently rotting away in Azkaban. The Wizengamut has seen fit to freeze all of my accounts and strip me of my title and lands. I have been rejected for employment by every establishment I've applied to, with the exception of the Auror Academy of course. The world hates and scorns me for my family's involvement with Voldemort. What choice do I really have if I am to survive?"

I could not help but stare at him in shock. He had lost everything too? Our circumstances in life were so different and yet we had come to the same ending, we've both been rejected by society. It's funny to think how much I used to hate him, hated him so blindly, and yet he was my salvation…or damnation depending on whom you asked. It was a short conversation with this man that had altered my path in life and brought me to this room and oddly enough back into his presence.

"Oh, we do love our social pariahs here in department 13," Alvina said, an interruption to my reverie. "They make recruitment so much easier."

"Glad someone benefits from our misfortune," I said and I could hear Draco's barely audible snicker.

"Quite. Here in department 13 we do not shy away from what we are or whom we're made up of. We are the unwanted and despised personas of society, shunned for one reason or another. It's harder to disappear when you have loved ones scouring the earth for you." Alvina glared at me, a silent critique on what she deemed inappropriate amusement.

" I accept my unfortunate situation, but that doesn't mean I don't entertain some bitterness about it." I responded, a little annoyed by this woman. When you know you are hated I've found its best to shield yourself in a cloak of cynicism, wit, and sarcasm.

"Surprisingly I agree with Weasley. What fun is being a pariah if you aren't allowed to harbor some modicum of hatred?" Malfoy said, his voice a low drawl, a cynical humor pervading each word that dripped from his mouth. "How about we skip the speeches about our statuses as 'Wizarding Britain's Most Hated' and move onto what we'll be doing."

"Hmm…I can see you two will be fun." Alvina said with a sigh. "We will be sending you both to an undisclosed location for your training. You will be each other's partners and only company during this time. However before we send you out you'll be having a month's worth of training in some tools and techniques you will find useful. You have approximately 24 hours to say your goodbyes and tie up any loose ends. Report back here tomorrow at exactly noon. Dismissed." Alvina said sharply and with a whirl of her cloak left the room.

I couldn't help but feel a little baffled at the time. I had been issued 24 hours to give up everything, to come back to the ministry and live and train with Draco Malfoy. I tore my eyes away from the door and glanced at Malfoy out the corner of my eye. He was staring straight ahead, utterly still except for the slight ticking in his jaw. I'm not sure what he was thinking at the time, possibly anger at his situation.

We walked out of there together, unconsciously falling into step with each other. We wound our way through long corridors and took several lifts before we reached the door leading to the ministry. We were in the ministry's atrium when I felt the urge to thank him. I can only account my impulse to act on this urge to temporary insanity.

"Malfoy," I said and he stopped and turned to face me. Ministry employees were rushing all around us, seemingly too harried and busy to pay attention to us.

"Weasley." He responded, quirking on eyebrow up in question.

"I wanted to thank you…." I said, my throat suddenly going dry. What was I thinking? Thanking Malfoy for being a profound git two years prior wasn't on my agenda, but then again neither was seeing Malfoy at all, let alone being partnered with him.

"Thank me? What the hell did I do? " Malfoy asked, looking truly perplexed. I'm not surprised, how could he possibly know what a deep affect his words had on me back then.

"Yes. Two years ago…in the owlery. I…you said some things that opened up my eyes. It's because of that conversation I didn't just throw away my dreams for Harry…. so thank you."

"You're thanking me for that? Didn't you just say that you've become a social leper for breaking up with scar head? You're daft."

"A simple welcome would have sufficed, you prat."

"I guess I should take pride in the fact that I'm the reason you're estranged from your family. Perhaps the Malfoy ancestors will give me some credit for that little bit of damage I inflicted."

"I take it back! God, I put myself out there and express my gratitude and you fucking throw it in my face. Malfoy you're such an arse."

"Listen Red, I don't care if you think you've had some bloody life altering experience, but telling your family to bugger off is just stupid. I wish I had mine, but instead they're rotting in Azkaban. Be grateful for what you got and stop casting them aside."

"I didn't cast them aside! They chucked me out because they thought I carried on an illicit affair with you!"

Had I not been there to see it I would never have thought Draco Malfoy's eyes could get that big.

"What the fuck, Weasley?"

'After I chucked Harry…. the prophet some how found out and it was in the papers the next day. When I went back to Hogwarts the other students started hazing me. A lot of people made up rumors, wanted to villify me I suppose. Anyway one of them was that I had been carrying on with you while Harry was off looking for Horcruxes. I guess someone, I'm pretty sure it was Lavender Brown, wrote to Rita Skeeter about our salacious acts. My Mum and Dad stormed Hogwarts, pulled me out of class and my mum started screaming at me. I tried to tell them it was a load of rubbish, but she was too angry to listen. My mum told me I wasn't welcome back for the holidays. I didn't chuck them, they chucked me." I felt a little silly spilling all my emotional baggage out to Malfoy, right in the middle of the fucking Ministry of Magic… but it felt good to unload. Luna had been a good listener, but I had felt bad unloading on her all the time.

"I believe, Weasley that you are in need of a drink." Malfoy said and then promptly grabbed my hand and began to drag me out of the ministry.

"uhhh…Malfoy, where the hell are you dragging me?" I asked, but didn't try to dissuade him from pulling me along, I just waked faster to keep up.

"Pub."

"Oh, so you were serious about that whole getting a drink thing?"

Malfoy just casts me a look that clearly said ' what the fuck do you think?'. I quirked an eyebrow right back at him, my face said 'Did you expect me not to be skeptical?'. I used to think of this as the beginning of our non-verbal communication, but it started before, it began at Hogwarts after that night in the owlery. This small exchange was just the first time I truly recognized it for what it was.

I was sure Malfoy was going to drag to some posh, stuck up club with lots of lights and extravagant prices, so it was a welcome surprise when he steered me into The Mad Hatters. Hatters had been around forever and a day, passed down from the original 'Mad Hatter', a bloke by the name of Edmund Lewis, through the ages. The fish and chips were excellent, the prices reasonable, and the ale impeccable. The Lewis's carried muggle brew along with wizarding drinks and I now love them for it-there is nothing quite like a pint of lager.

Malfoy lead me to a booth in the back of joint, told me to sit and headed for the bar. I was a little perplexed by the whole situation, here I was about to get myself drunk with the likes of Draco Malfoy…except after everything else that had happened in the past year it didn't seem so out there.

"Fish an chips is on the way, but for now lets educate you on how to drink." Malfoy said as he set down two glasses and a pitcher of ale. I was not as of yet acquainted with Muggle alcohol.

"What is that?" I asked staring warily at the dark liquid in the pitcher.

"That, Red, is some damn good ale. You ever have anything that wasn't butter beer or Fire whiskey?" Malfoy asked as he poured us both a glass. I shook my head no. I had actually only had fire whiskey the one time with Fred and George. It hurt to think of Fred and in an attempt to block out the pain I took a huge gulp of the ale. It was a bitter drink and I made a face in response, but took another, slightly smaller, gulp.

"Slow down there, Weasley, its not a race." Malfoy said with a smirk and took a sip of his own drink. "So…what kind of scandalous acts did we perpetrate around Hogwarts according to these rumors?" His smile was mischievous and I couldn't help but giggle when he started waggling his eyebrows.

"Malfoy you're a pig!" I gasped out between my laughter.

"Oink, oink." Was his reply, "Look, the world is made up mostly of wankers like Potter and slags such as Lavender Brown. Best thing you can do is laugh at the absurdity of it all and just go with it. If I broke down over every rumor that's be bandied about in regard to myself I'd be in St. Mungos right now… so what did we reportedly get up to?" I drained the rest of my glass before beginning.

"Uh…lets see. Our secret trysts occurred in the Owlry, Astronomy Tower, on Snape's desk…." I recounted some of the tamer stories as we continued to drink. Our food came without ceremony and I began eating while Malfoy continued to top off my glass each time it emptied. I was pretty well into my cups by the time I'd finished our long list of imaginary transgressions.

"Snape's desk, eh? Kinky. We are quite the randy pair."

"Yes, yes. You also supposedly have a huge knob." I said. This could have ended at being a slightly embarrassing, but humorous statement, but unfortunately I had to follow it up. I blame the ale for what came out next. "So do you?"

"Did you seriously just ask me about the size of my package?" Malfoy asked, his smirk grander than ever and amusement danced in his grey eyes.

"Oh my God, I think I did. Ugh…forget I just asked that. It's this damn muggle brew you've made me drink." I'm pretty sure my face matched my hair at this point in time. Malfoy was smirking, his once cold eyes dancing with mirth,

"Maybe you'll find out one day, Weasley, but not today." Said Malfoy.

"Fuck you, Malfoy." I mumbled, looking determinedly at the table.

"Like I said, maybe some other day."

"I think I hate you right now."

"Sorry Red, but that's old news." He countered, raising his glass in a mock cheer.

It was so strange to be having a decent time with Malfoy. We were there for hours, trading insults and ragging on former schoolmates. I can only account for this prolonged encounter on my reluctance to go home for the night. My parents were still angry with me, but they had allowed me to return to the Burrow once I finished Hogwarts. I had only been home for a few weeks, but it felt like forever. Mum wasn't speaking to me and Dad kept looking at me with disappointment in his eyes. Harry and Ron had gotten a flat together and rarely stopped by the Burrow anymore, and when they did much glaring would ensue. Hermione had spoken with me civilly and had actually listened when I told her what happened, but she mostly stayed away in order to keep the peace, Harry was her friend first and came before me.

I was good and sloshed by the time Malfoy cut me off. I was so drunk I couldn't apparate and was forced to begrudgingly accept his help. We side a longed a short walk from the Burrow so my parents wouldn't see him or me, especially when I emptied the entire contents of my stomach upon arrival.

"Ugh…vomiting is so undignified, Red." Malfoy said as he held back my hair. I grunted a response simply happy that he had enough manners to not allow me to puke in my own hair. When I finished my disgusting display I batted Malfoy's hands away from me.

"I'm okay now, you can go home." I bit out and noticed my speech was somewhat slurred, a hazard of going on drinking binges.

"You're not alright, you about to fall over. I'm walking you to your door." Malfoy said already grabbing hold of my shoulders and steering me towards my front door. Had I not been so inebriated I may have protested more, but as it was I j allowed him to shuffle me up the walk. I just wanted to fall into a bed and sleep for a decade and then I could discuss my leaving with my family in the morning. A perfect plan if ever one existed. Except like all my plans this one went awry.

Once at the entrance I fumbled with my keys, dropping them a couple of times before Malfoy took them from me. He was grumbling to himself, something about silly bints, while unlocking my door.

"Alright, I'm going to get you inside and then I'm our of here." He said, pushing open the door. I assume Malfoy expected to just dump me on a sofa and leave, but unfortunately for him fate seemed to have something else in mind. Upon our entrance we found that not everyone was asleep as assumed, no there waiting up for me were my parents.

"You lied to us Ginevra." Dad said, staring daggers at Malfoy.

"Dad I didn't…we're not..." I tried, attempting to straighten myself to my full height only to be hit by a wave of dizziness. Malfoy steadied me.

"Not so fast there, Red." He whispered.

"Get out." Mum declared, her voice so cold and clinical I barely recognized it.

"I was just leaving, Mrs. Weasley. I was just making sure your daughter got home alright."

"Both of you out of my house!" she screamed, tears pouring down her cheeks and sparks flying from her wand.

"Mum…I …"

"I said get out and don't you come back." She spat and stomped out of the room.

I started crying then, looking at my father pleading with my eyes for him to listen. He didn't.

"I'm disappointed in you Ginevra. Here." He said, throwing a duffle bag at my feet before he followed my mum up the stairs. I knelt to the ground and with shaking hands undid the zipper. All of my clothes had been shrunken and placed in this bag. They had decided to kick me out before I even made it back tonight.

"Come on, Weasley, you can stay on my sofa tonight." Malfoy said as he knelt beside me. "Tomorrow we start training." I know he hauled me to my feet and we must have apparated afterward, but it was all lost upon me. I barely remember being in his flat that night, I was too distraught to notice the modest décor or slightly used furniture. I hurt so much I was numb. I vaguely recall Malfoy putting sheets and a pillow on his sofa. I just lied down and wept, my body was racked with sobs and I was unaware of much else but my own pain. I must have fell asleep from exhaustion, because the next thing I remembered was waking up with an afghan covering me. The room was pitch black and the sun had yet to rise. It was in that darkness that I vowed to never cry again, that I would not go back to my old life. Malfoy, my family's mortal enemy, had shown me kindness where my parents could not… though I did not tell him, Draco Malfoy won may unswerving loyalty that night.

A/N: I am not trying to make Molly and Arthur Weasley cruel, evil, or OC. I believe if they thought Ginny was having an affair with Draco, especially when Harry was off fighting good ol' Voldie they would be extremely upset. Molly has a very volatile temper and I can see her telling Ginny to leave the house after her showing up drunk with Malfoy holding her up. I can also see Harry not actively creating rumors about Ginny in vengeance, but I can see him being bitter and not doing anything to dissuade such.