December 19, 2004

She knocked on his door five times. That was their signal. Five swift, concise knocks so that the other person would know who was at the door. She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for him to answer.

He was already smirking by the time he had opened the door, always finding amusement in the fact that she would come to his flat time and again, despite her frequent, heated arguments about how much she loathed him. But of course he saw right through her. "Well, well," he drawled, shaking his head in mock disappointment. "What a surprise."

"My brother and I had a row," she told him before she was even fully through the door. Ginny never waited for Draco to invite her in, knowing well enough that he'd keep her in the corridor for hours just to embarrass her. "I'm going to stay here for a bit. I hope that's fine."

Draco shrugged nonchalantly before turning around and heading into the kitchen. "I have a pot on," he called over his shoulder. He took a brief moment to watch her as she removed her hat and scarf and coat to lay them neatly over the back of the settee.

Ginny entered the room and took a seat at the table. "Splash of cream with lots of sugar, please."

"I know how you drink your coffee," he said with a half-smirk. This was also part of their ritual – their good-natured teasing and bantering – and it was something that they both quite liked. He handed her a mug and sat down opposite her with his own, giving her a few minutes to relax and settle in.

She looked up from her cup. "You can ask, Draco." It was obvious from the way that he was watching her that he wanted to ask about the fight she had had with her brother.

The corners of his lips lifted ever so slightly. "Mostly I'm just curious as to why you are here. If you had a fight with the Weasel King, why didn't you go home to the Rabbit Hole?"

Ginny snorted. "The Burrow?"

"Yes, that. An equally appalling name for a home, if you ask me."

"Nobody did," she quipped.

"Cheeky."

"I try."

Another comfortable silence grew between them, and both Draco and Ginny continued to drink their coffee. It struck Ginny as odd how easily she could be around him, even though they had only been on acquaintance-terms for a short while. He didn't push, and he didn't ask a lot of questions, but he was a good listener and was always willing to offer his no-nonsense opinion when she needed honesty and a smart-arse reply when she needed a laugh. She wasn't sure if he was exceptionally perceptive or if she was absurdly easy to read, but either way, Ginny found that she loved speaking to him – or sitting with him in silence. Maybe she even thought of him as a friend.

"So, what were you fighting with him about?" Draco asked, sounding as though he genuinely cared.

She nibbled at her bottom lip. "I'd rather not tell you."

He scoffed sarcastically. "Fine. Don't tell me. I'll just be taking this back then." He reached across the table to take back her coffee cup.

Ginny smiled despite herself as she shielded him from taking her drink. "We fought about you, you great git."

Draco honestly appeared to be taken aback."Why in Merlin's name were you arguing over me?"

"You know," she began, looking and feeling slightly uncomfortable, "because you and I have been... well, friendly lately. He doesn't really agree with me coming around you since you..."

"Since I was in prison?"

"Yeah."

"And the fact that those charges were all dropped and that I am an Auror now... that means nothing to him."

"To Ron... no," she admitted, adding a shake of her head for emphasis.

He swallowed visibly. "To you?"

"Well," she began, her cheeks flushing scarlet, "I'm here, aren't I?"

She was at his door, Daily Prophet gripped tightly in her clenched fist. Her face was red from exertion – from running for several miles without ever looking back. There was only one place she could go – that she wanted to go – and there was only one person she could talk to. She knocked five times like she always had, but this time the knocks were frantic, as though the end of the world was coming and if he didn't let her inside, she might die.

When he saw her at the door, he lifted an eyebrow slowly. He had just seen her in her office a few hours prior, and he was honestly surprised that she had come to his flat, especially since he had just blackmailed her into taking his case. But she was right there, standing in front of him with a look of urgency.

He kept his face and his voice very even. "What can I do for you, Weasley?"

She shoved her newspaper against his chest. "Is this what you were hoping for, Draco?" Ginny cried, knocking him back a few steps as she entered his flat without invitation. Her voice was caught in her throat. "Did you know that your case was a hopeless cause no matter what, so you decided to hurt me and take me down with you?"

His eyes were no longer able to meet hers. "Ginny, this isn't..."

"Of course it is!" she shouted. "You meant for this to happen. You feed off this type of publicity, and you always have." She bit her lip, willing herself to calm down a little bit, knowing well enough that shouting at Draco would only result in him getting frustrated and likely throwing her out. "Do you know what this means for me, Malfoy? My career? You spoke to the press! You let me be assassinated by them! How... how can I represent you in front of the entire Wizarding population if I can't even trust you?"

Draco said nothing for a moment. "I am sorry that this hit the press so soon, but it isn't like this sort of thing wouldn't be published anyway, regardless of whether or not they have a comment from me."

"I told you I wanted nothing to do with this."

"Then you should have said no!"

Her eyes narrowed and brightened with rage. "How can you honestly say that like I had any choice in the matter, Draco? You didn't give me any option!"

He scoffed. "Please, Weasley. You had every choice. No one forced you to fuck me all those years ago, and no one forced you to be my attorney this afternoon." He glared back. "All I did, love, was point out that your family would find out about your torrid little affair with me all those years ago, and they would know that you were with me the night that Ron died. I may have threatened you, love, but ultimately it was you who decided to protect your name over defending your family. You did this," he spat, tossing the Prophet onto the floor.

There was nothing for her to say to that. Nothing he said was untrue. Her face paled. She could have said no. She should have said no – then and now – but she didn't. She couldn't say no to him. She needed to sit down.

"Coffee, Weasley?"

A look of disgust crossed her face. "No."

"Don't be like that," Draco said, almost kindly. "We used to be friends. Cream and lots of sugar, right?

Her eyes darkened. "When were we ever friends?" she asked, her voice quiet and brave. "You always looked at me as a tool. I was an excuse, and I was an easy shag, and now I'm wondering if the only thing you ever wanted was a way in. You got close to me, Malfoy, and then you killed him."

His face remained stoic. "Is that really what you think, love?"

"I don't know what to think, but I am your legal counsel now, Draco. You can tell me anything and I can't use it to hurt you." Her voice began to break, but she didn't cry. "You could tell me right now that you killed him, and I wouldn't be able to do a thing about it."

Without flinching or dropping his eyes, Draco said, "I want to know if you think I'm guilty. And telling me that you don't know is not an acceptable response."

Ginny closed her eyes, thinking back to that night – how she felt being with Draco and how she wanted to die when she heard about her brother. Only a sadist would ever want to inflict that upon someone, that harsh contrast of emotion that would cause any person to break. But was Draco a sadist? That was what she needed to think about. Her mind drifted back to their Hogwarts days, to the way he loved to torture her brother and her friends, to the way he longed to hurt everyone who he believed to be less than him, to the way that he used and manipulated and lied and cheated.

Could he hurt her in whatever way suited him?

Yes. She was sure that he could.

"I think that you know what I think, Draco," Ginny said, her throat bone dry.

He sneered. "Then there is nothing left for me to say. You are free to believe whatever you want."

"Draco..."

"I'll see you Monday, then."

He grabbed her roughly under the arm and pushed her through the door, slamming it in her face immediately as she crossed the threshold.

Once again, Ginny was completely alone.