Ginny stretched, arms reaching high as her back arched. She yawned, blinked once and sat up. She sighed, biting at her lower lip, as she wondered how long she had been asleep. The sun had sunk low on the horizon as she slept; the air was filled with the crisp coolness of early evening. Hands fumbled in the robes she had used as a pillow until they at last found what she sought.

A wave of the wand was enough to tell her that she was not late yet. A quick spell and the wrinkles disappeared from her uniform as her hair settled neatly into place. Deciding that it would have to do, Ginny hurriedly shoved her arms into her robes and picked up her book bag. She gave the shady knoll one last look, making sure she wasn’t leaving anything behind, before hurrying off towards the castle.

She made it to the castle steps without seeing anyone she knew, but that’s where her luck ended. Before she had made it past the Great Hall, Neville spotted her, waved and altered his path to join her.

“Have you been outside all this time?” he asked, shoving Trevor into his pocket.

Ginny shrugged. “I fell asleep under the big birch. You wouldn’t happen to know the time?”

Neville shook his head. “It was before six when I left the library, but that was ages ago.” His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “I haven’t heard it ring the hour yet, but then my memory isn’t exactly what you would want to rely on.” He gave a little laugh.

Ginny smiled vaguely. “I’m not late then, but I will be if I don’t get there soon.”

“Get where?” Neville looked slightly confused. “Is there a D.A. meeting? I checked last night but haven’t today.” He stuck his hand in the pocket that held Trevor, rooted about and pulled out his Galleon, scanning the edges hopefully.

“It’s not the D.A. I’m supposed to meet,” she hesitated, took a deep breath and said, “A friend. To study,” she elaborated at Neville’s questioning look. “And I’m about to be late. I’ll see you in the common room, then?”

“Right, I’ll just,” Neville stopped trying to keep up with her, letting himself fall behind as Ginny dashed towards the stairs.

*~*~*

“Where have you been?” Draco asked, lounging in an overstuffed armchair, hair hanging forward, hiding his eyes.

“I’m not late.” Ginny tossed her bag into the chair across from him, nudging his feet off the scuffed table as she walked by.

Draco glanced at the clock, lips twitching. “No. You are exactly on time.” He turned away as the hand ticked to a minute past.

Ginny pulled her hair back, shoving a long metal stick into it to keep it in place. “How was your day?” she asked, opening her bag and removing her potions book.

“Let me see that.” Draco reached over, dodging Ginny’s smack, and neatly plucked her potions homework from the pile of rolls in her bag. He scanned it, smirking. “It’s nice to see that our evenings aren’t completely wasted.”

Rolling her eyes, Ginny took it back. “Yes, well, I had a lovely day. Thanks for asking.”

“Why ask? You’ll tell me anyway.”

“So charming. I can see why all of Slytherin is fawning over you,” Ginny said snidely.

“Mine your tone, if you please,” Draco said, pushing his hair behind his ears.

“I like that, by the way.” Ginny gestured at his head. “Much better, now that it’s not plastic.” Draco said nothing, but the smile grew wider and he seemed to put an extra flourish into the simple task. Ginny grinned, settling back in her chair, legs tucked under her. “What is it tonight? The ten uses of aconite? Or maybe what makes Jobberknoll feathers so useful in Memory Potions and Truth Serums?” she rubbed her eyes, stifling a yawn.

“Find it that fascinating, do you?” Draco said with a smile, head tilting slightly to the side. “I’ll have to think of a way to liven things up.”

Ginny flipped idly through her book, pages passing without making any impression. “No, thank you.”

Draco shrugged. “Pity. I had something rather special planned.”

She looked up, eyes bright with curiosity. “And what might that be?”

Draco studied his nails. “Nothing that would interest you, I’m sure.”

Ginny took a deep breath. “I’ll trust your opinion then.” She returned her attention to the book, “Did you know that Veritaserum has an antidote?” she studied the page intently. “Would be useful if they gave some hint as to what it is.”

“Yes, but that’s not the sort of thing they put in standard textbooks, now is it?” Draco swung his legs around and stood. “Now, do you want to see what I have for you or don’t you?”

Ginny put a hand to her head. “Draco, I really need to study. You know I enjoy our time together, but…”

“No buts. Not tonight.” He held out his hand. “Come on, Gin. You won’t regret it.”

Ginny glanced down at her book and the pile of unfinished work on the table, rolled her eyes and set it aside. “All right, what is this surprise?” she asked as she took his hand.

“That would be telling,” Draco said with an impish smile.

Ginny clicked her tongue against her teeth as she stood, letting his hand drop to pick up her belongings. She started to shove everything back into her bag, pausing every now and then to glance at Draco out of the corner of her eye.

“You certainly are making a project out of that,” he said, tapping his wand impatiently against his palm. “Need a little help?”

“No, I’m done now.” Ginny pressed her lips together, shooting the door a nervous look. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Draco rubbed the corner of his eye. “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t,” he said with practiced nonchalance.

“How far is it?”

Draco took a deep breath. “Afraid to be seen with the enemy?”

“Hardly. Just wondering how your mates will take it if they happen to see.”

He tapped the little sliver badge on his robes. “This will take care of any questions.”

Ginny glared at him. “And you would let them think that, would you?”

He gave that snide laugh of his. “Would you let yours think any different?” Ginny blushed. “I thought not. If you’re done, we can be off.” He walked to the door, pushed it open and raised an eyebrow. With one last look around the room, Ginny followed him through it.

*~*~*

“It’s a dungeon,” Ginny said flatly.

Draco gave an exasperated sigh. “Of course it’s a dungeon. It’s what’s in it that matters.”

Ginny’s lips twitched down. “A table, two cauldrons, a set of scales, three, no, four silver knives and enough potion ingredients for me to know why Professor Snape is always blaming Harry for raiding his closet. Impressive.”

He scowled. “I thought it was.”

“It is; I’m sorry I wasn’t as excited as you wanted. It’s just that, well,” she gestured helplessly, “This wasn’t what I was expecting.”

Draco pressed his lips together thoughtfully. “What were you expecting?”

Ginny looked away “I’m not sure. But this is very nice. Oh, look!” She hurried towards a narrow bench. “Chocolate frogs!” She turned towards him, eyes dancing. “You shouldn’t have. They’ll go right to my thighs.”

Draco eyed her with a lewd smile. “Oh, I don’t think that’s a worry.”

Ginny ignored him, choosing instead to open a frog. Popping it into her mouth, Ginny walked towards a tall candelabra, lighting it with a flick of her wand. She gasped, almost choking on her treat, when the flames sent red and gold sparks into the air.

“I thought you would like that,” Draco said, coming to stand behind her. “Watch this.” He waved his wand, muttering something she couldn’t hear under his breath, and the flames went dark blue, shooting green and sliver sparks in a high arch over their heads.

“You certainly put some time into this,” Ginny said, laughing. She turned to face him and was surprised to find herself nearly chest to chest with him.

He took a step back, taking hold of her arm firmly, he steered her over to the table. “Look, there’s enough here to keep even you satisfied. I made sure to have even the most obscure components on hand, just in case.” He pointed at a pile of books “And if you have any questions that I don’t choose to answer, you can find what you need in those.” He smiled nervously. “So, what do you think?”

Ginny threw her arms around his neck, kissing him on the cheek. “It’s wonderful! You really have outdone yourself, Draco.”

He laughed, squeezing her waist and Ginny realized how nice it felt to have his body pressed up against hers. Confused, she dropped her arms, pulling slightly away. Draco’s arms tightened briefly, but let her go. “You like it then?”

“Is that uncertainty I hear?” Ginny teased as she headed across the room to where she left her bag.

“Malfoys are never uncertain,” Draco said superciliously. He pulled out a splattered copy of Magical Drafts and Potions and opened it to the marked page. “I thought we’d have a go at Deflating Draughts. They’re a little tricky, if I remember correctly.”

“Isn’t that the antidote for Swelling Solution?” Ginny opened her book to the index, running her finger down it till she found what she was looking for. Flipping to the right spot, she scanned the text. “Hum, I was right. Not too many ingredients, but the directions are fairly complicated. Good choice.”

“How could you doubt it?” Draco pushed a strand of hair behind his ear then scratched his chin. “There’s a trick to this, something to do with the third line of instructions.” He bit his lower lip, brow furrowed in concentration. “Professor Snape told me… Ah! It’s the amount of hellebore that you add. He said to reduce the amount by an eighth.” He shrugged. “I don’t remember why that works, but it does.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Ginny said, skimming the first line of the instructions. Nodding to herself, she took a large pinch of the powdered horned toad and sprinkled it on the bottom of her caldron. Next, she added the leech juice, stirring it four times counterclockwise while Draco stood there watching, his hand still on his chin. It unnerved her, so she turned towards him, hands on her hips. “Are you going to work or stand there as if you’ve been hit with a Body-Bind Curse?”

He started, dropped his hand and picked up the bag of powdered horned toad. He quickly caught up to her, but the typical comradely that existed between them was missing. He was abrupt in his movements, and the glances he shot at her were impossible to interpret. Ginny ignored the uneasy feeling in her stomach, focusing instead on her potion.

“Pass me some fluxweed, would you?”

Ginny complied, then started dicing some of the light green leaves, separating the pale purple flowers out to be mashed as per the instructions. Once they were the right size and shape, she added them to her mixture and smiled as the liquid turned the exact shade of puce the text describe. Her eyes started to water as she slowly stirred the contents of her cauldron and she was happy to see that she had to wait ten minutes before adding the mashed flowers.

Draco had apparently reached this stage before her, because he was over by the entrance when she looked up. Smiling, she placed seven flowers into her mortar and started to pound them. “What are you looking at?” she asked, craning her neck to get a better view.

Draco gave a little start, and shoved a slip of parchment deep into his pocket. “Nothing.”

Ginny laughed. “You couldn’t have said anything that would make me less inclined to believe you. What’s on that slip? Love letters from Pansy?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Draco said coyly.

“Makes little difference to me,” Ginny said, wiping her face with the back of her hand. Draco scowled and she glanced down to hide her smile.

“It’s a list of people I would most enjoy hexing, and you’re on the top. Want to see?” Draco pulled the paper back out of his pocket, waving it at her.

Ginny wiped her hands on her skirt, not bothering to answer. She glanced at the clock again. “Shouldn’t you check your potion?”

Draco glared down at the paper in his hands, as if it had done him a personal offense. Crumpling it, he stalked over to his cauldron, and tossed it into the fire. “It wouldn’t work anyway,” he muttered.

“What wouldn’t work?” Ginny asked, as she spooned her mashed fluxweed flowers into the potion. Draco’s pale cheeks flushed and she giggled. “Now, you have to tell me. A blush like that can’t go unanswered for.”

Draco’s eyes narrowed as he added the final component to his potion. “It’s not important,” he said, giving his fire a jab with his wand to lower it. “Let’s have a look at yours.” He leaned over her caldron and sniffed delicately. “The fire’s too high,” he said, prodding it with his wand. “That’s better.”

Ginny stared at the flames. “They look the same to me,” she said defensively.

“Well, they aren’t.” Draco crossed his arms and gave her a haughty stare.

She shrugged. “If you say so.”

“I do,” Draco said decidedly. “This simmers at a low heat for twenty minutes. After that it needs to mature for two weeks. Then, we can test it to see if it was correctly made.”

Ginny rolled her eyes. “I can read, you know,” she said, pointed to the paragraph in the book that described the maturing process.

Draco let out a sigh and put his hands behind his head as he studied the ceiling. “I don’t know why I bother,” he groused.

“What’s with you today?” Ginny asked as she rubbed her temples. “If I had known you were going to be surly, I would have stayed out by the lake.”

Draco leaned forward, arms braces against the stone table, hair hanging forward to hide his eyes. “If that’s how you feel, then maybe we shouldn’t meet again,” he said frostily.

“What?” Ginny blinked at him in confusion.

“I went through all this work, risked getting caught by Professor Snape and everything, and all you can do is moan about how it’s only a dungeon and compare me to Saint Potter,” Draco said bitterly.

“Is that what’s bothering you?” Ginny asked in a small voice. She reached out and covered his hand with one of her own. “I’m sorry, Draco. I should have been more appreciative. It’s just,” she paused to pluck up her courage. “It’s just that, well, this isn’t at all what I expected. Not that it isn’t lovely,” she added hastily. “It’s only that, well, a girl gets to thinking all sorts of things when a boy she fancies says he’s a surprise for her. And a dungeon, no matter how nice, isn’t one of them.”

“You fancy me?” Draco asked, turning his head to smirk at her.

Ginny pursed her lips. “Trust you to focus on the only bit of fluff in what I said.”

“You fancy me,” he said triumphantly. “I knew it. I knew it all along.” He pushed off the table and gave her a cheeky grin. “Was it my stunning wit or my dashing good looks? Hum, Ginny? What was it that you just couldn’t resist?”

“It was your overweening conceit, if you must know,” Ginny deadpanned. Draco goggled at her and she couldn’t help but to laugh.

“Overweening conceit, I ask you,” Draco shook his head. “You really know how to cut a man, Ginevra.”

Ginny wrinkled her nose. “Don’t call me that.”

“Why not? I think it’s a stately name. Not at all common.”

“It’s a bit much, don’t you think?” Ginny said with a self-deprecating laugh. “Honestly, you would think my parents had better sense. Not one of the boys got strapped with such a name.”

“I like it,” Draco said with a nod. “It’s a noble name.”

“Bet you like Nymphadora too,” Ginny said with an exasperated sigh.

“Nymphadora,” Draco said as if experimenting with the way it rolled off the tongue. He gave a little nod again. “Yes, very distinguished. A very nice name indeed.”

Ginny snorted. “You’ve bats in your belfry, Draco.”

“I certainly do, if I am thinking of doing this,” he said, bending his head to kiss her.

Ginny felt a start of surprise as his lips brushed hers. A tingling sensation started at her mouth and moved through her body causing her arms to wrap about his neck and her toes to curl. She felt his tongue brush against her lips and she eagerly parted them. The kiss deepened and she felt Draco’s hands tangle in her hair as he closed the distance between their bodies.

“I should have done that to start with,” Draco said, breaking off the kiss.

Ginny touched her lips absently, “Done what?”

“Kiss you. I’ve been working towards it for a month.” He kissed her again.

Ginny pulled back, laughing. “A month?” she asked in disbelief. “You waited a whole month?”

“Obviously. Do you think I managed something like this overnight?”

Ginny wrinkled her nose. “So that’s what this is all about. You were making your move,” she arched an eyebrow, “by decorating a dungeon and setting out cauldrons. That’s precious.”

Draco scowled. “It’s not precious.”

She suppressed a laugh, “Would you rather I called it cute?”

“No, I most definitely would not. If you must use an adjective, you could try charming,” Draco said haughtily.

Ginny smiled, “Charming. It doesn’t come to mind, but now that you’ve said it I can almost see it working. Yes, this is a very charming way to get a girl to snog you.”

He wrapped a length of her hair around his finger. “Find it funny, do you?” he asked with a teasing menace.

“Why yes I do,” Ginny said, rising to her tiptoes to kiss his chin. “Lower that arrogant head of yours, would you?”

“When I pictured this, you weren’t laughing,” Draco said sourly.

“I’m sure I was swooning at your masterly seduction,” Ginny teased. “Lower it or I’ll hex you.”

“Hex me, will you?” Draco wrapped his hand more firmly in her hair. “Try and see what will happen.” He pulled her head back at an angle and ran kisses down the underside of her chin and throat.

“Don’t tempt me,” Ginny said throatily.

“Why not?” Draco asked archly.

“Because,” Ginny shook free of his hand and licked her lips, “I don’t play fair.”

He raised a brow. “What’s this? A mighty Gryffindor admitting to being something less than honorable?”

Ginny cupped his face in her hands, tipping it downward to give her access to his mouth. “Almost as amazing as a Slytherin giving away his secrets, isn’t it,” she said before kissing him soundly.


Fin

The Birds Do Thus

I slept all day
The birds do thus
That sing a while
At eve for us.

To have you soon
I gave away
Well satisfied,
To give a day

Life's not so short
I care to keep
The unhappy days,
I choose to sleep.

Robert Frost