Payback

Chapter One- The Deal

"Malfoy!" Ginny Weasley ran up to Draco Malfoy, grabbing his robe sleeve. They were standing in the middle of a second floor corridor. Ginny was on her way to her first class after breakfast and Draco was heading to the Great Hall to grab a quick scone because he had slept in late, again.

He was having nightmares. Horrible nightmares, where he was being burned alive. The fire burned his bare back while scorching the silk boxers he had been wearing. The dreams were so vivid he could smell his hair burning and he knew he was going to die. But he always woke up before he did. His sheets covered with sweat, bed curtains ripped down, there was no way he could sleep after having one of those nightmares.

Draco looked down to see the youngest Weasley looking up at him. "Weasel?"

"Could you do me the biggest favor of my life?"

"Depends, what is it? Will it hurt Potter? Will you pay me?"

"I'll give you five Galleons, it will crush Harry, and Ron for that matter. All I need is for you to kiss me; right here, right now."

"And what makes you think I would ever do that?" Draco replied, a smirk crossing his face.

"The money. Come on, Draco, please? I need this, just kiss me, real quick. Please?"

Draco considered her offer for a moment. "Give me the money first."

"Fine, but follow me." She tugged on his robe sleeve, leading him in the direction of the stairway.

"Oh, no you don't." Draco jerked his arm out of her grasp. "You want me to kiss you on the stairs, where everyone can see? I'll be laughed out of Slytherin!"

Ginny seemed to consider this a moment. "All right, new deal. I'll pay you ten Galleons for it." She paused, wondering if this was a large enough increase in pay.

Draco folded his arms and leaned against a near by wall. "Keep talking."

"This has to look as genuine as possible. You let me lead you by your tie down the stairs, looking all goofy and lust filled, and into a deserted classroom. Kiss me once while the door is closing and that's it."

"I want fifteen."

"Twelve."

"Fifteen."

"Thirteen."

"Fifteen."

"Fourteen."

"Fine. Pay me now."

Ginny reached into her bag and pulled out seven Galleons. "I don't have anymore with me. I'll pay you later, I promise."

"I've never trusted the word of a Weasel before, why should I start now?" Draco started to move away, but Ginny stepped in his path.

"Please, please do this for me. What have I ever done to you Malfoy? I swear you will get your money as soon as I can get it from my room. I'll give it to you before breakfast tomorrow. Please?"

Draco sighed. He was only agreeing to this so he could get the money. There was a Hogsmeade visit coming up and he didn't feel like blowing his savings on Butterbeers. Having some extra Galleons would be nice...

"Fine, I'll do it. But if you don't pay me Weasel, I'll have the Bloody Baron figure out your password so I can come to your dormitory and steal it out of your trunk myself. Agreed?"

"Agreed. Now, lets hurry up." Ginny again grabbed his robe sleeve and started dragging him towards the staircase. Draco followed reluctantly.

"So, you and Wonder Boy call it quits this morning, huh?"

"That's none of your concern," Ginny spat back, venom in her voice.

"All right, just asking. That would explain this whole escapade. Trying to make him jealous, are you? And trying to prove to the older Weasel that you can take care of your self and date who ever you want. I must say, Weasley, you have fine taste. Picking me of all people, I feel so honored."

Ginny stopped walking and spun on her heal to face Draco. "One; Yes we broke up this morning. Two; No, I am not trying to make him jealous. And three; you were my first choice because you are the lowest form of scum in this school and I know Ron hates you with a passion greater than his love for Quidditch."

"Watch your tongue, Weasel," Draco teased, smirk plastered across his face. "You might make me change my mind and leave you to kiss Crabbe. Now, we wouldn't want that, would we?"

Ginny took a deep breath, calming her nerves. "Sorry, Malfoy. I have a lot of angry emotions built up inside me and I didn't mean to release them on you. Just know that if I'm provoked, they will come out."

Draco raised an eyebrow, his only indication that Ginny had said anything. "Well, being called the scum of the school isn't exactly flattering. How about we add another Galleon to our deal?"

Ginny sighed and nodded, again grabbing Draco's sleeve and dragging him in the direction of the staircase. When they came close to it, she stopped him, putting a hand up against his chest. She placed a finger over her lips, telling him to be quiet. Ginny grabbed Draco's shoulder, forcing his ear down so she could speak into it.

"Okay," she whispered, her breath hot on his ear, "we need to make a big scene of this. You need to have a completely sick-and-sappy grin on your face and follow me like a love struck puppy. I'm going to walk in front of you, dragging you by your tie. Once we get to the abandoned classroom, kiss me once before closing the door, all right?"

Draco nodded and loosened his shirt so that Ginny could easily grab his tie. Ginny looked out to the staircase. She held out her hand, signaling for him to wait, while grabbing his tie with the other hand.

Ginny held up one finger with her free hand.

Two fingers.

Three fingers and a sly, seductive smile before yanking on his tie and pulling him towards the staircase.

Payback

Chapter 2- A View of the Action

"Do you know a good spell to get this stain out?" Ron asked his best friend, Harry Potter, as they walked out of the Great Hall.

"No, but there's not a doubt that Hermione will be able to get it out for you. Sometimes, I think she knows more spells than Flitwick." Harry looked at the pumpkin juice stain on Ron's robe and shook his head. "You want to head up to the dormitories and get one of my robes for today? Wearing that thing around would be humiliating."

"Yeah, why not. Anything's better than smelling like Hagrid's garden all day. Well, more like a mix between Hagrid's garden and moth balls. Where does Mum keep these robes all summer? They smell like Fred and George's room!"

"Is it really that bad in there?"

"Yeah, with all the experimenting they do, you need a gas mask to walk in."

Harry laughed as they headed towards the stairs.

"Aw, bugger, my shirt's getting pumpkin juice all over it. I really hope Hermione knows something that will get this out, or Mum will kill me. Well, at least I didn't spill Firewhisky on myself like George did. I'll tell you, Mum looked murderous. She-" Ron was interrupted when Harry tapped him on the shoulder. Ron turned to look at his best mate.

"What's up?"

Harry said nothing, just pointed towards the staircase. Everyone on the staircase was looking at two people, a boy and girl, who were coming down the stairs.

Normally, something like this would only attract minimal attention from the students at Hogwarts, but this was definitely abnormal. Usually, a couple, so in love (or lust) that they couldn't contain themselves in front of their peers, running off to a secluded classroom was gossip for a few hours, or even a day sometimes. But this, this was bound to be a shocker for a week at least.

Ron was in complete shock. He never even dreamed of this image, but now it was reality, in front of his eyes.

His sister, Ginny Weasley.

And Draco Malfoy.

Ginny was leading Draco down the stairway by his tie. She was giggly and had a seductive look in her eyes, with her lips in a half smile. Draco looked completely love-struck, lust covering every feature of his face. No doubt about it; they were headed for the empty classroom near the bottom of the stairs.

Ginny tripped on the last stair and landed on the Entrance Hall floor. Without hesitation, Draco picked her up in his arm and nuzzled his nose into her hair. When they reached the door to the empty classroom, he dropped her back onto her feet and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in for a kiss.

Not just a kiss, a full on snog.

They slowly backed up until they were inside the classroom, and then Ginny shut the door behind them and they were no longer visible.

There were snickers from the stairs, but two figures standing in the middle of the Entrance Hall were stone still. After a few moments to recover from his shock, Ron ran to the door and started pounding on it.

"MALFOY! GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER! GINNY, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? HE'S A MALFOY! HE'S JUST USING YOU! GET OUT OF THERE RIGHT NOW! DON'T MAKE ME TELL MUM ABOUT THIS! DO YOU WANT A HOWLER FROM HER? OUT OF THERE RIGHT THIS MOMENT!" His fists were pounding the wood, and his feet were kicking it. Luckily, all the doors at Hogwarts had been charmed not to break or crack under pressure such as this.

"Ron," Harry said, coming up behind his friend and placing a hand on his shoulder, "let her be."

"Are you mad?" Ron asked, momentarily stopping his rampage on the door. "My sister's in there, with a Malfoy. There's no telling what he'll do to her! I've got to help her."

"Ron, do you ever use your wand?"

Ron looked slightly embarrassed at this. "Well, I was just, you know, checking, to see if, well, the door was, you know, locked."

"And what do we do if doors are locked?"

"Spell?"

"Yes, Ron. A spell usually works better than brute strength. Now, if you'll allow me." Ron stepped aside, looking sheepishly at his shoes. "Now, let's see if this works: Alohomora. That should do the trick. Now we can just turn the knob and-" The door didn't open. "What the-?" Harry tried again, but it was to no use. From the other side of the door, muffled giggling could barely be heard. Unfortunately, Ron heard.

"MALFOY, GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY SISTER! LEAVE HER ALONE RIGHT NOW! I SWEAR, WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, I'LL-" No one was ever able to find out what Ron would do when he got his hands on Malfoy. Right then, Professor Snape hit him with a Silencio charm so that Ron was moving his mouth but no sound was coming out. The pounding continued though, much to Snape's dissatisfaction.

"Weasley, stop that pounding at once!" Ron stopped and turned to face his Potions professor, but not without first giving the door a dirty glance. "What is the meaning of this?" Snape demanded.

Ron started moving his mouth, but due to the jinx cast by Snape, no sound came out. "Potter, tell me what happened."

"Uhm, well, you see, Crookshanks, Hermione's cat, just ran in there with Ron's inkwell. He was just trying to get the cat to come out and give him his inkwell so that we wouldn't be late for Transfiguration."

"Then why was he yelling for Mr. Malfoy?"

"Because, well, you see, Ron believes that Malfoy was behind this whole thing. Kind of put Crookshanks up to it, in a way. He was just overreacting, Professor, nothing more."

"A likely story. But, since I do not have a truth potion with me, I have no choice but to believe you, Potter. Mr. Weasley would no doubt have agreed with you, if only he could talk, right, Weasley?" Ron nodded. "Ah well, I don't want to be responsible for your tardiness to McGonagall's class. Here is an inkwell for you, Mr. Weasley." Snape drew one out of the air. "Be on your way."

When Harry and Ron did not move, he added, "NOW!"

They jumped into action and ran towards the Transfiguration room, almost doomed to tardiness. As they turned the corner, Ron shot a last hateful glance at the door to the no longer empty classroom.

Payback

Chapter 3- Reasoning

As soon as the door to the room was closed, Draco pushed Ginny off of him and whipped out his wand. Pointing it at the doorknob, he muttered something incomprehensible, undoubtedly a strong locking charm.

"You worried about someone coming in here, Malfoy?" Ginny asked him, rubbing her rear where she had fallen on it.

"Actually, yes. When your brother's in a rage, he could kill anyone, including me if he really wanted to. I'm just hoping he doesn't break down this door."

Just then, Ron started pounding on the outside of the thick oak door.

"No need to worry, Malfoy. These doors are charmed not to creak under physical abuse."

"How would you know that?"

"Think Fred and George never tried?"

"Well then, I guess we are safe for a while. The spell I cast on the door cannot be opened by Alohomora and since Granger isn't with the two twits, I doubt they will know another spell to open the door."

"Probably right, neither of them is that bright."

At that moment, a voice on the other side of the door said "Alohomora." Ginny burst into a fit of giggles, which were only silenced by Draco putting his hand over her mouth and drawing her into his chest. Though Draco disliked the closeness, the technique was affective.

When the banging resumed, Ginny pushed out of his arms and turned to him quizzically.

"So what was that for?"

"What was what for?"

"Oh, don't act like you don't know; that kiss? I'm not paying you to shove your tongue down my throat!"

"Ah, that. Well, you see Ginevra; I did that for five reasons. One, it wouldn't have looked realistic if I hadn't. Two, I prize myself on my acting skills. Three, a Malfoy always does better than expected of them. And four, I knew it would be a good way to get another three Galleons out of you."

Ginny sighed. "Yes, yes. What are we up to now? Eighteen is it?"

Malfoy nodded.

"All right but tell me the last reason you did that."

"Very simple: You know you loved it." He smirked and Ginny resisted the urge to slap him.

"I did not 'love it,' Malfoy! I only played along so Ron and Harry would believe it. I too, am proud of my acting skills."

"Why did you have me do this anyway?"

"It does not concern you, so I will not tell you."

"Oh come off it Weasley. Tell me and I'll only charge you ten Galleons. How's that sound?"

Ginny thought about it for a minute. Thoughts of savings for her new robes overruled family pride and she nodded.

"All right, I'll tell you. You did know that Harry and I started dating at the beginning of the year?"

Draco nodded.

"But it was really difficult at first because some people didn't approve. He's the Great and Wonderful Harry Potter and I'm Fifth Year Nothing Ginny Weasley. Well, we eventually got over that and it was going well for a while. Lately though, he had been acting very oddly. He would barley talk to me, except in the Gryffindor common room. I thought it was weird, but I didn't care. I thought I was in love with him. Then this morning when I walked into the Great Hall, I saw Harry sitting with Cho on his lap. They were just talking at first, but then they started snogging.

"I exploded and ran at him. Without thinking, I grabbed Cho's hair and yanked her to the floor. While she was screaming, I grabbed Harry's shoulders and was shaking him back and forth, yelling something about what a bloody git he is. Ron pulled me off him and with Dean's help got me to sit down.

"All I did was glare at Harry. I would make attempts to strangle him but my bloody brother kept holding me down. I finally threw my glass of pumpkin juice at Ron and got away. That's when I decided to come find you and, well, you know the rest."

The only movement Draco had made during Ginny's speech was to lean back against the wall and fold his arms.

"Is that all?"

"What do you mean 'is that all'? My bloody boyfriend cheated on me!"

"So?"

"'So'?" Ginny was so flustered she could barley speak.

"It's nothing new Weasley. It happens all the time in Slytherin. In fact, I caught Pansy cheating on me last Wednesday."

"Well, aren't you mad?"

"No."

"Upset maybe?"

"No, it's stopped bothering me."

"You mean that it's happened before?"

"All the time. I've gone out with Pansy nineteen times since third year and she's cheated on me every time. I still don't know what she sees in Flint."

"Flint? As in Marcus Flint?"

Draco gave a tired smile. "Yes, the bloody bastard."

"Why would she cheat on you with him? That bloke's really ugly and none too bright."

"Was that a compliment, Weasley?"

"I suppose so. Don't you feel special?"

"Warm and tingly all over."

Draco walked over to the closest table and sat down in a chair. Tipping the chair back, he put his feet on the table top and folded his hands behind his head.

"Don't we need to go to class?" Ginny asked. She was standing by the door with her arms crossed, tapping her foot.

"Would you rather be half an hour late and have your professor go ballistic, or skip class, which no one would notice?"

"Skip, I guess."

"That's what I thought. Now, pull up a chair. We have to wait until class is over so Filch doesn't catch us."

Ginny hesitantly walked over to the table next to Draco. She pulled the chair out and sat facing Draco. He was leaning back with his eyes closed, moving his foot back and forth to a song in his head. Ginny laid her head on the table, thinking that maybe a little sleep would help her feel better. She found the position uncomfortable and tried another. After trying many, she found herself curled up in a ball on the table.

Draco opened his eyes and cocked an eyebrow in Ginny's direction. "You all right there, Weasley?"

"Just go back to sleep, Malfoy."

"Fine, be rude to me after I just offered you a cut in our little deal. I just love when people are rude to me, that's why I have such a clean and spotless reputation."

Ginny huffily curled herself back into a ball, thinking about what an annoying little prat Malfoy was. When it was finally time for them to leave, Ginny stood up and strode from the room without even looking at Malfoy.

"Bring me my money tomorrow, Weasley. I'll meet you here after dinner. DON'T be late."

Ginny paid him no attention at all. She was still contemplating the option of not paying him entirely.

Payback
Chapter 4- Excuses, Excuses
"She did what?" Hermione had just heard the story of Ginny's little escapade from the boys and she was not thrilled. She was giving them looks that said 'Oh God, please tell me you're lying'.

"I know, that was my reaction, too," Ron replied, shaking his head.

"No it wasn't. You reacted more like an exploding cauldron," Harry said, emphasizing his point with hand motions and sound effects.

"All the same," Ron said, cutting off Harry's interpretation of potion bits burning the flesh off his face, "I can't believe she would do that. I can understand that she was upset, but that was a little too radical, even for Ginny."

"Well, I don't know," Hermione said knowingly. "If my boyfriend were to cheat on me, I would go to extremes for revenge."

"You mean you would whoop his arse in every class and try to make him feel slow?" Harry asked.

"No, I would try to find a new boyfriend, very quickly, who was better looking, smarter, and sexier than the previous one."

"So that's why she chose Malfoy," Ron mumbled to himself.

"So you're saying," Harry asked Hermione, oblivious to Ron's last comment, "that Ginny picked Malfoy to replace me because I'm not the fastest broom in the bunch and because I don't spend every spare moment either working out or styling my hair?"

"Um, yes. That's pretty much it."

"That's ridiculous!" Harry slapped his hand on the table and started to leave.

"Well, Harry," Hermione asked him, causing him to turn back to her, "why did you choose to cheat on Ginny with Cho?"

"Yeah, mate, I'm still not happy about that," Ron said, sending Harry an angry look. "She's my sister, for Christ's sake. Did you really mean to hurt your best mate's baby sister?"

"No! Not at all!"

"Then why did you do it, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Come on, spill! And the truth this time. Last time, you told me you were 'letting Ginny down slowly while exploring other options'. And you told me you'd dumped Ginny all ready! I don't believe that after this morning. Don't lie to me again, Harry." Ron's face had started turning a light shade of red. Harry knew that this would soon change to a darker shade of red, indicating that Ron was capable of murder. No one messed with a red Weasley.

"All right, all right, I'll tell. But Ron has to stop turning red."

Ron held his hand up in defeat, but his shade of red barely lessened.

"All right. Most of what I told Ron was the truth. It wasn't working out with Ginny. At least, not for me, anyway. I really didn't know how she felt, but our relationship was becoming a little too serious for me. I just wanted to relax a little bit, so I was going to suggest we take a break. So you see; I was going to let her down slowly.

"I know I shouldn't have lied about dumping her, but I was telling everyone I had, explaining that I would prefer if they didn't talk about it, because it was a touchy subject for Ginny. So when Cho asked me to help her study for her Defense Against the Dark Arts test, I saw no problem in it. I didn't realize what she was really planning on.

"We met by the lake, and it surprised me that she didn't have any books. She was sitting with her feet in the water, and I sat down next to her.

"'Harry, do you like me?' she asked.

"I was taken off guard and stuttered out an answer of, 'Well, I...I...I guess. I mean, you...you're pretty, and nice. Yeah, I guess...I do like you.'

She was staring at her feet for a while and I thought I had offended her, until she whispered 'Kiss me,' under her breath."

"And you did?" Hermione asked.

"Well yeah! I mean, it's Cho. I know you're a girl, Hermione, but even you have to see that she's gorgeous."

"So, this morning wasn't the first time you've kissed her?" Ron questioned, turning red once again.

"Well, no."

"Was it the second?" Ron was turning redder as time passed.

"No," Harry squeaked out.

"Harry," Hermione asked calmly, trying to keep Ron from killing Harry, "how long have you been seeing Cho?"

"You mean starting with that day at the lake?"

Ron and Hermione nodded.

"And ending with today?"

They nodded again, steadily growing more impatient.

"Well, I think it's been about...uhm...close to...approximately-"

"Harry," Ron said, with a tight smile, "just tell us. I'm not in the mood for any more excuses. Please don't make me any madder."

Harry looked around for an escape route, but soon found out that all of them would take him close enough to Ron for his friend to jump on him. Harry closed his eyes, readying himself for a blow from Ron.

"A week."

Ron sighed deeply. "All right, I can deal with that. You told me you broke up with Ginny two weeks ago, so I was assuming that it would be longer than that. But for Merlin's sake, Harry, when were you going to tell Ginny? The girl has a right to know!"

"I was going to tell her tomorrow, actually. I wanted to make sure it was going to work with Cho before I dumped her."

"So Ginny was your fall back?" Hermione had been quiet up until now, but this set her off. "Harry James Potter, I'm ashamed of you! You were using Ginny! Saving her in case it fell through with Cho, that's disgusting!" Hermione stood up and stormed out of the room. Ron shook his head and followed.

"Why me?" Harry asked no one in particular, before laying his head on the table.

"Harry?" a voice behind him said.

He looked up to see Cho, who seemed concerned.

"What's wrong, Harry?" she asked, sliding onto the bench beside him.

"Nothing, Cho." Harry hung his head and stared at his hands for a few seconds. Then he shook his head more violently. "Actually, Cho, there's something I need to tell you. You know what happened at breakfast this morning? Well, I haven't been very honest with you lately."

Payback

Chapter 5- Harry's Slap in the Face

"Harry, what happened?" Hermione was sitting in her favorite arm chair, reading before her next class started. She had looked up when the portrait hole opened and was not at all surprised to see her friend. Despite her bitter feelings for him at the moment, she couldn't help but feel bad for him. He had a large handprint across his cheek and looked like he had just been sentenced to death. He was holding his glasses in his hand because they were broken and the glass cracked.

"I'm not in the mood, Hermione," he groaned. "Can we talk later?"

"No, Harry, now. You lied to me about Ginny, so you owe me one. What happened?"

Harry sighed and flopped down in a chair next to the fire. Almost in a moan, he said, "I told Cho."

"You did?" Hermione perked up right away and slammed her book shut. "That's wonderful!"

"Wonderful, my arse! Look at my cheek! She bitch slapped me!"

"Oh, and you don't deserve that?"

"Well, I guess I do, but I still wasn't expecting it."

"So, what did you tell her exactly?" Hermione asked with a bright smile, relaxing back into her chair.

"Well, she came over to me right after you and Ron left and she asked me what was wrong, so I told her I hadn't been the most truthful of people lately. I told her I was still seeing Ginny when I had first kissed her and I hadn't technically dumped Gin yet. That's about when she gave me this." Harry indicated to his cheek. "She then proceeded to push me off the bench, and my glasses fell off and got away from me. She started yelling something about me being a bloody git, which I seem to be getting a lot of lately. By the time I found my glasses, they had been stepped on, as you can see." Harry held up his glasses by one stick, showing the decimated shape they were in.

Hermione took out her wand, sighed, and muttered "Reparo," fixing the glasses immediately.

"Thanks," Harry mumbled, putting his glasses back on. "Now I won't have to give the password to every portrait I pass."

"I still can't believe you, Harry," Hermione said, charging right back into the subject at hand. "It's disgusting that you would cheat on Ginny and just save her for a backup girlfriend. Ginny's my friend, and so are you, but right now, I don't know what to think of you."

"I'm sorry! Sheesh, what do you people want from me? A letter written in blood? I apologized to Cho already!"

"Yes, and now you owe Ginny an apology as well. I think you hurt her more."

"And you think Ginny will talk to me?"

"No, but you should at least make an attempt at amends. Harry, I think she loved you."

"No," he said, laughing, "she didn't love me. She just..." Harry got a thoughtful look in his eye and scrunched up his forehead in thought. "Did she love me?"

Hermione gave Harry a somewhat sympathetic look on her face and nodded her head.

"Aw bugger!" Harry slouched even further into his chair and began massaging his temples.

"Oh, come off it Harry! Just go apologize to her! You never know if she'll listen or not, but you have to give this a shot! Don't you at least want to be on friendly terms with her?"

"Would you ever be on friendly terms with the person who broke your heart?" Harry practically screamed at her.

"Well, you don't know that you broke her heart."

"Well, doesn't it usually work out this way? You dump the person who loves you, you break their heart? It's not that complicated."

"The heart is a very complicated thing, Harry," Hermione practically whispered.

Harry cocked his head at her and raised an eyebrow. "What's up, Hermione?"

"Nothing," she said, more to herself than to Harry.

"There's something. Come on, you can tell me."

"Really, Harry, it's nothing." She was looking him in the eye now, as if she were trying to convince him she was not lying.

"Is this about Ron?" he asked quizzically.

"Really, Harry, that's none of your business." Hermione was biting her words, trying to get him to drop the subject.

"All right, all right. But don't think this won't come up again." Harry stood up, giving Hermione a knowing glance and headed for the portrait hole, leaving for his History of Magic class.

"Hey Gin! Wait up!" Harry had just left his History of Magic class, and was on his way to Divination when he saw Ginny in the halls. 'Now's as good a time to apologize as any, right?' he reasoned with himself.

Ginny spun on her heal and glanced at Harry briefly, before turning back to her conversation with Colin. Harry ran to catch up with her and was about to grab her shoulder to turn her around, but then thought better of it. Instead, he stepped in front of her, blocking her path.

"Gin, can we talk?"

"I'm sorry Harry, but I must be off to Care of Magical creatures. Maybe you could talk to Cho? You two seem to have gotten a lot closer lately." Ginny was glaring at him like one would glare at their worst enemy.

'Like I would glare at Malfoy,' he thought to himself. 'Well, maybe not how Ginny would glare at Malfoy, but how Ron or I would. Merlin, Ron is going to kill that bloke. What was Ginny thinking?'

"Gin, I just want to explain myself to you. It's all-"

"It's all a big misunderstanding, is that it? Is that what you were going to tell me, Harry?" Ginny's words were practically dripping with malice. "Well let me tell you something, Harry Potter; I don't need you. You heard me, I don't need you. I should have broken up with you weeks ago, but you seemed needy, and I pitied you. We all pity you! You have no parents and Sirius died, who doesn't pity you? My reaction was due to surprise only, nothing else. Not love, not revenge, not jealousy. So stop thinking of yourself so highly, Harry. You're only human." Ginny spun around and headed for the front doors. "Come on, Colin," she called over her shoulder.

Colin gaped at Harry for a moment before looking to Ginny, and then back at Harry. He shrugged and ran to catch up with Ginny. "What was that about, Gin?" he asked, just loud enough for Harry to hear.

"I'll tell you later Colin." They walked out of earshot, leaving Harry staring at their retreating backs.

'Well Hermione,' he thought, 'I tried. I really did try. But I'll have to try again.'

Payback

Chapter 6- Won't Harry Be Surprised

"Aw, Gin! That all sounds awful! Life's hell right now, isn't it?" Colin and Ginny were walking down to their Care of Magical Creatures class, right after their confrontation with Harry. Their scarves were wrapped tightly around their mouths to protect them from the cold of early November. Ginny had just finished telling Colin about all that had happened with Harry since that morning. He had taken her side, obviously. Was there really another side?

"I just want to get back at that bloody bastard. The whole thing with Malfoy was just the beginning in my opinion." Colin had never heard Ginny use such harsh words before. She was usually very civil-tongued and he was a bit taken aback at her brutal language.

"And to top it off, you had to kiss Malfoy," Colin said, trying to lighten the mood slightly. "Oh wait, sorry, not kiss; be choked to death by his tongue. How did you stand that by the way?"

"It wasn't that bad. He's a pretty good kisser. It doesn't surprise me with all the 'experience' he supposedly has. Made him all the more perfect for this. I just wish I could have seen Ron and Harry's faces. It must have been priceless."

"Yea, I wish I could have seen them too."

You could practically see the idea come to Ginny as her eyes lit up and she turned to Colin. "Would you pay to see their faces?"

Colin raised his eyebrow at her. "Gin, what are you thinking?"

"Colin, just answer the question. Would you pay to see their faces?"

"How much money are we talking about?"

"Seven Galleons or so."

"Yea, I guess I would pay that much. Why, did you have a video camera hidden somewhere when Malfoy kissed you so you could record their reactions?"

"A what?" Ginny asked, confusion clearly written on her face.

"Muggle invention. Sorry, I keep forgetting things I grew up with are of no necessity here. A video camera records moving images and you can play them back."

"Oh, well I didn't use a vivio kammer, but I think I have an idea of how to recreate the scene, in a way."

"Gin, are you going to kiss Malfoy again?"

"No, I don't think that's necessary, but I do have a wonderful idea."



"Malfoy!" Draco turned around to see who had called his name, and upon seeing it was Ginny, smirked. She was running through the packed down snow from her Care of Magical Creatures class to catch up with him as he left the greenhouses after Herbology.

"What is it now, little weasel?" he asked as she caught up with him, breath visible in the air from her panting.

"I need another favor. I'll pay you." She held out the seven Galleons Colin had given her during class.

"You want what?" Draco looked disgusted.

"I need another favor, like earlier. Ron and Harry think I'm dating you, so I want to keep up that image. Will you walk me into the Great Hall for dinner and kiss me on the cheek before going to the Slytherin table?"

"No."

"Please, Malfoy?"

"What am I to you, weasel? A convenient substitute boyfriend? I'm not a man whore, Weasley. Get Creepy-Creevey if you need a shag, I'm not interested." Draco started towards the castle. "Oh by the way," he called over his shoulder, "you still owe me ten Galleons. Meet me in that classroom after dinner. If you're not there, I will come find you and we don't want that now, do we?"

Ginny just glared at him.

"I didn't think so." Draco sneered, and continued on his way to the castle.

Ginny stood fuming and when Colin reached her, he was almost too afraid to talk.

"Uhm, Gin?" he said hesitantly.

"How dare he insult me like that! I do not need a substitute boyfriend! And I don't need a shag either! Merlin, he makes me so angry!"

"Well Gin, you are kind of using him." Ginny gave Colin a look that could kill, but Colin was feeling brave and continued. "You just want amusement out of him, and it costs him his reputation. I mean, your families are enemies and have been for ages. Do you really think that he and you together are doing wonders for what his housemates think of him? Gryffindors may think you're a bad arse, but Slytherins would think that Malfoy was going soft."

Ginny slowly took in a breath of air and exhaled, calming her nerves. "You really are too logical for me, Colin."

"No, Gin, you're just too impulsive. You'll get me killed someday."

Ginny laughed and the first genuine smile that had crossed her face all day lit up her eyes. "Thanks, Colin."

"No problem, Gin." He put his arm around her shoulder and took her school bag from her so he could carry it, letting her relax.

"You know, Colin, having you around is like having another brother. Except, I like you better than the blood-related ones."

"Thanks, sis."

Ginny laughed again, signaling that dinner might not be a miniature trip to hell and back.



"I've got to run, guys. Homework, you know?" Ginny waved goodbye to her friends, who today excluded the Dream Team and headed for her room. She had decided to pay Draco after all and needed to get the money out of her trunk.

"Ginny! Wait!" Ginny turned on the stairs and saw Harry running towards her.

'Merlin, not again!' She simply continued walking, quickening her pace to add as much time as possible before Harry caught up with her.

"Gin!" Harry grabbed her shoulder, trying to get her to stop walking away from him.

"Don't touch me, Harry!" Ginny didn't even look his way, just simply brushed his hand off and continued walking.

"Come on, Gin! I need to talk to you. I want to apologize. If I'd known that you were in love with me-"

"In love with you?" Ginny whirled around to face him. "Where the hell did you get that idea? I was not in love with you."

"But, Hermione-"

"Oh, Hermione said, did she? Well, that must mean it's true. I mean, Hermione knows absolutely everything, doesn't she? Everything from the date of the first Goblin War right down to how I feel about you. News flash, Harry. I didn't love you and never will."

"Sorry, Gin, it's just-"

"Ginny!"

Harry and Ginny looked towards the voice they had heard, and were surprised out of their minds to see Draco headed towards them at a brisk pace. When he got to them, he snaked an arm around a shocked Ginny's waist and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Play along," he whispered in her ear. "I'll pay you."

"Get your paws off her, Malfoy!" Harry barked.

"Why should I, Scarhead? Besides, she seemed to be fine with me touching her last night." A suggestive smirk crossed Draco's face as he tightened his grip on Ginny's waist.

Remembering just in time to play along and not over react, Ginny simply slapped Draco lightly on the arm. "Draco! Harry doesn't need to know about that!"

Harry looked at them both, shocked. "Ginny, you and Malfoy?"

"Surprised, Potter?" Draco was almost laughing he was enjoying this so much. All Harry could do was nod. "Well, we'll leave you here to drool all over yourself. Ready, Ginny dear?"

Ginny nodded and was swept into Draco's arms. He walked her down the hallway and dropped her back on her feet once they turned a corner.

"What was that for, Draco?"

"Shh! Keep acting," he demanded in a hushed tone.

"DRAAAAAAACO!" a simpering voice called from around the corner.

"Here we go," Draco muttered, gritting his teeth.

Confused, Ginny looked in the direction the voice came from and was not surprised to see Pansy Parkinson. As soon as Pansy saw Ginny walking with Draco, she stopped dead in her tracks.

'So Draco needed help getting the whore off his back? Not a bad idea.' Ginny had to smile at his genius.

Pansy approached them cautiously, as if they could bite her. "Drakie dear, who is this?"

Draco flinched at his nickname, but replied all the same. "This is Ginny, Pansy. And my name is Draco, not Drakie, not Drake, Draco."

"Nice to meet you, Pansy." Ginny smiled and extended her hand to the girl. Pansy gave her a dirty look before quickly shaking Ginny's hand, muttering something about filthy Gryffindor scum.

"Now, Pansy," Draco said, acting as if he were talking to a small child, "that's no way to talk to my Ginny, is it?"

"Your Ginny?" Pansy asked in dismay.

"That's right, my Ginny." Draco leaned down and kissed Ginny on the lips, as if to prove it.

"Draco," Pansy squeaked out, sounding on the verge of tears, "we're through!"

"No, Pansy!" Draco had an obviously fake hurt look on his face. "Don't leave me."

Instead of answering, Pansy ran down the hall, sobbing. As soon as she was out of shot, Ginny burst into laughter.

"That was bloody brilliant, Malfoy," she managed to gasp out between bursts of laughter.

"It's my pleasure to amuse you, Weasley."

When Ginny finally stopped laughing, she stood up straight and looked Draco in the eye. "So, are we even?" she asked.

"No, not at all. I had to snog you, Weasley, you simply had to stand there. I'd say you still owe me five Galleons. But I'm also guessing that you don't have the money to pay me on you so I will have to wait until tomorrow to get it from you. Am I anywhere near close?"

"Bullseye," Ginny muttered. "By chance do you know where the Gryffindor dormitory entrance is? I'll pay you tonight if you do."

"You mean behind the portrait of that fat lady?"

"Yes," Ginny was surprised. No one was supposed to know where the entrance to another house was.

"Being Head Boy does have its perks." Draco sighed in a holier-than-thou style. "Lead the way, Weasley. I always do have trouble finding that bloody portrait."

Ginny scowled, but led Draco in the direction of her dormitory none the less.

'Won't Harry be surprised,' she thought to herself, and smirked.

Payback

Chapter 7- Slip on Slide

When they reached the portrait, Ginny turned to Draco. "Do you mind?" Draco simply shrugged and turned around. "Wizards Chess," Ginny whispered to the Fat Lady. The portrait swung open and Ginny gave Draco's robe a tug, telling him he could turn around.

"Wait out here for me, all right, Malfoy?"

"No way, Weasley. How do I know you won't go in there and never come out? I'm coming with you."

Ginny sighed. "I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this one, am I?"

"Nope."

"Not even if I give you my word that I will bring you the money?"

"No. I've never trusted the word of a Weasley before, why should I start now? I'm coming with you."
Ginny sighed again and beckoned for Draco to go inside the portrait hole.

"Be careful, child," the Fat Lady advised, oblivious to the prior conversation. "Don't do anything you may regret later."

"Oh, don't worry, you fat bitch," Draco said with a smirk. "We're always careful." With that, he disappeared into the Common Room."

Ginny followed and closed the opening, but still heard the Fat Lady mumble, "Humph. Slytherins!"

Ginny rolled her eyes and shook her head, thinking just how right the Fat Lady was. When Ginny looked to Draco, he was scanning the room with a look of disgust on his face. He was receiving looks from disgusted faces as well. The Slytherin emblem on his shirt clearly marked him as the enemy and everyone in the Gryffindor common room was wondering why their hated enemy was in their private sanctuary. Moreover, the sixth years present were wondering why Draco Malfoy of all people was there. Lavender and Parvati looked shocked and Seamus looked murderous.

"Merlin, Weasley!" Draco exclaimed. "How do you live here? It's so bright, and that red, what an awful shade of red! Well, I guess anything's better than that shack you live in, right?"

That was the first crack Draco had made at the Weasley's finances all day, which hit Ginny as somewhat of a shock. Their wealth, or lack thereof, seemed to always be the butt of Draco's jokes.

"Well, Malfoy," Ginny said, quickly recovering from her momentary shock with a witty comeback, "just remember, home is where the heart is. My heart is at home, but your heart seems to have come out your rear and flushed down the loo. What a wonderful place your home is!" The Gryffindors nearby snickered at Ginny's remark and a triumphant smile crossed her lips.

"Just get me my money," Draco spat out, staring daggers at Ginny. "Unless, that is, you don't have it. But I shouldn't be surprised. You are a Weasley after all.

Ginny glared at Draco and headed for the stairs. She was about half way up when Draco started up after her. He had only taken two steps before the stairway turned into a slick slide and he lost his footing and dropped to his knees on the common room floor. He stared at the former staircase wide eyed. Not because of his amazement at what had just happened, but because Ginny was coming down the slide towards him, screaming.

Draco had just enough time to get out of the way before Ginny landed hard on the floor, back up, where Draco was only moments before. She seemed to have had the wind knocked out of her, because it was a few seconds before she issued another sound, breaking the silence of the common room. When Ginny had screamed, everyone turned and saw her come sliding down the stairs and they were all now staring at her unmoving body in shock. Ginny groaned and rolled over onto her back, moaning in pain.

Seamus was the first one to react. "You all right, Gin?"

In response, Ginny grabbed her ankle with repeated shouts of, "Oh, bugger!" Seamus rushed over to her and took Ginny's ankle in his hand.

"Damn, Finnigan! Trying to kill me?" Ginny was trying her hardest not to cry, but the pain from her ankle was intense.

"No, Gin, just trying to find out what the problem is. Damn, if I'd only paid attention in that class Dad had me take. Then I'd know if this was a sprain or a break and I'd know how to treat it. If only there hadn't been a Quidditch match that night!"

"Oh, shove over, halfblood!" Draco stomped over to the two and took Ginny's ankle in his hand. "Tell me if this hurts," he said and lightly poked Ginny's ankle bone.

"AH! Yes, that hurts! Bloody hell, Malfoy!"

"It's broken," Draco said calmly. "You might want to get her to hospital wing to get that fixed up."

Seamus blinked a few times before getting over the fact that a Malfoy had just helped a Gryffindor, let alone a Weasley. "Uh, right," he managed to get out. Seamus crouched next to Ginny and tried to lift her, but couldn't.

"You really are thick, aren't you?" Draco asked in an amused tone.

"All right, you try to pick her up." Seamus stood and crossed his arms, ready to watch the present spectacle.
"Now why would I try to do that?"

"You mean you're not going to help her?" Seamus was dumbfounded. "She may be a Weasley, Malfoy, but Ginny is a person, and people sometimes need help, even from Malfoys."

"Uhm, Seamus, I'm right here you know." The two males looked down and saw the youngest Weasley, still lying on the ground. Her arms were crossed over her chest, but she was still wincing from the pain her ankle was causing her.

"Sorry, Gin, but this git is being a smart arse and won't help me lift you."

"Who said anything about lifting her?" Draco asked.

"Ok, Mr. Know-it-all, how do you plan to get Ginny here to the Hospital Wing?" Seamus had his arms crossed again, ready to be amused.

"Like this." Draco took out his wand and pointing it at Ginny, muttered something under his breath. Seamus closed his eyes, fearing that when he opened them, Ginny would be a pile of ashes. When no one in the Common Room gasped, Seamus opened his eyes to see Ginny still lying on the floor, now with a stretcher under her. Draco caught Seamus's eye and shook his head.

"Locomoter Ginny," Draco said, doing the swish-and-flick wand movements that would make the stretcher levitate so that he could take Ginny to Madam Pomfrey. Keeping Ginny out in front of him, he directed her towards the portrait entrance.

"Wait!" Seamus called after them. "I'm coming with you. I don't trust you alone with her, Malfoy."

"Whatever you say, Finnigan," Draco replied. "Now, open the bloody portrait before I decide to drop her."

Seamus did as he was told, and Draco levitated Ginny out of the common room, headed for the Hospital Wing.

"Oh goodness! What seems to be the problem here?" Madame Pomfrey had just turned away from an abnormally large birdcage with a small yellow canary sitting on the bottom, chirping loudly.

"I fell down the stairs once they turned into a slide," Ginny replied, lifting her head.

"I'm sorry I don't understand dear, but you can explain once you're fixed up. Stretcher this way, Mr. Malfoy!" Madame Pomfrey led them to a bed at the end of the isle and had Draco put the stretcher on it before waving his wand and having the stretcher disappear.

"Her ankle's broken," Draco said simply before sitting down in a chair next to the bed. "She was going up the stairs to her room and Finnigan was following after her because she forgot her quill and when he stepped on the staircase, she tried to step on a stair that wasn't there and fell. I was lucky enough to find Finnigan carrying Weasley this way and was able to conjure up a stretcher to get her here faster."

"I am sure Miss Weasley is very thankful for your kind actions, Mr. Malfoy." Madame Pomfrey had not even looked up from examining Ginny's ankle. "If you will please excuse me for a moment, I'll be right back with a potion that will have Miss Weasley better in a second." Madame Pomfrey walked to her office, leaving the three alone.

"Where'd that story come from, Malfoy?" Seamus asked.

"Well, I couldn't exactly tell her it was I who stepped on the stairs and caused Ginny to fall. She would ask why I was in the Gryffindor common room. This way, there are no questionable actions and no one gets in trouble."

"Thanks, Malfoy," Ginny said through clenched teeth. She was still in unimaginable pain. Draco simply nodded.

There was a loud popping sound from the large birdcage that caused all three of them to look in that direction.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley, you have a lot of explaining to do!" Ron was practically fuming.