Ginny leaned back on her bed pillows, flipping through a copy of Witch Weekly. She was examining dress robe designs, trying to decide what style she wanted to wear to the upcoming Ministry ball.

A flash of lightning lit up her room and Ginny glanced up at her bedroom window. It had been raining for hours. Ginny hoped that Luna’s date was indoors.

Thunder growled as Ginny threw the magazine over the side of her bed; there weren’t any robes that interested her in that issue. She picked up another issue from the pile that Lavender had lent to her and began to go through it. Maybe there would be something in this one…

It took three more issues before a set of dress robes caught Ginny’s attention. Ginny folded a corner of the page to mark the place. She’d bring the picture to Madame Maxime and find out whether she had anything like it.

As she closed the magazine and carefully placed it on her bedside table, Ginny heard a tapping noise at her window. She looked up and saw a very wet brown owl standing on the sill.

Ginny got up, went over to the window, and opened it. She grimaced at the water that dripped onto her floor and blankets as the owl flew in and landed on her bed. Ginny untied the letter from the owl’s leg and it flew back out the window. Ginny shook her head at the mess as she shut the window.

Ginny opened up the letter and glanced at the signature at the bottom. She was surprised to see that it was from Luna. Curious, she began to read the letter.

Dear Ginny,

Before I start anything, I just want you to know that I’m fine. I had a little accident and ended up hurting my leg pretty badly when I slipped on the wet pavement. I’m at Blaise’s house now because he insists that as a healer he has to care for me. He said that my leg is broken and I have to spend the night, so I wanted to let you know that I’m not coming home tonight. Don’t worry about me – I’ll be alright.

Love,

Luna

Ginny blinked at the letter in shock. Luna had broken her leg? How could she possibly be alright?

“I need to go check on her,” Ginny mumbled to herself.

Without giving it a second thought, Ginny grabbed her wand and ran out of her flat, slamming the door behind her and throwing a door-lock spell over her shoulder. She rushed down the stairs of her building and out into the rain and quickly did a combined location and point-me spell that pointed her wand to show her how to get to Blaise’s house.

Ten minutes later found Ginny rapping on the front door of a house that she could see, even in the dark and rain, was not only large, but beautiful as well. After waiting for a minute, the door swung open and Ginny found herself face to face with Draco Malfoy.

He stared at her in surprise. For a half a second, Ginny’s eyes widened, and then went back to normal.

“I’ve come to see how Luna is doing,” she said quickly.

“In the rain?” Malfoy asked, looking her up and down with a raised eyebrow.

Ginny looked down at herself and suddenly realized that she’d run out of the house without a coat and her jeans and blouse were soaked. Her red hair was hanging limply about two inches below her shoulders. She looked back up and lifted her chin high.

“As you can see,” she replied tightly.

Malfoy just continued looking at her. Ginny felt her temper rising.

“Can I see her or should I stay outside in the rain the rest of the night?” she finally asked, aware that she probably should not be talking that way to one of her most important clients, but too out of sorts to care.

Malfoy shrugged and moved aside from the entrance to let her in.

Ginny walked into the entrance hall of the house and followed Malfoy into a drawing room off to the side of the hall.

Blaise and Pansy were in the room. Pansy was sitting curled up on a black velvet sofa, working a charm on her nails. Blaise was sitting on a matching love seat, bent over a large piece of parchment.

Malfoy cleared his throat. Pansy and Blaise looked up. Pansy looked disgusted to see her. Blaise’s looked surprised for a moment, and then smiled tiredly. He stood up quickly to greet her.

“You must be Ginny – Luna told me about you,” he said, coming over to her and reaching out to shake her hand. Ginny shook it gingerly.

“I am. I apologize for intruding on you like this, but I got an owl from Luna saying that she’d hurt her leg and I wanted to check and see how she’s doing.”

“The leg was broken; I’ve healed it but she needs to rest,” Blaise answered. “I’m sure she’ll be glad to see you. If you’ll just follow me, I’ll take you to her.”

Ginny nodded, and allowed Blaise to lead her out of the room.

Pansy’s face still showed her contempt as she watched Ginny leave the room. Draco ignored it and walked over to a large window, leaned against the side of the windowsill and glared out the window. He was disgusted with himself: he’d found his eyes roaming over the Weasley woman back at the door.

Blaise returned to the room and Draco quickly glanced over at him. He was relieved to find that the woman wasn’t with him.

“Is Luna alright?” Pansy asked Blaise in what Draco guessed she considered a kind and considerate tone. “Not asleep, then?”

“No, she’s not asleep yet. She was very happy to see Ginny,” answered Blaise, returning to his seat by the fire.

“Can’t say the same for myself,” Pansy smirked. “Did you see her when she came in? Drenched from head to toe. With her wet hair she looked like an alley cat, slinking in from the rain.”

Blaise looked annoyed. “She rushed out of the house without a coat because she was worried about her friend; I think that’s admirable.”

Pansy sneaked a look over at Draco and said, “Surely you noticed how wild she looked, Draco. I’m certain you wouldn’t want to see Georgiana walking around looking disheveled like that.”

“Certainly not,” answered Draco in a stiff tone.

Pansy looked delighted. “She’s really not a very attractive girl, is she? Well, of course I remember from Hogwarts that you thought she was, Blaise. I don’t know where you get your taste from… Do you remember when we saw her at that party? I overheard some men saying how great she looked. What do you think about that, Draco?”

“She’s as attractive as her brother is civilized,” Draco said dryly.

Pansy burst out laughing.

Blaise shot a glare over at Draco. Draco shrugged a shoulder at him and turned back to the window, trying to push away the thought of how bright the Weasley woman’s eyes had been.

“Luna, are you sure you want to stay here tonight?” Ginny asked with a wrinkled brow. “It wouldn’t take much to floo home.”

“Honestly, Ginny, I don’t know if I could stand up. I’m really starting to feel the effects of that sleeping potion Blaise gave me,” Luna said, her eyes starting to close. “I’ll be fine. I’ll probably come back tomorrow morning.”

Ginny squeezed her hand. “Alright Luna; I just want you to get better and thought you might be more comfortable at home.”

“I’m fine… Ginny,” Luna said, and her breathing turned heavy. She’d fallen asleep.

Ginny sighed and pulled up the covers so that Luna would be warm. She turned to go and then stopped, remembering how contemptuously Malfoy had looked at her before. She took out her wand and did a quick hot-air charm, drying her clothing and hair. When she was done, she opened the door, walked out into the hallway, and closed the door quietly behind her.

As she walked down the staircase back to the entrance hall, she heard Pansy laughing. Ginny bit her cheek; she didn’t want to leave Luna here, and she certainly didn’t want to go into the room where the three Slytherins were sitting, but she had to thank Blaise. So, despite her discomfort, Ginny entered the room.

Blaise jumped up when he saw her. “Is she asleep?” he asked quickly, throwing an angry glance over at Pansy.

“Yes, the sleeping potion just caught up with her. I really want to thank you for taking care of her, Blaise,” she said hesitantly.

“Oh, it’s my pleasure,” he answered with a quick smile. “Let me get you some tea, Ginny. After that walk in the rain, you need it. Come sit near the fire, won’t you?”

Ginny paused, not wanting to stay any longer, but not wanting to be rude either. She reluctantly walked over to the couch and sat in the space next to Pansy.

Blaise took out his wand, conjured a tray of tea and biscuits, and handed a cup to Ginny. She thanked him quietly and began to drink it.

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence in the room. Malfoy walked from the window over to a writing desk, took out a quill and began to write on a piece of parchment. Just as the silence was getting almost unbearable, Pansy broke it.

“So, do you often walk in the rain without a coat, Weasley?” she asked.

Ginny coughed on her tea. She looked up at Pansy, who was surveying her with a look of innocence.

“Of course not,” Ginny answered, annoyed. “I was just in such a rush to see Luna that I forgot about it.”

“That’s a relief,” Malfoy muttered from his seat at the writing desk. “Bloody unhealthy…”

Ginny stared at him. So did Pansy.

“What’s unhealthy?” Pansy asked uncertainly.

“Women walking around in the rain without coats,” Malfoy replied, not looking up from his writing.

Ginny looked at Malfoy in disbelief. Pansy’s mouth dropped open.

“It’s unhealthy for women to walk in the rain without their coats on,” Pansy repeated slowly, as though trying to understand what exactly Malfoy was talking about. “Erm… Just for women? Isn’t it unhealthy for men as well?”

“Who said anything about it being unhealthy for women?” Malfoy said, dipping his quill in ink and starting another line on the parchment. “It’s unhealthy for men to have women walking around in the rain without coats.”

“Draco, you’re not making any sense,” Blaise said with a frown.

Malfoy finally looked up. “I make perfect sense. If women always walked around in the rain without coats, their clothes sticking to them like just a second skin, men around them would have a hard time concentrating on walking straight. I’d say that’s bloody unhealthy, wouldn’t you?” He leered over at Ginny insolently.

Ginny eyes widened. “He is so crude!” she thought to herself in horror.

Pansy looked appalled. She gave Malfoy a look of disgust and, in a move that shocked Ginny, grabbed Ginny’s arm and linked it in her own. Then, glaring over at Malfoy she said, “He is horribly vulgar, isn’t he? How can we punish him?”

Ginny stared at Pansy in astonishment, not understanding why Pansy would turn to her for support. She could only suppose that Pansy must feel desperate for an ally. Ginny smiled to herself. Why not take advantage of the situation?

“Oh, punishing him is simple enough,” Ginny answered easily. “Just find something to laugh at him about and that’ll do it. With an ego like his, I don’t think he could stand it. I’m sure you, as a close friend of his, know plenty of things that we can laugh at him about.” Ginny threw an exaggeratingly sweet smile at Malfoy, who was watching her with folded arms.

As though she suddenly remembered who she was dealing with, Pansy withdrew her arm from Ginny’s and, her eyes on Malfoy, said, “Why would there be plenty of things to laugh at him about? Draco is one of the most perfect men I know,” she said, throwing a wink in his direction.

Malfoy looked like he was restraining himself from rolling his eyes.

“What a pity; I do love a good laugh,” Ginny said lightly, taking a sip of her tea.

“Nobody’s perfect,” Malfoy said, surprising everyone in the room. “But I’ve made certain that I have very few traits for people to mock me about.”

“Such as, say, vanity and pride?” Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow at Malfoy.

Malfoy was quiet for a moment. Ginny was quietly congratulating herself on her ingenuity when he spoke up again.

“It’s true that vanity can be a negative character trait,” he said slowly, studying her face. “But pride – people who are truly superior have every right to be proud.”

Ginny snorted.

“What did I tell you?” Pansy interjected quickly. “There’s nothing about Draco to laugh about; he’s perfect.”

“Clearly,” Ginny answered sarcastically. “He admits it himself.”

“I never said anything of the sort,” Malfoy said irately, glaring at Pansy. “Nobody is perfect and I don’t claim to be. I have faults, but thinking too highly of myself is not one of them. I know that my temper is rather unforgiving, for example. Once someone loses my good opinion, they’ve lost it forever.”

“Well,” Ginny replied slowly, surprised that Malfoy would confess such a thing, “that is a character flaw. I can’t say that I find it very funny, though.”

“I think that everyone has defects in their character,” Malfoy said quietly.

“Yours is to hate everyone,” Ginny said coldly.

Malfoy narrowed his eyes at her. “Yours is to deliberately misunderstand them,” he retorted.

“Shall I get some more tea?” Blaise said loudly, trying to prevent the argument from escalating.

Ginny turned away from Malfoy quickly, biting her lip. She was happy hating Malfoy; she didn’t want the glimpse of humanity he’d shown her by confessing to having faults.

She stood up quickly. “No thank you, Blaise,” she said. “I really need to go; I have to get up early tomorrow to get to work.”

“You can floo home,” Blaise offered, walking over to the mantelpiece over the fireplace and picking up a silver bowl full of floo-powder.

“Thank you,” Ginny said quietly. And without looking back, she took a pinch of floo-powder, threw it into the flames, and flooed home, missing the piercing gray eyes following her every move.