Consequences

AN - This is a short one. My muse isn\'t being very cooperative. :-/



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The next morning Ginny and Draco overslept slightly. They had both been more than a little unsettled by the appearance of the time turner; by the physical reminder of Draco\'s near death. It had taken hours for either of them to relax enough to fall asleep.



When they finally made it down to the Great Hall, only twenty minutes remained before the bell would ring for their first class. Plopping down next to Hermione and gesturing for Ron and Harry to lean closer, Ginny held the Time Turner just over the top of the table, making sure no one else was looking.



"How did you get this?!" Hermione gasped, frowning slightly as Ginny handed it to her.



"I was going to ask the same thing," Ginny muttered. "It was in Draco\'s bed last night. Under the covers."



Her friends and brother all stared at her,dumbstruck. Finally Ron mumbled, "That\'s not creepy or anything..."



"That\'s the understatement of the century," Draco muttered, piling his plate with scrambled eggs and bacon.



"It couldn\'t have been!" Hermione shook her head vehemently. "I keep it locked up in my trunk. It\'s too dangerous to risk anyone getting their hands on," she declared, scowling slightly. "The only reason Kingsley allowed me to keep it in the first place is because I plan to work for the Department of Mysteries after graduation. I\'m more familiar with its proper use than just about anyone."



Ginny narrowed her eyes, annoyed with the older girl\'s holier than thou tone. "You sure about that? Pretty sure I figured it out just fine. You wouldn\'t even be here..."



"Ginny!" Ron\'s sharp tone drew her attention to the fact that half the table was now staring at them.



"That\'s not what I meant and you know it," Hermione murmured after everyone but Harry, Ron, and Draco had returned their focus to their own breakfasts. "I just meant it\'s not a toy and since I\'ve had it for five years already, he decided to just let me hang onto it. Officially, it doesn\'t even exist..."



"So how\'d it wind up in my room?" Draco asked quietly. "In my bed? Talk about killing the mood..." he muttered, smiling half teasingly, half sympathetically at Ginny. "Totally ruined my after glow."



Ginny blushed as Hermione, Harry and Ron all raised their eyebrows. Harry smirked playfully at his cousin, but Ron looked a tiny bit upset. "Oh, shut up. We\'re both adults and you knew it was coming," she muttered before jokingly sticking out her tongue at Draco. "Please don\'t go around discussing our sex life in public."



"You have a sex life?" Luna asked cheerfully, plopping down next to Ron, who started choking on a piece of toast. Whether this was because of her words or her sudden appearance, Ginny wasn\'t sure.



"Anapneo!" Luna chirped, flicking her wand casually at him.



The bit of toast flew from Ron\'s mouth with an audible pop, landing on his plate as he gulped down huge mouthfuls of air. "Thanks, Luv," he rasped after a moment, smiling gratefully at her between coughs.



"Luv?" Harry repeated, grinning widely.



"Shut up," Ron muttered, his ears turning a bit red before he reached over and squeezed Luna\'s hand.



"You\'re dating?" Hermione squealed excitedly, clapping her hands and bouncing in her seat when Luna nodded happily.



"Thanks to Ginny..." Luna murmured softly. "I never would have gotten up the courage to tell him how I felt. Ravenclaw, not a Gryffindor, remember?"



"I might have figured it out," Ron shrugged, blushing even more. "Eventually..."



Ginny smiled amusedly before glancing at her boyfriend. He had gone extremely pale beneath the light tan he\'d acquired that summer, and was staring blankly at his plate. "Hey, are you alright?"



"There\'s a spell for that?" Draco whispered. Ginny frowned confusedly and he clarified, "For choking?" Ginny winced, remembering exactly how Lucius had been murdered...choked to death on his own severed tongue. She knew her boyfriend was conflicted over his father\'s death, sometimes insisting that he was glad he was gone, and other times admitting he wished that she and Ron had gotten there a minute or two sooner. The greatest consolation he had, if you could call it that, was that he\'d been tied up and unable to do anything to prevent it. But he had managed to cast one spell wandlessly before he was subdued, and to find out now that a spell existed that could have stopped his father from choking...she knew he must be kicking himself.



"You didn\'t know the spell, Draco," Ginny murmured gently, "It\'s not your fault you didn\'t know..."



She reached for his hand but he stood up abruptly, dropping his fork and napkin on his plate. "Excuse me...I\'m not hungry. I\'m gonna go get some air..."



"Do you want me to come with you?" Ginny asked worriedly.



"No," he smiled weakly, "I\'m alright. I just need a few minutes. I\'ll see you in class, Luv," he raised his hand in a half wave at the others before slowly walking away.



"He\'s still a terrible liar," Harry mumbled, shaking his head slightly and rolling his eyes before going back to his breakfast.



Ginny stared blankly at her own plate, her appetite gone despite how ravenous she\'d been when she woke up that morning. She\'d known it was going to be difficult for everyone, returning to the site of so much violence and death. Draco seemed to be suffering more than most, and she was increasingly worried by his obvious depression. She hoped he wasn\'t going to start beating himself up over Lucius again. He\'d only just been starting to come to terms with it near the end of the summer.



"Hey, Gin...it\'s time to head to class," Hermione\'s voice roused her from her thoughts. Yawning, Ginny wrapped two muffins in a napkin, one for and one for Draco, and wearily followed her friends to Transfiguration.



She had a feeling it was going to be a very long day.