Ginny's attitude toward Draco was actually very complicated.
To call them friends would still be far too much, but to call them enemies would also be an exaggeration.
After all, they had fought side by side before.
In fact, judging from Ginny's expression and the way she looked at Draco, she did not seem to dislike him quite as much as she claimed.
Every now and then, she would even take the initiative to seek Draco out...
But because this shift in their relationship had not lasted very long, most people were still unaware of it.
Just like now.
Whether they were wizards who had just come out of Honeydukes or ones about to head inside, the moment they saw the three of them together, all of them could not help showing a look of surprise.
Some of them even had the same thought.
Had she switched targets?
Ahem.
In any case, even if they did not let their thoughts run that far, they still could not help sneaking a few extra glances their way.
And perhaps because of all that attention from the surrounding wizards, Harry Potter, standing some distance away, also noticed the commotion over here.
Ginny, meanwhile, still chatting with Draco, failed to notice any of it...
...
Perhaps because of the cold, Ginny leaned a little closer as she spoke.
"Mm, I saw Hermione. So you were waiting here for them."
When she said "them," Ginny deliberately stressed the word, and a trace of disdain appeared on her face, as though she found Draco's habit of juggling several girls at once utterly contemptible.
Although she was mocking Draco, Luna, who knew her friend very well, gave Ginny a strange look.
If you looked closely, you could catch a hint of something complicated flickering through Luna's detached, ethereal eyes.
It was almost as if she were saying that Ginny herself was one of those boats.
But Luna kept her expression blank and said nothing. Nor did she mean to warn her. She simply stood there quietly, watching the conversation between them...
Draco merely glanced at her and gave a small shrug.
That calm reaction, however, only seemed to stir Ginny's competitive streak even more.
The girl's rather spirited brows lifted, and she rose onto her toes to peer into the shop.
"For someone so smart, she really has terrible taste."
"..."
"What a pity. I thought Ron actually had a pretty good chance."
Draco's mouth twitched, and he lowered his head to look at the red-haired witch in front of him.
That was one comparison he absolutely could not accept. To put him on the same level as someone like that.
He had no idea where her confidence came from.
But Ron Weasley?
What a joke...
Before Draco could even laugh, Ginny's expression turned downcast first.
"Speaking of Ron... did you notice anything strange about him back then?"
Ginny tipped her face up as she looked at Draco, her eyes full of expectation.
It was as if she believed she could get a perfect answer from him.
At that, Draco's expression slowly turned serious.
"Something strange..."
Although Draco had been somewhat concerned about the changes in Ron Weasley after that day, Dumbledore had likely done too good a job keeping things under wraps.
So when it came to information on that matter, Draco had been unable to get anything at all. In fact, even the Malfoy family had received no news whatsoever.
What he had not expected was that he, who had wanted to uncover the truth this whole time, would hear the first hint of it from Ginny instead.
Especially when Hermione had refused to reveal a single thing when she asked before...
...
From Ginny's point of view, asking Draco this question was not really a problem.
After all, Draco had been one of the people directly involved at the time. More than that, the one who had actually fought Ron was Draco, not Ginny, who had been sitting behind him, and certainly not Luna, who had spent the whole time as little more than a bystander.
As for why she would not answer Hermione, only Ginny herself knew.
Of course, it might also have been because the factions behind them and their respective positions were just a little too delicate.
That was why Ginny had not spoken carelessly.
Especially since Ron's hatred for Draco had been laid bare without the slightest restraint that very day...
So when faced with Ginny's request for help, Draco's expression turned a little odd, but he had no intention of letting this chance slip by.
"Then what are you planning to offer in exchange?"
"..."
An exchange.
Mm... Ginny did not let her thoughts run in any strange direction.
After all, Luna's father had already made a deal with Draco before.
As for why she had fallen silent, it was mainly because she had no idea what she could offer Draco in exchange...
"What do you want?"
That frank question in return was very much Ginny's style.
She was just lacking a little confidence.
Some things really were hard to say in front of Draco, especially anything related to the Order of the Phoenix.
Although Ginny still did not know that Draco had learned about the Order of the Phoenix from her own mouth in the first place...
And since they were talking about Ron Weasley, Draco naturally set his sights on him.
"Then tell me exactly what happened to your brother."
Honestly, that was not an unreasonable request. If anything, only by understanding Ron Weasley's real condition could Draco better explain the problem he had noticed back then.
For both of them, it was something that benefited them equally.
And Ginny, who did not have much guard up around Draco, could naturally see that as well.
As long as she kept control of herself and did not reveal any important secrets, it would be fine.
Realizing that, Ginny happily stepped forward.
"Ron, he..."
Just as Ginny was about to say what she knew, a furious shout suddenly rang out beside them.
And that single shout cut off whatever Ginny was about to say next...
"Ginny, what are you doing!!"
Anger.
Disbelief.
Who would have thought that a single sentence could carry such complicated emotions?
Turning toward the source of the roar, they saw that the speaker was the same thin figure who had just been standing in the snow in a daze.
It was still Harry Potter.
But that face, twisted with grief and fury, felt so unfamiliar...