Dean shrugged.  "Nothing," he said, not quite meeting her eyes.  "Just had a weird day."  He gestured towards the bed.  "Are you sure about this, Gin?  I'm more than willing to crash on your couch."  Muttering under his breath he added, "You'd probably be safer that way."

Ginny rose an eyebrow. "Unless you suddenly turned into an ax murderer, I think I'll be fine." She took a step towards him. "Dean, I've known you for years. Something is wrong. You're going to tell me what's wrong, or I will get it out of you in some fashion, and I can promise it won't be enjoyed." She ducked her head until he was forced to meet her eyes. "What's wrong?"

Dean shrugged and said, "Oh, nothing - I only attacked Alicia this morning."   He chuckled bitterly.  "I mean hey, what's a little sexual assault among friends, right?"

Her eyebrows furrowed before put a hand on his shoulder. "Attacked. Alicia." She shook her head. "I highly doubt it's as bad as you're making it seem. What happened?"

Dean heaved a sigh.  "All the gory details, eh?  Fine.  Alicia got played  by Cormac McLaggen last week - walked into Avalon to find him snogging Angelina - and came up with a plan to get a little of her own back, and came to me for help.  She wanted to give him a provocative painting of her, to show him just exactly what he'd thrown away.  Are you with me so far?"  At her nod, he continued.  "Well, I convinced her that the plan could use a little tweaking.  Rather than just give him the painting, we'd deliver it together and give the impression that I'd done a bit more than just paint her."

"It worked beautifully, I have to admit," Dean added with a rueful grin.  "By the time we were done, Cormac looked like he'd swallowed polyjuice."

"And then?" Ginny asked.

Dean's shoulders slumped.  "And then I got the bright idea to put a capper on the whole thing by kissing Ali on the way out of his office.  The next thing I know I've got her pressed against the door frame with my hand up her skirt!"  Dean looked up at Ginny and asked, "What kind of person does that to someone they care about?"

Ginny pulled on his shoulder, leading him until he was sitting down on her bed. "Listen, Dean, you are not a bad person. You're not. I don't like bad people, and I like you, so you can stop thinking that right now." She shook her head. "Do you like her? Alicia? Because, if you like her, then maybe you just got a little carried away. It's not sexual assault, and I don't want to hear you say that again."

"Carried away?  Gin, I was about one minute and a pair of torn knickers away from trying to pound her through the wall!  In public!  I think that's a bit beyond 'carried away', love.  As for Ali, I like her a lot... but it's never been a naked kind of like."  Dean shook his head.  "I scared the hell out of her.  Poor thing couldn't get out of there fast enough."

She blinked, taking everything in. "Alright. So, first off, I'm coming to find that you can't really control whether or not you think of someone naked. It just happens. There's not a lot you can do." She grabbed his hand. "Secondly, how do you know she just wasn't confused by it as much as you were? I mean, maybe it was just... sudden? Like it hit you and you couldn't really do anything about it."

She smiled at him softly. "You're not a bad person, Dean. You're not. You just need to talk to her about it. You're friends."

"We'll see, I suppose.  Ali's decided that I will be having dinner with her on Thursday, or else there will be hexing,"  Dean explained, looking a bit lost.  "I have no idea what I'm going to say to her."

"You'll know when you see her." She laughed, clapping him on the leg. "Right there in the doorway, Dean? If I had known you were an exhibitionist..." She stood, laughing again at his look. "It'll be fine. You're freaking out over nothing. Promise."

"I hope so," Dean whispered.  "I hope so..."  Sighing, he stood.  "Alright!  So, where are my clothes supposed to go?"

Ginny let him drop the subject. Oh, she'd be attacking him on Thursday to see how everything went, but she could tell he was not wanting to talk about it right then. She ran a hand through her hair. "Um... You mean you're adverse to leaving them in boxes?" She grinned. "We can transfigure a bureau for you. We have plenty of room in here for it. And... there's plenty of towels in the bathroom."

She grabbed a box and held it against her hip. "Do we want to start going through things now?"

After a quick internal thank you to Gin for letting it drop, Dean smiled.  "Sure.  Though you might want to grab another box... unless you have an intense urge to fondle my boxers."

She grinned, peering into the box. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing enough of them, might as well get used to them." She smiled before setting the box on the bed and grabbing out a black pair. She held them up. "Black? Really?" She laughed when she held them up to herself. "They're a little big for me to wear..."

Dean suddenly had to push the very vivid image of Ginny wearing only his boxers low across her hips firmly from his mind's eye.  Mentally shaking himself, Dean snickered.  "What were you expecting... a pink thong?"

"Actually, I figured you more for a whitey-tightie type of guy." She ducked out of reach when he grabbed for his pants. "Hey! I'm enjoying having my hands on your pants. Let a girl explore a bit!" She let out a girlie squeal when he lunged at her, jumping on her bed and coming to the other side. "Hey, you can look through my underwear drawer if it'll make you feel better. Make us even? I know I have a pink thong in there somewhere..."

"You are so bad," he laughed.  As he closed on her, he wiggled his fingers at her.  "And you know what the punishment for being a bad girl is, don't you?"

She clapped her hands, only slightly muffled by the fact his pants were clutched in them. "A SPANKING?"

Groaning, Dean replied, "I was thinking of tickling you into submission, but if you keep putting images like that into my head, a spanking isn't out of the question!"

"Well, a girl has to get her kicks somewhere." She dropped his pants onto the bed and flopped on top of them, looking up at him through a curtain of hair. "Really, though, I'm glad you're here. I miss living with a boy. It's always interesting."

"That's one way to put it, I guess," Dean chuckled as he swatted her across the rump.

Ginny let out a giggle and rolled onto her back. "Seriously, Dean. We're going to have fun, you'll see."

"I think you may be right."  Flopping down beside her, he chuckled.  "And don't think that you're off the hook, little miss.  We'll be talking about who you're picturing naked soon enough."  Laughing at the gobsmacked look on her face, Dean shook his head and added. "What?  You didn't honestly think I'd let that little tidbit slide, did you?"

She laughed and laid her head on his shoulder. "I only think of you naked, dear. Only you." And blonds how have snake tattoos on their very nice arms. Which are connected to their very nice chest. Which is connected to-

"Maybe some other time..."

Dean turned and dropped a kiss on her forehead.

"Maybe, my arse..."


Summary: Dean moves in with Ginny and Luna at Orchard's Gate. Ginny doesn't like his mood. She tries to ferret the information out of him. (We all know how good she is with ferreting...)