Silver and Cold
A/N: This is in response to rowan-greenleafs challenge (stated below). Also, this is IMPORTANT – this does not follow the plot of the last two books! Dumbledore is still kicking about in his office twinkling and eating sherbet lemons, Voldie is still kicking about somewhere sending Harry sneaky dreams and I have jumped to Draco's last year/Ginny's sixth years with none of the books drama. Hope you enjoy!
Challenge: Ginny has a talent for drawing and does a sketch of Draco which he will eventually end up seeing.
Ginny was cold, October was relinquishing its final clutches on the remnants of Septembers sunshine and was finally submitting to Novembers more wintery approach of sleet and frost. For all the fire roared hot and strong in the Gryffindor common room Ginny was, for reasons not quite clear to her, huddled just within the entrance of the Castle, peering out into the darkening twilight as she waited for Luna and Collin to appear back from Hogsmead. Although Ginny regretfully wished she had yielded and gone with them on the much looked forward to outing she had to admit that staying in the empty library to conduct battle with her Potions essay had been the right decision. Sighing as she thought of the things she'd have rather been doing with her day Ginny made another tempt to peer through the drizzle and locate her wayward friends. Eventually she was rewarded, just as night began to take over the sky properly two hunched and shivering figures materialised through the rain a hundred yards away or so. Shifting impatiently from foot to foot Ginny eagerly stepped away from the drafty entrance way as Collin and Luna trudged through.
"Took your time didn't you?" Ginny grumped, ruining it by smiling as Collin turned a bedraggled looking head to glare at her.
"It's bloody awful out there." Collin shot back, running a hand through his hair in a half-hearted attempt to keep it out of his eyes. Luna, serene as ever, rolled her eyes at their bickering and held out a bag to Ginny.
"Here are your new materials; your change and receipt are in there to." Ginny whipped the bag from Luna's hand before she had even finished speaking, smiling greedily at the contents.
"Thank guys!" She chirped happily, good mood fully restored at the appearance of her greatest necessity in life.
Given how late it was and the fact that Collin and Luna were as wet and miserable as each other, the three friends came to the unspoken agreement to go their separate ways and meet up again the following morning. Deciding last minute not to follow the dripping Collin to the common room, Ginny veered off at one of the (for once) conveniently moving staircases and headed to the Library.
Ginny hummed happily to herself as she entered the Library, it was virtually empty, and the corner she was aiming for was completely bare. Smiling at the lurking Librarian Ginny moved one of the squishy chairs in 'Readers Corner' closer to the nearest window and settled down, legs tucked up underneath her, bag of goodies on her lap. With singular pleasure Ginny tipped the contents onto her lap and began to sort them. Placing her new sketchpad on the windowsill by her elbow Ginny removed a couple of new soft leaded pencils from their tin case and put the rest of them and her oil based paints back into the bag along with her clinking change. Dropping the bag onto the floor Ginny placed her new sketchpad on her knee and opened it slowly, inhaling eagerly the smell of the crisp, unblemished paper. Glancing absently out of the window she briefly wondered if perhaps she could kick of her latest collection with a drawing of the miniature tempest that was currently raging outside. Biting her lip thoughtfully Ginny decided against it, she wanted something peaceful to start this sketchpad off on, her last pad had been full of action sketches, snapshots of Quidditch practise, two seventh years practising their Duelling, a young first year running to a class he was late for. No, this pad would be a more peaceful one she decided, so where to start? Gazing around the Library for some sort of inspiration, Ginny's attention was caught by a table only a meter or so away from her sheltered spot in the corner. Three Slytherin seventh years had appeared their since she'd settled down and were respectively working on different assignments. She recognised Blaise Zabini straight away even from the back, and Theodore Nott was easily remembered as a result of his lanky height and permanent hangdog expression. The third member of the table was who had caught her eye the most however. Draco Malfoy was sat facing towards her with a look of half-hearted concentration on his fair features.
Ginny cocked her head slightly; she hadn't really given the older boy much thought this year, he had grown out of his persistent torture of her brother and his friends and settled now for the occasional sarcastic comment or witty barb. Sat there now he looked peaceful. As Ginny had been contemplating he had obviously given up attempting to work and was sat back in his chair, staring out of the window. The tranquil look in his eyes caught Ginny's artistic fingers with an unexpected hold and lead them eagerly over to the first page in her sketchpad. She hesitated for a moment; did she really want the infamous Slytherin decorating the first page of her sketchpad? She had wanted it to be full of peaceful images, was he really the best choice? Ginny glanced up at him again through her eyelashes, there was no denying it, he did look peaceful sat there. She sighed, if she didn't draw him now she would regret it tomorrow.
Picking up one of her new pencils Ginny began to draw. Despite her initial wish to immediately capture everything on paper Ginny squashed the amateur reaction and started with his face, her main focus of the piece. As Ginny became absorbed in her work she felt the same peacefulness she was attempting to capture settle into her mind and body, felt the tense muscles in her neck loosen as she fulfilled her main pleasure in life.
An hour or so had passed and Ginny began to think about finishing her sketch for the evening. As absorbed in her work as she had been she had not noticed the time until, in glancing up at Draco to study his hands, she had noticed the clock on the wall behind him. Holding the pad out at arms length in front of her Ginny scrutinised her work. On the whole, she had to admit, she was pleased with it. She felt as though she had captured him in that drawing, putting onto paper the side people never saw of the intimidating Slytherin.
Stifling a jaw-cracking yawn Ginny began to pack away her things; she felt serene after such a cathartic evening and was ready for a hot shower and bed. Staring once more at her sketch (he really was eye catching) Ginny grabbed her pencil up from its resting place and signed her name in the bottom right corner. Casting a charm on the paper to stop it tearing Ginny stuck the brown bag her supplies had arrived in into her school bag and moved the chair she'd used back where she'd stolen it from. Swinging her bag up onto her shoulder Ginny made her way to the entrance, passing her models table on the way.
"What were you drawing Weasley?" Ginny froze. Licking her suddenly dry lips she turned slightly so she could see the three Slytherin's easily.
"Why do you want to know?" She asked calmly, trying to keep the defensiveness out of her voice and ignoring the voice in the back of her mind saying he should know, he was the unaware model for the picture. Draco cocked a pale eyebrow, she realised that she needed to add a little more shape to them in her picture…
"I want to know, Weasley because you seemed to be staring over here quite a lot." Ginny tried not to sigh; she'd thought he hadn't noticed. She shrugged, trying not rile him up.
"Sorry if you're offended, I sketch random people all the time, you guys were sort of sat in my line of vision when I was looking for something to draw." Ginny smiled, omitting the fact that it was just Draco she'd sketched. For a split second she thought she'd gotten away with it, but as she started to turn away she felt the sketch pad being pulled out of her arms. Glancing down in alarm she saw Blaise with it propped open in his lap, studying her sketch. Panic caught the words halfway up her throat. In what must have been a mere heartbeat but felt likes minutes Theodore had leant over Blaise's shoulder to look as well. She only just registered the fact that Draco was still staring at her intently. Eventually Blaise looked up at Draco, a devilish smile on his features.
"Draco mate, you're going to have to see this." Ginny heart sank even further, if that was possible. All Ginny could do was stand their helplessly whilst Blaise slid her traitorous sketchpad over the table to Draco. In a sort of daze Ginny watched Draco's long, slender fingers open her pad and his silvery eyes study the content. A few minutes must have passed in that bemused silence before he took up his quill and went to write something on the paper. Panic rising up in her at the thought of him ruining her work out of spite Ginny broke out of her stupor and grabbed his wrist. He glanced up at her in restrained surprise, she'd moved quickly. Ginny couldn't help herself.
"Please" She begged quietly "I'm sorry I did that, it was wrong and I know you hate all things Gryffindor and Weasley, but… you were so nice to draw, your every artist dream… it was a shame not to portray you on paper." Ginny knew she was babbling, making a fool of herself, but he was just staring at her with those disconcerting silvery grey eyes which seemed to be laying her open and displaying her faults and strengths and feelings alike for all to see. After a moments silence, filled only with their breathing he gently removed her hand from his wrist and put his quill down to the paper again. Ginny felt unexpected tears prick the back of her eyelids at the thought of him letting her embarrass herself and then ruin her work regardless. It took a second for it to sink in that he wasn't scrawling all over her work but writing something in small, neat script in the bottom left corner, opposite to her signature. Without a word he gently closed the pad again and handed it back to her. Still feeling slightly out of her depth Ginny took it back with slightly shaking fingers and turned on her heel to walk away. As she disappeared round a bookcase and out of their clutches Ginny heard his unmistakable, smooth baritone voice as he laughed and said that next time, the Weasley chit should just ask. It was only when Ginny was tucked up safely in her bed that she realised she was hopelessly infatuated with the enigma that was Draco Malfoy.
xoxoxoxoxo
After the incident in the library Ginny stuck her sketchpad in the top draw of her dresser and for a few days swore that she wouldn't let it get her into that sort of predicament again. Ginny lasted happily like this for three days until curiosity over what he had written overcame her wish to never look at the picture again. On the Wednesday evening Ginny slipped up to her dormitory when she knew no one would be around and rescued her pad from where it had been residing in her knicker draw. Settling down on her bed Ginny opened it across her knees, and in the light of day couldn't help but admire her depiction of Malfoy. After a second or so of admiration she turned her attention to the words written in ink in the bottom corner. What she read surprised her to say the least.
So I, I will paint you in silver.
I
will wrap you in cold…
Ginny stared at the words, they sounded like lyrics but that was irrelevant. What a weird thing to write. Hearing the bell sound for dinner Ginny closed her pad slowly, gazing thoughtfully at the blank cover. What did this mean?
As it turned out Ginny wasn't destined to find out what the strange actions of Malfoy were about until nearly Christmas. As November slipped by Ginny almost forget about the incident, she rarely caught sight of the fair headed Slytherin except at mealtimes, and his eyes never caught hers. Unfortunately, the lack of contact did nothing to dampen her infatuation for him, if anything absence really did make the heart grow fonder. As the days went by Ginny had started to fill her sketchpad with more images, the Trio lounging around by the lake, Ron and Harry playing Wizards Chess, Collin working on an essay. But still, that sketch at the front that she always had to stare at for a moment whenever she opened the pad up.
It was the day before Christmas when the incident that had been waiting to happen just… happened. Ginny was still at school, her parents were visiting Charlie in Romania and for some unholy reason Ginny wasn't with them. Sitting in the kitchens with a large mug of hot chocolate by her right elbow and her oil paints by her left with her sketch pad in front of her was what Ginny called being in a heavenly situation. Humming a Weird Sisters song happily to herself Ginny dipper her slender paintbrush into the murky water before dabbing it in the red paint. Applying delicate strokes to the paper Ginny was completely unaware of what else was happening in the kitchen. So when someone spoke in her ear out of the blue she was more than a little shocked.
"Up to your tricks againWeasley?" Ginny froze as her heartbeat started to race and a strange prickling feeling crept up the back of her neck. With barely trembling fingers she laid her paintbrush down on the table and turned slightly in her seat. Draco stood behind her, an amused smirk on his face. In the soft light of the kitchen Ginny was dimly aware of his un-tucked oxford shirt, lack of tie and the pale skin peeping through the undone top buttons.
"So it would appear." She managed to force out after a few moments. He took a step close and leant over her to study her latest creation. Ginny closed her eyes, he smelt divine, and he was so warm…
Opening her eyes again she saw with some embarrassment that he was standing straight again and was watching her with unconcealed amusement. Aware of the fact that she was blushing Ginny cleared her throat and turned back around in her seat. Her initial thought was to tell him to clear off and therefore spare her further embarrassment, but against her better judgement she asked him what had been plaguing her for nearly two months.
"What was it that you wrote on my sketch of you?" if he was surprised by her radon question he didn't show it. Instead he stepped forward again and this time took a seat to her left. Resolving not to get distracted this time Ginny turned to him enquiringly. Muttering a drying charm on the piece she'd been working on he turned back to the first page, flicking through the others with an interested eye on the way.
"They're words from a song." He stated matter-of-factly after a moment. Ginny rolled her eyes.
"I guessed, but why did you write them?" Draco smiled, obviously enjoying her struggle.
"That's a different question all together little Weasley." Seeing the exasperated look on her face he quickly continued, albeit smirking. "But I'll indulge you. It was a song written about me, for me, by a dear friend and it seemed to fit the picture you had done of me." Silence prevailed for a moment.
"Oh." Said Ginny quietly, she didn't know what else to say. They sat together quietly for a few minutes, each staring at the picture of him whilst they thought their own private thoughts. The fact that their families were arch enemies and they had previously hated each other seemed not to occur to either of them.
Both of them jumped in surprise when Dobby appeared on the other side of the table, sporting a large Santa hat and a large toothy grin.
"Dobby wishes Master and Mistress a happy Christmas!" Ginny and Draco glanced at each other in mutual confusion, and then looked at the clock. It read 12:01. Ginny's eyes widened, Christmas had arrived and she was spending it sat in dumbstruck silence. Ginny was snapped out of her thoughts by Draco shifting on the bench next to her. Looking over to him Ginny wondered at the look on his face. She wandered what he saw. A freckly ginger child no doubt. Ginny was still thinking these thoughts when he did something completely unexpected. Reaching into his pocked he pulled out a sprig of mistletoe. Wait thought Ginny mistletoe?! He held it over her head.
"Happy Christmas Red." Ginny was still reeling from shock when he kissed her. Whatever she was halfway through thinking suddenly dissipated as a strong arm wrapped round her and the hand buried itself in her hair. What felt like an eternity later Ginny was allowed to come up for air blinking owlishly up at him she simply sat there dazed , still unable to fully comprehend what had happened. The last thought to cross her mind before he kissed her again was that if this is what he did every time she drew a picture of him, well… she'd have to keep drawing her whole life.
The End
A/N 2: I hope that was enjoyable! I apologise for any mistakes as this wasn't Beta'd and hope that it did 'rowan-greenleaf's challenge justice! The lyrics were from a song called 'Silver and Cold' by a band called AFI.
WishfulWhispers
xXx