Parallel fic to Waking During the Night
Black
Black is the color of sin. Evil.
Ginny stared at the sharp contours of the pale face, not believing what she was hearing. The rain pelted the other's hair, flattening it from its usual glamour and glitz.
"I didn't know where else to go."
"So you came here? What makes you think you're welcome here?" Her voice came out rather harshly, more icy than she had intended. But one couldn't be too cautious nowadays.
"Because you took Draco in."
"Yes, but the circumstances were very different. He didn't just show up on my doorstep one night, asking to be let in. He and Harry – "
"Yes, I know all about them." Her eyes flashed in the almost darkness. "Honestly, Virginia, I thought you would be different. I didn't think you would hold on to prejudices like this." She folded her arms over her chest. Ginny watched a shiver trail down her body. The girl before her stood so broken, so unlike her former self, that Ginny found herself biting her lip.
"Get inside. Pray that my mother doesn't wake up."
The kitchen was warm, even without any of the candles lit. Ginny pulled out a chair and gestured for the soaked girl to have a seat. She did, and Ginny silently put hot water on the stove to make a warm drink. As the water heated up, she pulled out a chair opposite the girl and sat down in it.
A crash and muffled thump shattered the silence, and Ginny leapt to her feet. It came from the stairs, which meant in only a few seconds whoever had just fallen down the stairs would be able to see the other occupant of the table. Ginny slid in front of the girl just as the person walked into the kitchen.
"Dammit, Ginny, how many times do I have to tell you, you can't douse the candles on the stairway. I'm never coherent enough to make my way downstairs in the dark." A shock of white-blonde hair announced Draco's arrival.
"You're up very early, Malfoy," Ginny replied tersely. Draco rubbed his eyes and yawned. "It's three in the morning. Don't you need your beauty sleep?"
"Nightmare. Don't tell Harry." He pulled a hand through his hair, and his eyes lit on the figure crouched behind Ginny. His eyes narrowed and all sleep left his expression. Before Ginny could react, he had shoved her behind him and held a wand to the other's throat. "Pansy. What in Merlin's name are you doing here? You have two seconds to answer before I kill you."
"Malfoy, calm down," Ginny said, her voice low and urgent. "We don't need this right now."
"Time's up," Malfoy growled, jabbing the tip into Pansy's delicate throat. She flinched, but made no other move.
"Malfoy." Ginny's hand came down on Draco's wand wrist. She gripped with light pressure. "She came here for sanctuary."
"And you believed her?" Draco's hand trembled a bit in her grasp.
"I killed my father." Pansy's voice cut through both theirs, clear and thin.
"I'll believe that when I see his ghost floating over your shoulder," Draco hissed. Her eyes flashed black with a retort, but Ginny cut her off.
"Malfoy, that was uncalled for."
"Draco?" Another voice crept out from the shadows, foggy with sleep. Harry stepped into the dim glow of the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.
"Harry, stay out of here!" Draco's voice lowered urgently. Harry either didn't hear him or ignored him, and stepped closer, touching his chest to Draco's shoulder.
"Draco you weren't in bed."
Draco used his free hand to shove Harry behind him, away from Pansy, despite his protests.
"Malfoy, don't be stupid. She's not going to be daft enough to hurt him in front of all of us."
"I'm not taking any chances."
"Is that Pansy? What's she doing here?" Harry's hands clamped down on Draco's shoulders as his eyes widened.
"Why don't we just wake up the entire house?" Ginny growled in frustration. "Harry what are you doing up? It's three a.m."
"He came down to add to the freak show, I'm sure."
"Pansy, shut up. You still haven't answered my question."
"Malfoy, give it a rest already. I think if she was here to do something she would have – "
"Ginny you trust too easily. I know her family. I know all their kind." Draco's eyes were dark even as Harry rubbed reassuring circles into his skin. He jerked his hand out of Ginny's grip. "Don't touch me." His wand stayed out, but he took a step back, pushing Harry behind him.
The sound of water boiling drew the four from their stand-off. Ginny, though reluctant to leave Pansy even to cross one meter of floor, went to turn the stove temperature down and add the chocolate. When she turned around, Draco still glared at Pansy as if she might bite.
"I never thought I would see you so desperate to protect someone, Draco," Pansy whispered suddenly. Ginny didn't know what caused it, but Draco visibly relaxed, if only a fraction, and let his wand hand fall limp at his side.
"What did they do to you?" he asked, as Harry's arms wrapped around his waist. He leaned back into the boy's embrace, but focused on Pansy.
"I'd rather not say. But I can't go back."
"I don't trust you. If you come within three meters of Harry without me near him, I will kill you." Draco's eyes flashed fiercely.
"I wouldn't expect less," she replied coolly. Ginny nailed him with a reproachful look that he glibly ignored.
"Come on, Harry, you're asleep on your feet," Draco murmured into Harry's ear as he turned into the embrace. He slid an arm around Harry's waist and started leading him from the kitchen.
"I woke up and you weren't there…" Harry's voice faded as Draco took them back to their shared room.
Ginny was silent as she poured the hot cocoa into two cups and handed one to Pansy. The girl shivered once before she wrapped her thin, pale fingers around the mug. "I'll be right back. I'm sure some of Hermione's things would fit you." Ginny stood. She shoved down the instinct that told her not to leave Pansy alone, and tiptoed up the stairs to the room she shared with Hermione.
She held her breath as she returned to the kitchen, expecting to see the chair empty and someone lying dead on the ground. As she drew neared to the table, however, she heard something quite different than the dying gasps of one of her family.
Soft hissing of breath met her ears, followed by a shuddering intake. By the light cast by the lone candle in the room, Ginny saw Pansy's head down on the table, cradled in her arms. Her shoulders shook with quiet sobs, her knuckles white against the stark black of her sleeves.
Ginny walked forward hesitantly, and touched Pansy's shoulder. The girl gasped and shot up in the chair, hastily swiping at her cheeks.
"I, uh, found a shirt and some slacks for you." Ginny held out the clothes. "You must be freezing."
"Thank you," Pansy murmured.
"Pansy… it's all right if you need to… cry," Ginny said, kneeling beside Pansy's chair. "Sometimes it helps."
"Crying doesn't solve anything," Pansy growled bitterly. "It won't bring my father back. It won't make my mother love me. It won't take this fucking mark off my arm." She gripped her left forearm unconsciously. Ginny closed her warm hand over Pansy's, staring at the contrast of deathly pale skin against her mild Irish cream.
"I'd say it's all right, but I'd be lying," Ginny whispered. "But they won't hurt you anymore. You're safe now."
"How do you know? I could be a spy. You're stupid to trust me."
"Gryffindor, remember?" Ginny smiled weakly. "Come on. You'll feel better."
Silent tears already dripped down Pansy's face. "I'm sure you're loving this… Seeing me so broken… Are you going to laugh about it with the Mudblood later?"
"I will slap you if you ever say that again to my face," Ginny said seriously. "Not the Mudblood comment, though I will slap you for that. I would never enjoy someone else's pain. No matter how much I hate them. I have seen too much suffering already. I don't wish it on anyone."
This earned a watery smile from Pansy, and then a bitter chuckle. She slid from the chair to her knees before Ginny, and let the smaller girl wrap her arms around her. It wasn't the display of hysterics that Ginny sometimes dissolved into, but it was enough. Pansy shook against her, her cold clothing soaking through Ginny's thin nightshirt and giving her goose bumps. Ginny laced a hand through Pansy's hair, giving the other the security of touch and warmth.
After a few minutes, Pansy's breath stilled, and she sat up. Even in the darkness, Ginny could see her face flushed with embarrassment. "Here. These should fit. And they're warm, at least." Ginny handed Pansy the clothes she had borrowed from Hermione's drawers. Ginny directed Pansy to the bathroom, and sat at the table fiddling with her cocoa mug as Pansy changed. Where was she going to hide Pansy until she could convince her family of the girl's harmlessness?
"Pansy, you can sleep in my bed tonight," Ginny said when the girl returned.
"Only if you're there as well," came the immediate response. Ginny blinked.
"What?"
"I won't put you out of your own bed, you silly girl." Pansy smirked in amusement. "I'm sure we'll be quite comfortable."
"My bed is too small to fit two people on it."
"We'll manage."
Ginny shrugged and led the way to her room, one hand locked in Pansy's grip to keep the girl from wandering off somewhere. Once inside the pitch-black room, Ginny slowed and carefully picked her way around Hermione's bed, pulling Pansy close against her so the other would not trip. When they reached her bed, Ginny threw the covers back and sat Pansy down on them. She heard rather than saw Pansy shift around, before climbing in after her.
Her bed was still warm from before she had woken, but Pansy's skin still trembled with the night's chill.
"Come here, you're still freezing," Ginny murmured past the girl's damp hair. Pansy shifted, moving closer to Ginny. Ginny nearly fell off the bed in her effort to switch positions. She pushed herself up on her elbow and then lowered herself so that she was half resting on Pansy, arms curled around the girl. Pansy started to shiver. "Should I get another blanket?" Ginny whispered.
"No… it's just… you're breathing right on my neck." Pansy squirmed a bit, causing friction against Ginny that made her bite her lip. "You're making me all hot and bothered."
Ginny flushed down to her collarbone. "I – er…"
Pansy giggled softly. "Oh my, is the youngest Weasley a virgin?"
"N-No!" Ginny sputtered. She realized she was up on her elbows over Pansy, and the girl was staring at her in amusement.
"You know what will warm me straight up, then?" Pansy cocked an eyebrow.
"Hermione is right there!" Ginny hissed. Pansy's hand slipped under her shirt, touching heated skin. "Pansy!"
"Bite your tongue," Pansy suggested, stretching up and placing a kiss on Ginny's neck. Ginny sank down against her, melting into the sensation of Pansy's hands at her back. Pansy trailed her lips across Ginny's cheek, and took her mouth captive instantly. Ginny discovered one of her hands gripping Pansy's thigh, the other curled tightly into the girl's hair. She gave up fighting and forced Pansy back against her pillow with her lips, opening her mouth hot and slick for the other girl. Pansy took the invitation and slipped her tongue through Ginny's lips.
She shivered when cold air kissed her skin, as Pansy slipped her light blouse from her shoulders and exposed her bare chest. Pansy's hands, now warm and steady, worked over her shoulders, down her front, touching and feeling skin. Ginny repressed a gasp as Pansy's teeth sank into tender skin just above her breast. Sure fingers drifted across her skin, touching on a sensitive spot just above her hip and making her flinch.
"Ticklish?" Pansy asked, her lips leaving the gentle curve of Ginny's throat.
"Very," Ginny whispered, a smile creasing her face. Pansy pinched her side, and Ginny bit back a small yelp. "Stop it, you're going to wake her," she hissed, casting a look at Hermione. The brunette stirred, turned over and fell silent again.
When Ginny turned her attention back to Pansy, the girl had slipped her fingers along the waistline of Ginny's gossamer shorts. The feather-light brush of her knuckles against pale ivory made Ginny's skin tingle with sensation, and Ginny leaned forward into the touch.
Pansy let her mouth wander Ginny's throat, pulling at the skin gently with her teeth as she moved, and Ginny twisted her head to playfully tug at Pansy's ear with her tongue. She only just stifled a moan when Pansy slipped her fingers inside her panties, touching the heat that had been growing.
"Gently…" Pansy murmured into her skin, her heated breath sending shivers down Ginny's spine. Ginny rocked backward onto Pansy's hand, creating delicious friction. She helped Pansy a bit by shimmying out of her panties and letting them fall over the side of the bed. "You are positively gorgeous." Pansy smiled, a hand reaching up and pushing a few strands of hair out of Ginny's eyes.
"And you are positively tantalizing, now get on with it," Ginny whispered harshly, her breath coming in short gasps as Pansy's fingers slowly moved inside her.
"Don't wake the bookworm." Pansy used her free hand to draw Ginny to her lips once again, sealing off a small moan that threatened to escape Ginny's throat. Ginny wasted no time taking Pansy's lips between her teeth and tugging gently while rocking her hips upon Pansy's fingers. Wet heat pooled in her gut, sending burning shivers through her being.
She gripped Pansy's shoulders tightly as she felt herself orgasm. She took Pansy's advice and clamped down hard on her tongue, stilling her cry before it reached her lips. Pansy slipped her fingers from Ginny and traced them up her toned stomach, designing patterns at her will with Ginny's own release. Ginny shivered as it dried on her skin.
Pansy wasn't done, however, as she dipped her head to lick the sticky liquid from Ginny. Her tongue scraped up Ginny's stomach, never hesitating or speeding up. Slowly, teasingly, sensually… Ginny sat up to let her reach easier, gripping Pansy close to her as the girl worked up to her ribs, her breasts, her collarbone. Ginny rolled her head back and looped her legs around Pansy's waist. Dark hair tickled her skin as Pansy touched her exposed neck with gentle kisses.
"We should sleep… there's still time…" Ginny whispered, hands carefully entrenched in Pansy's hair. Her entire body felt exhausted, as if she had just had the most rigorous Quidditch work out in several years, yet it wasn't painful. Her skin tingled pleasantly, and though she shivered from cooling sweat, she felt cozy inside Pansy's embrace.
In response, Pansy fell backwards onto the mattress, pulling Ginny along for the ride. Ginny smiled, and drew the down blanket over them both. "Won't the bookworm squeal when she wakes tomorrow?" Pansy asked in a hush.
"Doesn't matter. She'll find out anyway. She's perceptive like that." Ginny planted a small kiss at the corner of Pansy's mouth. "Don't worry. I won't let anyone hurt you in this house."
A sharp shriek awoke them about five hours later, and Ginny blinked her eyes open to see Hermione standing over them, her brown hair frizzy and her eyes wide.
"Ginny! You! Her! Uh… Clothing! Oh Merlin, this is bad!" Her hands flew to her head. "Your brother!" she hissed after a few moments of incoherency. She closed her eyes and took a few calming breaths. "Does your mother know?"
"No. Only Draco and Harry know she's here," Ginny said. She sat up, and while her nakedness didn't faze her, she looked down to realize that she had gotten more of Pansy's clothes off that morning than she remembered. "Uh, Hermione, we'll meet you downstairs, all right?" She hastily pulled the blanket over them both again.
"Oh, Merlin, this is not a good idea. This is so bad, so bad…" Hermione chanted as she left the room, pulling at her hair.
"Is she going to be all right? She looked a bit stressed." Pansy sat up, pushing Ginny up with her chest. The contact of skin on skin sent a heated flush through Ginny, which she forcibly ignored.
"Come on, before this gets worse than it already is." Ginny sat up and snatched her panties from the floor, slipping into them with ease. "My mother is going to give you a hard time, but don't worry. I won't let them turn you out."
"You're very protective of someone who until last night was a complete stranger and an enemy," Pansy noted as she climbed out of the bed and dressed. "What makes you think you can trust me?"
"I know I can." Ginny stated resolutely, though she refused to meet Pansy's eyes. It wouldn't be the first time she had misplaced her trust, but she didn't want to get into that train of thought.
"Well, when you put it that way…" Pansy stood at Ginny's mirror, flattening out her hair.
"I do put it that way." Ginny's eyes flashed fiercely. "I trust you." She didn't know why or how, exactly, but she did. Enough to stand up to her parents. "Come on. Might as well get this over with."
She led Pansy downstairs into the kitchen, to find every single set of eyes lay upon her when she came into view. "Mum, Dad, good morning."
"What is the meaning of this?" Her mother immediately rounded on her, a very heavy wooden spoon in her hand. "What is she doing here?"
"Mum, she needs our help. You can't just turn her out. She has nowhere else to go," Ginny pleaded.
"Her family is evil, Virginia Weasley, and what proof do you have that she is not a spy?"
"She is not evil!" Ginny narrowed her eyes.
"Dad, look!" Ron jerked out of his seat as Pansy came into view. His shaking finger pointed right at a black tattoo on Pansy's arm. "She's been Marked!"
Draco and Harry leapt to their feet, Draco moving quicker and putting himself between Pansy and the boy. "You never said anything about that last night!" he hissed, his eyes violently black. Ginny saw his wand out, and stepped between Pansy and her family. She watched Harry's hand close over Draco's shoulder.
"Draco, put your wand away."
"No. That bitch is not getting anywhere near you," he growled.
"You take that back, Draco Malfoy, or so help me – "
"You'll what? You'll jeopardize the entire wizard community so you can protect that one girl? You'll put Harry in danger so that you can – "
"That's quite enough from you, Mr. Malfoy."
"Draco!" Harry's voice sliced through them all, quieting the kitchen as swiftly as a Silencing Charm. He pulled Draco around to face him, cupped the blonde's face between his hands and, in a display of intimacy not usually seen, placed his forehead against the other boy's. He whispered something, to which Draco frowned, closed his eyes, and sighed. Harry closed his eyes as well, and pulled Draco's head down for a soft kiss on the forehead before releasing Draco.
"You have to know what you're doing before you can stay here," Draco said, somewhat pacified but still jumpy. Ginny felt Pansy press up against her for comfort. Ginny did what she could, leaning backwards just a bit. "He will not rest until he finds you. You are endangering every person in this building with your being here. If he cannot find you, he will hurt you. You will have nightmares, and you won't be able to sleep through the night. He'll torment you at best. If you're not careful he'll break you." Draco's voice cracked at his last sentence, and Ginny saw Harry's hand slip up and down the boy's arm in comfort, his face tense with concern.
"You seem very much intact," Pansy noted wryly.
"I've been more than lucky," Draco growled. "I had the support of people who actually cared whether I lived or died."
"Didn't you two… I don't know… like each other before?" Ron cut in choicely. Pansy and Draco stared at him. Draco with incredulity, Pansy with disgust.
"In case you haven't noticed, Weasley, we've been fighting on different sides of the war for the past year. I think any warm and fuzzy feelings I've ever felt for this woman have vanished like a bad odor in a breeze," Draco said.
"You haven't changed at all since we left school," Pansy added. Ginny couldn't tell if she was talking to Draco or her brother.
"What proof is there that she isn't a spy?" Her mother asked, still dangerous with her spoon.
"Her father is dead," Ginny supplied. "Check it with your sources." Her parents cast glances at each other. "Please! You can't just turn her out! Mum!"
"Fine." Her mother closed her eyes before turning to her father. "You'll have to let the Order know, and we can't have any more meetings here. Not as long as she's here." She turned back to Ginny. "She can stay here. She is not to leave the house at all, understood? Not allowed near the fireplace, not allowed near the owls. No communication gets in or out from her."
Ginny nodded, finding the restrictions oppressive, but Pansy said nothing.
"You are both welcome at the table for breakfast," her mother finally said. Ginny nodded, gripping Pansy's hand as she slipped into her spot at the table.