Benefits

Benefits

Author's notes: All these lovely characters belong to JKR. I tend to have soundtracks for my fics by chapter so song for this chapter is "Ramalama (Bang Bang)" by Roisin Murphy. This chapter is dedicated to my biffer Lauren – happy belated birthday, darling!

Chapter 1: It Wasn't Love

Unzip my body; take my heart out.

Usually rain has some kind of rhythm as it falls, some earthy, primal beat to drive the rest of the world round, to keep life on track with a steady tome. This was not the rain that soaked Ginny Weasley as she ran from her tent. This rain had no rhythm. It fell from the clouds as soon as a drop was formed, and each drop fell with its own personal agenda to crash onto the earth. Each pellet of water stung as it hit her skin. The hurricane strength winds – along with the rain – kept Ginny's cloak permanently stuck tight to her small frame. In fact, all of her clothes were soaked through to offer her no protection to the elements. Ginny Weasley was running naked in the rain, and she didn't feel a thing.

The primal beat that should have been guiding the storm was somewhere inside of the youngest Weasley. It urged her, forced her to run far from her own tent to across the Auror base to his. Damn his tent for being so far from mine! She thought – her third clear and concise thought of the day. (Her first had been No! which as shortly followed by Run!) And damn him for being the only one to understand! There was her fourth. It was then that Ginny decided her thoughts were leading her down a very dangerous path. She turned her attention back to the natural instinct that had told her to run in the first place. She was so close… She was almost there… Then all of the sudden he redhead was standing in front of his tent without any clue on what to do next.

Ginny hadn't really thought her plan through, since she had been against thinking all day. She hadn't flooed him first to see if he was busy, and she couldn't Apparate since that would risk revealing their location. The only remaining option was for Ginny to peek her head into his tent and pray to Merlin he wasn't "entertaining company."

"Draco?" she called and released a sigh when she saw he was alone – seated like a prince in his favorite green armchair still dressed to the nines (there was a meeting earlier) with a book in hand. Although Ginny may have startled him at first, outwardly he didn't dare show it.

"Come in," he said flatly without even looking up from his book. Malfoy, however, did look up when he heard water dripping onto his hardwood floor. "Is my floo not connected, Weasley, or were you tired of being last in line for the loo and decided to take advantage of the storm?" As he said this, he gracefully moved about his tent, grabbing what appeared to be some clothes and a towel.

"Neither," Ginny replied, settling into their old banter. "Too busy looking at your own reflection to have company tonight? Even Astoria?"

Draco handed her the bundle. "I believe she's the self-absorbed one. Now go change into some dry clothes before you get both of us sick. If you feel like ridding yourself of the horrid Weasley stench, the shower is all yours. After you're dry you can explain to me why you came to my tent in this storm."

As the redhead walked towards the loo, she called back, "I'm only getting rid of the Weasley stench if you'll no longer reek of a Malfoy!"

xXx

Once she was dry, Ginny now clad in an old shirt and a pair of his sweatpants sat with Draco in front of the fire. Each had a warm cup of tea in hand. The blond remained in his throne for a chair, while the youngest Weasley found solace curled up on the couch.

"So," Malfoy began, "are you going to tell me what happened or do I have to pull it out of you?"

She stared straight into the fire. "Harry proposed."

Draco choked on his tea. "Oh," and he stood from his chair and walked towards the dining area. "I suppose we'll need something a bit stronger than tea." He glanced over the contents of his makeshift bar that consisted of whatever he could find during the war. "Butter beer? Wine?"

"Harry proposed," Ginny repeated, "and I said no."

A wine bottle gently clattered, as it was not so gently dropped to its former position on the wine rack. "Mead? Brandy?" Malfoy continued with the suggestions.

She drew an audible breath. "Harry proposed and I said no because I caught him cheating on me this morning."

"I knew I had some Firewhiskey somewhere!" He returned to the living area and poured a generous amount of liquid into both glasses. Instead of returning to his own chair, he joined Ginny on the couch. They drank in silence for a time; neither slowly sipped nor quickly gulped the alcohol.

"You know what's really strange?" Ginny said halfway through their first drink. Draco shook his head. "I feel nothing. Harry proposed; I felt nothing. I said no and ran away; I felt nothing. I found Harry in bed with another woman, and I felt nothing!" She rolled the cool glass that held her drink against her forehead.

"What's wrong with me?" she whispered.

Draco placed his drink on the end table next to the couch, allowing his free arm to comfortly wrap around Ginny's shoulders. "Nothing's wrong with you, except that you're cursed with the Weasley brain when you clearly have a Slytherin mind."

Ginny coughed and then laughed a little. "That would explain why I ran away then, since all Slytherins are cowards."

"No, if you were a coward, you would have stayed. It took courage to run. You felt that something wasn't right, and you went with what your gut told you to do. Following your heart isn't easy, Ginny," he gently squeezed her shoulder.

"That's all well and good, but in order for me to know something wasn't right, I'd have to feel something. And I feel nothing," she said while trying to shrug off his embrace. "Why am I so numb?" Ginny's voice cracked. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

"Oh, come on now!" He handed her his handkerchief. "Certainly, you must feel something!" She shook her head. Draco placed his free hand on her right knee, which was closest to him. "Fell that?" She shook her head. He moved his hand higher. "How about that?" Ginny shook her head again, causing his hand to advance higher up her thigh. "That?"

"Malfoy!" she screamed and stood from the couch, leaving Draco looking very confused. "Don't give me that look! Harry and I split up less than an hour ago, and you're already trying to get in my knickers!" She stormed towards the door.

"So you don't want this?" Draco yelled back. Ginny heard his footsteps follow her, which caused her heart to race quite a bit faster, but she didn't dare let that show.

"No! Can't you see why I'm headed towards the door?" Quick and concise, she didn't even have time to consider if her answer was truthful or not.

"Honestly? No."

Ginny quickly turned around. "Excuse me?"

"I don't see why you're leaving," Draco said coolly as he leaned against the kitchen counter (the kitchen was next to the living room and had to be passed when existing the tent via the living room). She quickly regretted turning around to face him because the image of him being so nonchalant just added to his sex appeal. "We're clearly attracted to on another. You remember that night, don't you?

The redhead suppressed a smile as she recalled an evening a few months ago. Many of he Healer trainees were partying together just to escape the stress, and Ginny and Harry were having some sort of tiff. Somehow she and Draco had found themselves in a corner chatting intimately inches away from each other's faces. That was until Luna came along and dragged Ginny away. Now she found herself in a similar situation without a wiser party to tell her "no."

"Yes, I remember…" Ginny finally responded, inching closer to the kitchen.

"When was the last time?" he probed.

The youngest Weasley rolled her eyes to avoid the question, while she subconsciously crept closer to the kitchen. She would be lying if she said she wasn't wet from curiosity. It was something new and exciting, and that kind of thrill released a fire in Ginny that she hadn't felt in a long time.

"That long?!"

"Oh it's only been two months!"

"While that's all well and good, Ginny," she was feet away from him now, "I was curious to know if the job was done properly."

She gaped at him as he casually leaned against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed and his trademark nonchalant sneer. He's joking, Ginny reassured herself, He's trying to get a rise out of me. Despite her inner thoughts, she still found herself getting closer to Malfoy.

"You should really work on your Occlumency, you know. And no, I wasn't joking. How long since Potter's giving you a screaming, earth-shattering orgasm?" Now he was begging her with his eyes, a trick he had picked up when they had formed their friendship months before. He would tilt his pointed chin down towards his chest so his eyes were forced to look up in order to maintain eye contact.

"Shmix umphs," Ginny mumbled with her hand over her mouth.

"I'm sorry I didn't quite hear," Draco teased leaning forward with a hand behind his ear.

"SIX MONTHS! Alright?!"

The silence that followed was deafening. The pair stood before each other barely a foot apart, eyes wide, labored breaths, heaving chests, and wildly beating hearts. They didn't need to ask; the alcohol had long worn off. Whatever was taking place in Draco Malfoy's kitchen was purely natural, and if anyone had bothered to ask, they both had it a long time coming. Damn all to hell, Ginny thought as she closed the gap and brought his mouth to his and was slightly surprised to find him responding to her lips with the same passion and urgency she felt. It wasn't before long that his tongue was at the seam of her lips begging entrance.

Suddenly everything was a blur. Before she even knew it, Ginny was being lifted and seated on the countertop. Draco's mouth was trailing a delicious line along her jaw toward her neck; where he nipped at her pulse point just below her hear causing her to release a throaty moan and to arch her body into his. All the while he grabbed hold of her hair and pulled just hard enough to make her gasp in delight. Ginny was trying to make fast work of his shirt. She needed him naked, and she wanted him naked now. Draco ended the assault on her neck to divest her of the old shirt he had given her to wear; Ginny secretly smiled to herself when she remembered that she hadn't replaced her bra or her knickers when she had changed out of her wet things. Once the top halves of their bodies were freed from their constraints, they paused for a moment. Cool grey eyes met brown ones in a search for reassurance. Ginny nodded to the silent question he was asking. We're actually doing this she thought as he claimed her mouth again.

Ginny trailed her fingers down his chest lightly making patterns with her nails, while he decided to travel a further south with his trail of kisses. With his eyes closed, Draco found her right nipple and began teasing it with his tongue, sucking, biting, and licking until the nub was hard. He then repeated the process with her other breast while massaging her right with a free hand. All of his actions were rewarded with Ginny's breathy moans and words of encouragement.

She was not about to let Draco have all the fun. Mustering up enough concentration, Ginny set to making work of his belt buckle, which she flicked open with ease and quickly drew the zipper of his trousers down. She slipped a hand inside, which issued a growl low from Draco's chest, and found him hard and ready. Ginny swore she heard him mutter something in her hear, but before she could even register what he said, she jumped in shock of the cold countertop against her warm flesh.

Draco lifted his head to look at her. Even during sex he was overly confident with a smug grin, which told Ginny exactly what had happened to the sweat pants – he had mentally banished them. This realization sent her into a small fit of giggles that eventually gave way to moans as Draco's hands traveled to her center. With each stroke of his sure fingers he forced total eye contact, which was enough to almost send her completely over the edge. Ginny continued to massage his length and leaned closer to him.

"No games. Do it now."

And with that simple request, Draco replaced his hands with his cock. He set a quick rhythm, which Ginny followed with ease. He kept her body close to his so he could occasionally nip at her ear or whisper naughty words. When Ginny leaned back on her elbows, his body leaned forward in suit, slowing down for deeper penetration, and she matched his every stroke. It had been quite a long time that she had felt this free, this liberated during sex. She allowed each wave to crash over her, savoring every feeling of Draco's length inside her delivering delicious new sensations with each rhythm. Then he suddenly slowed, withdrew completely, and then buried himself inside her to the hilt, both of them screaming their climax.

xXx

Two more shags and several hours later, Draco and Ginny laid tangled in his large bed still trying to regain their breath after their third round of sex for the evening. A comfortable silence had settled between them, until the Malfoy heir felt necessary to open his mouth.

"It wasn't love." It was barely a whisper, but he definitely said it.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Draco said while rolling on his side to face Ginny. He propped his head up using his left arm and arrogantly tilted his chin. "It wasn't love."

The redhead creased her brow and laughed in awe.

"Don't act like you didn't know. You and The Boy Wonder weren't in love. Everyone else was in love with you being in love; ergo, you believed you were in love. I know your kind, Weasley. If it was really love, you would've fought for him."

There was a brief silence, and then Ginny cocked her eyebrow, "You know my type?"

"Yes, I believe that's what I said," Draco said sarcastically but was still being very playful.

"And?"

"You like it rough, but Potter thought you were too fragile."

"How do you know this?" Ginny snorted.

"The first time I pulled your hair your eyes grew wide before they closed, like you had made some great discovery in the realm of sex." He pulled her hair again. "Like now…" And he claimed her mouth with his.

xXx

A/N: So that was the first chapter! It started out quite smutty, but that's not all there is to the rest of this story. I should probably thank my best guy friend for the inspiration on this story. He was there for me after my boyfriend and I split up (hence this chapter); there also is another incident that will make it's way into the story but I'm not going to reveal anymore! Reviews would be great!