Everyone hates computers, and now that the The Ministry is forcing their employees to use them, Draco gets to hate them too! Oh, can Ginny cure his woes?? Fluffy G/D ficlet featuring an out-of-character Draco, a slightly-out-of-character Ginny, and a computer of extreme and ultimate evil. Definetly IN character.
A/N: This ficlet is written in honor of Jade, my technological god, my personal coding elf, cleaner of all my computer-related messes! Also doubly dedicated to Rose Fay, who fed my plot bunny nutritous plot-bunny food.
A Question of HonorGinny Weasley casually tilted her head to the side as five pounds of glass, plastic and wire came barreling at her from the other side of the room. Missing her ear by mere inches, the computer monitor slammed into the wall behind her desk and fell onto the floor with a deafening crash. With a sigh, she tucked her quill into the thick red-gold locks above her ear, and turned to face her assailant.
"You know," she said calmly, "There are plenty of other places in this room that are ideal for throwing computer screens at. Why don't you try aiming for the potted plant in the corner next time? The file cabinet behind the door? Just not my head! That's the second time you've almost killed me this week!"
Directly across the room, seated at a plain wooden desk which mirrored hers, Draco Malfoy was angrily yanking wires from the power point in the wall. With a (clearly) frustrated yell, he heaved them over his head, where they caught on the frame of a small portrait of his mother. Portrait Narcissa gave an elegant gasp, and frantically tried to brush the wires from her face.
"You wouldn't have been the first one killed by one of these machines!" Draco bellowed, still trying to erradicate all signs of the hated computer from his desk. Ginny watched in annoyance as the enchanted mousepad she had lent him disappeared out the window of their fifth-floor office. "Why do muggles even bother inventing such things? They cause more harm than good! They delete your reports! Freeze every ten seconds! And what-" He pulled his hands from the tangle of wires on his desk and turned his attention to speaker "-is with the light on this thing? It's blinding me!"
"They put that there so you know the power's on, Draco," Ginny explained.
"Did they have to make it so damn bright? It must be…it must be…" He frantically searched through his muggle vocabulary. "It must be a 200-watt bulb or something!" He reached for his wand.
"Draco, no!" Ginny cried. She quickly snatched her own wand from her robs pockets and disarmed him with a skillful Expelliarmus. "You, of all people, know what happens when you mix magic and electricity! Minister Patil says she's not going to pay for anymore renovations to our office!"
Draco pouted. "Well, I think that if the Ministry's going to force it's employees to use this damn thing, they should have a special part of the budget set aside for paying for the damages caused."
"The computers were brought in a year ago, Draco, a year," Ginny forcefully reminded him. "And out of the Ministry's 500 plus employees, YOU were the only one who refused Minister Patil's explanation that we need these to keep up with out business with the Muggle world. YOU were the only one who made no effort to learn how to use the computer, and YOU are the only employee to date who has set fire to his office five times while tossing it around in a fit of rage!"
Draco sniffed haughtily, unimpressed. "It's a conspiracy," he announced dramatically. "It's a conspiracy, between Voldermort and Bill Gates. First, they get the Ministry to start using computers. They get you to like computers. They get you hooked on the, unable to live without them! Then, bam! The computer crashes, your life is in ruins, Voldermort has re-risen, the entire wizarding world is in slavery, and Bill Gates starts his own fashion line. And I'm the only one who knows what's going on! I'm the only who can save the world! And here you are, trying to stop me." He interrupted his speech only to fix her with a withering stare.
Ginny sighed. Looked like she was going to have to do this the hard way again. "Right, Draco," she snapped, pulling out her wand again. "I didn't want to have to do this on work time, but you leave me no choice. God only knows I'll never get anything done listening to your constant whining." She pointed her wand at him and muttered something, and with a crack, a length of rope shot out at Draco and quickly tied him to his chair.
"Virginia!" he said, struggling. "What do you think you're doing?"
Ginny's mouth was set in a hard, determined line. "Draco Malfoy, I am going to teach you to use that computer like a technological god, or my name isn't Virginia Jade Weasley. Stop your squirming!" she commanded as the wheels on the bottom of his chair squeaked, realizing he was trying to propel himself out the door. Taking a few quick strides across the room, she closed their office door and locked it, then grabbed Draco's shoulder and wheeled him over to her desk, placing him in front of her computer. She ignored his attempts to bite her arm.
"First lesson," she said in a harsh tone that made her feel as if she were babysitting a two-year-old, "turning on the computer. How do you do it?"
"Untie me and I'll show you myself."
"Not a chance in hell. Just tell me."
He sighed irritably. "I know how you turn it on. You press a button."
"Which button?"
Draco groaned in agony. "You mean there's a specific one?" He looked at the computer in dismay. The whole thing was covered in buttons! Who knew which one did what? "Um, 'O' for 'on'?" He asked, venturing a guess.
"Of course not, you imbecile!"
"'P' for 'power?' 'G' for 'go?' 'S', for 'start now you evil piece of metal before I toss you into the Thames?"
"I'll give you a hint, Draco, it's not on the keyboard. That's for typing, remember, typing."
Draco was unconvinced. "If it's for typing English, why are all the letters in such a weird order? Doesn't look like any alphabet I've ever seen."
Ginny poked him angrily with her wand. "Typing will be the least of your problems, Malfoy, if you can't even turn the stupid machine on in the first place!" Giving up, she yanked his head over and showed him the tiny, round button on the…on the thing that was making the annoying humming noise. "Here is the power button, right here. Press it, the computer turns on."
"Seems simple enough, I guess. May I try?"
With another flick of her wand, Ginny repositioned Draco's restraints so that his left arm was free. She quickly put her wand back into her pocket in case he tried to grab it. "There. Now, turn on the computer."
He leant over as far as the rope would allow him. "Huh? I don't see it," he said.
"Draco, what do you mean? It's hasn't moved. It's right there."
"I've forgotten which one it is."
"For godssakes, Draco, there's only one button there!" Ginny cried. Finally, she simply reached down, took his hand in hers, and forced him to press the button in question. Obediently, the computer started to whirr.
"Oh, you're right. It was there." She tried to pull her hand away so she could continue the 'lesson,' but his hand suddenly tightened and he pulled her towards him. Oh no. He wouldn't dare. She looked at Draco and saw that his grey eyes were staring deep into her brown ones, and his eyes were taking on that hazy sort of hue they always did when he was thinking about doing something he probably shouldn't be doing… Oh no. He WOULD dare.
Gently, Draco raised her hand to his lips. "Thank you," he whispered, his breath tickling her hand. Slowly, he kissed the back of her hand.
Ginny drew in a sharp breath, annoyed at how fast she felt her anger slip away. "Draco," she said, trying unsuccessfully to pull her hand from his grip. "Draco, I swear, if you don't let go right now…" He ignored her and continued raining small kisses along her hand, almost as if he knew she wouldn't follow through with her threat.
With a sigh, Ginny gave up. She was putty in his hands once he started this, and he knew it. She felt his lips curl into a smile against her skin.
"I take it this means the lesson is over?" he mumbled in a mock-innocent tone. Not waiting for an answer, he pulled her closer to him and started kissing his way up her arm. When he reached her elbow, he lifted his head and gave her arm a gentle tug. With a wry smile of defeat, she reluctantly released him from the ropes.
Draco wasted no time in getting to his feet and pinning Ginny to the wall. "I hate it when you do this, you know?" Ginny murmered as Draco placed his hands on her face.
"I know everything about you," he stated. Then he leaned in for another passionate kiss.
Hungrily, Ginny kissed him back. She could never get enough of Draco – even when he was being the most irritating human being alive, all it took was a chaste kiss from him and she was head-over-heels in love again. Although she certainly couldn't call this kiss chaste…
Gently, she pushed him back, and idea springing into her head. "It's almost lunchtime," she said coyly. "Why don't you say we duck out early and finish this off at home?"
Draco's face broke out into a grin. "I like the way you think, Virginia. I knew there was a reason I agreed to marry you."
Ginny blushed. "I have to drop off my report downstairs," she told him. "Why don't you apparate home now and, uh, freshen up, and I'll meet you there in a couple minutes?"
Quickly, Draco planted one last kiss on her cheek. "Hurry up," he said. With a smile, he watched her pick up a pile of parchment from her desk and scurry out of the room.
Draco was just about to disapparate when Ryan Prang passed his office. "Hey, Draco," he said, peering in. "Has the wife heard to good news yet?"
"What good news?" Draco asked.
"Minister Patil's just told me that last week you finally passed that course on Muggle computers she forced you to attend," Ryan clarified. "Ginny must be thrilled."
Draco gave a small smirk. "Oh, yes. Indeed she is." Ryan disappeared back down the hall, oblivious to the laughter Draco was trying to hide. Hurriedly, he picked up his wand and disapparated to meet his wife.
But first, Draco turned off Ginny's computer.
