A/N: AU, OOC, EWE. Written for the Houses Competition, Round 8, Bonus Round 2.
Title: Enemy Mine
House: Slytherin
Position: Year 4
Prompt: [Theme] temptation
Additional: [Color] Sarcoline [Action] sprinting
Word count: 1907
Beta: Daronwyk
"Who's going to get the Death Eater?"
"Cho! You shouldn't talk like that! He's a team sponsor, and we have a responsibility to the team!"
"Well, they better not ask me to do it. I would rather quit!"
Ginny Weasley heard the commotion in the locker room of the Holyhead Harpies and stood by the door until the conversation died down. When things seemed to have calmed down she approached her teammate, Cho Chang, who was still changing into her flying robes, looking flustered and upset.
"Hi, Cho. Everything alright?" The redheaded witch asked with some concern.
The seeker huffed and shook her head, then turned towards Ginny, her stance defiant.
"You know we have that gala next week, the one to honor the team sponsors? Well, turns out we have been asked to escort the donors, as their dates, if they are coming alone. Guess who's going to be coming alone? The old crook himself. I wonder if they would actually force one of us to walk him in. They cannot force us, can they? Is not anywhere in our contracts."
Ginny looked pensive for a moment.
"No, they cannot force us to do anything of that sort, but don't worry I'll escort him if he plans to attend."
Cho looked at her, stunned
"Really? It doesn't bother you?"
Ginny shrugged.
"Not really, no. Is not like he can try to do anything to anyone these days. The Ministry would put him back in Azkaban in a second if he dared to breathe too loud. Besides, I want to see his face when he sees who his companion would be. After all, he owes me."
Cho shook her head, then raised her hands in surrender.
"Suit yourself." Then she left the locker room.
Ginny changed slowly, thinking about this news. The gala was a tradition; every year the team would honor their biggest donors by throwing a magnificent party in one of the luxury boxes at their Stadium. Being an all-witches team, the event had always been a bit controversial, as the tabloids liked to speculate that it was an excuse for rich men to mingle with a group of young, fit women. It was true that the team's Board of Directors took advantage of that fact. They even hired renown fashion designers to dress the players and stylists to do their hair and makeup, to assure that they would look great. Ginny never thought that was a big deal. They worked every day to prove they were as strong and capable as the co-ed and all-male teams. Why not indulge in their femininity once a year, especially if the team was covering all expenses. She always had a great time at the gala.
This year though, there was a new donor, or to be precise, a returned donor. Ginny had seen him for the first time six months ago, sitting at the luxurious donor's box. People would come by, shake his hand and move on as if they recognize him as one of them, but then didn't want to be too closely associated with him. When the team flew into formation to salute the fans she positioned herself straight in front of the donors' box. There, sitting like a king in a luxurious leather chair, was Lucius Malfoy. When she saw him she tensed up, but that probably made her look regal. Hovering on her broom, with her hair flowing in the wind and a quaffle under her arm she was far from the little girl who got possessed by a nasty diary. She was a woman now, and she was hovering in front of the man that had been the subject of her teenage nightmares. When he saw her, he straightened up in his chair. She could swear he recognized her. How much thought had he given her over the years, probably none. He may have not even recognized her name on the team lineup, but at that moment he was looking straight at her. His face, which used to be a mask of permanent disdain, now showed something else. Admiration perhaps? She didn't have more than a couple of minutes to dwell on it though before she had to focus on the game again. Ginny snapped out of her thoughts and went into the pitch for practice.
Later that day, Ginny had a fitting for the dress she would wear at the gala. For a few years now, Pansy Parkinson had been the choice designer for the team, and the two young women had become casual friends. Pansy loved dressing the Harpies because they had great athletic bodies, so her designs looked great and got a lot of exposure. She was fussing around Ginny, adjusting things here and there when she asked.
"So who are you bringing to the gala? Any hot new prospects?" Pansy knew of the difficulties these young female athletes had in the dating department, as they were constantly traveling. Half of the team were single and available, including Ginny.
Ginny smirked
"Well, we have been asked to escort one of the donors, if they are coming by themselves and we are also unaccompanied."
"Oh. And who are you planning to escort."
Ginny took a deep breath.
"Lucius Malfoy."
Pansy looked stunned for a second, then composed herself and said,
"That is very nice of you. Lucius is in a very rough place right now. The years in Azkaban, losing his wife while he was imprisoned, the distance between him and Draco… I know he did horrible things and made terrible mistakes, but he is not a murderer or a psychopath. He was a proud and misguided wizard, and now he is just a lonely man."
Ginny sigh. She had not spared a minute to think about the possibility that Lucius was a man in pain. It made sense though. He had been defeated in every possible way, in every aspect of his life. All he had left now was his money and that alone could not buy him happiness. In the middle of that thought, she turned around to look at herself in the mirror.
"Wow. I'm naked."
Pansy rolled her eyes
"You are not naked. The dress covers you from shoulders to ankles. Only your arms are bare, and your right leg when you walk because of the thigh-high slit.
The dress hugged Ginny's body perfectly and covered most of it, but the color was very close to her skin tone.
"What do you call this color again?"
"Sarcoline"
"That's a mouthful. I'm going to call it naked."
Pansy laughed.
"Whatever. Come on, tell me you don't look fantastic. The neutral color makes your fiery hair pop. Wear light make up with red lipstick and you will be the Queen Harpy for a night."
Ginny smiled. The dress did look great.
The night of the gala she was running late. The Stadium apparition points were far away from the sponsor's box, and she was sprinting down a long corridor despite her high heels. When she reached the reception area she slowed down, put out a compact mirror to check her makeup one last time and walked towards a group of men that were politely chatting by the box entrance.
"Good evening, gentlemen."
"Ah, Miss Weasley, what a pleasure," said Ludo Bagman in his usual ostentatious way. "Are you by yourself tonight?"
"Actually, I wanted to welcome our returning sponsor," she said turning to Lucius. "Mr. Malfoy, care to escort a lady inside?"
Lucius felt a cold chill running down his spine. Many years ago he had unconscionably put this girl in mortal danger, treating her like a disposable rag. Why she was offering her company now was beyond him. Yet, as etiquette demanded, he offered his arm.
"It would be my pleasure, Miss Weasley."
They went inside and did the obligatory round of greetings and chitchat, and after a half hour, they finally made their way to the bar. Lucius ordered two glasses of Ogden's Old and gave one to Ginny.
"Miss Weasley, may I ask a personal query?"
She smiled and gestured for him to proceed.
"Why did you choose to escort me tonight?"
She thought for a minute, then answered
"I wanted to prove that I am no longer a scared little girl. That I am not scared of you, or of anybody else for that matter, but so far it seems there was no need for me to be scared anymore."
Lucius' grey eyes showed a deep sadness.
"I am but an old, tired man, Miss Weasley. I was once proud and stubborn, if not downright stupid. But now nothing remains of that man. I lost everything I ever cared for. I lost my wife, and I have all but lost my son too. There is no fight left in me. So no, you chose the wrong test of courage, for I am only a pitiful, wounded old wolf."
Ginny took a sip of her drink, considering his words. She decided there was no glory in mistreating a wounded prey. She decided to lighten the mood and asked him about his past history of supporting the team and the conversation flowed easily, centering mostly about the sport and other light subjects. They sat for dinner and made some more light conversation, and even allowed themselves a bit of gossip about the people in the room. Lucius knew so many secrets about everyone that Ginny quipped that he could run the gossip column of Witch Weekly without leaving his studio, as apparently, all juicy information found its way to him. He laughed, a sincere and open laughter that she couldn't have imagined it was possible in the austere man. She shared her thoughts on the matter and with a nostalgic smile, he told her that the only person that had been able to bring that up on him before had been his late wife.
After a few more moments of unexpected confidences, she looked towards the dance floor and asked
"Care to dance, Mr. Malfoy?"
He stood up, bowed and offered his hand. They entered the dance floor and he guided her on a flawless waltz. After that, they continued for a couple of slow dances. She took the opportunity to look at him closely, as never before. Despite everything that had happened, despite all the darkness, pain, fear, and disappointments, he hadn't aged a day. Maybe it was the ever platinum hair, long and shiny and carefully tied behind his head, or maybe it was the flawless Malfoy marble skin. He looked as young as he had been all those years ago at the bookshop, and yet the newfound softness in his eyes allowed her to admire his masculine beauty.
They talked some more, danced some more, shared one more drink. At the end of the night, she said her goodbyes to all the required people and then offered her hand to him, the last adieu.
"Let me walk you to the apparition point," he said, lifting the hand to his lips.
She knew she should say no. She knew she should run. She knew she wouldn't have the strength to resist the temptation to let him come close. She knew that she should avoid the temptation to allow Lucius Malfoy to kiss her. Because the moment she succumbed to the temptation would be the moment when Lucius Malfoy would once again haunt her dreams.