A/N: Okay, even though I really shouldn't be doing this cause I need to study and such, I've decided to write this story for a challenge. It's the "Thunderstorm Romance Challenge," by imdeadsothere. And I just loved the idea so much I HAD to do it! So I hope you all enjoy this story. And please review!!!!!!!!!!!! It would mean the world to me.
Draco's Biggest Fear
There was going to be a storm. A thunderstorm, more specifically. And Ginny couldn't wait for it to come. There was nothing she loved more than a good thunderstorm. There was just something about the rain, which she found beautiful in itself, combined with the lightning, the way the it would flash in the sky, lighting up the dark night, which was amazing to her. And the actual thunder she found soothing. Ginny didn't like silence, and sometimes the thunder in the night filled that quiet in exactly the way she needed it to. Plus, it was at Hogwarts. Ginny loved when there was a thunderstorm at Hogwarts. She believed Hogwarts to be the most beautiful place on earth, and that combined with a thunderstorm was the picture of perfection in Ginny's mind.
She waited until everyone was in bed to sneak down to the Great Hall. This way she could watch the beautiful storm without actually getting wet. She went to the Gryffindor table and lied down on one of the benches so she could look up at the enchanted ceiling and watch the rain and the lightning. The sound of the thunder in the quiet room made her feel relaxed, the most relaxed she'd been in a long time. She was so relaxed, in fact, that she didn't even notice the door to the Great Hall open, and didn't hear the footsteps as someone walked in.
She only sat up to see who it could be when she heard something drop to the floor, and someone, a male someone, she noticed, from the deep tone of his voice, mutter, "Fuck!"
She saw that the person was standing near the Slytherin table. He had bent down to pick up whatever it was that he had dropped. He stood up just as a particularly loud clap of thunder rang through the hall. Ginny saw him jump and heard him whimper. Once again, he drop whatever it was he was holding. "Fuck!" he said again.
Ginny decided it was time to make her presence known to this person, whoever it was. "Hello?" She called out.
The person froze. After a moment he said, "Um... h-hello?"
"Who is it?" She asked, for reasons unknown to her. She realized that if she hadn't sat up and said something the person wouldn't have even noticed her and he would have just left her in peace. But, she also realized, she was very curious as to who this guy was.
Ginny saw the shadow of the person slowly walk towards her. She felt a mixture of fear and excitement as she imagined all of the crazy things that could possibly happen at this point. Suddenly, though, a bright flash of lightning lit up the room for the briefest moment, and Ginny saw none other than as scared looking face of Draco Malfoy right in front of her.
"Malfoy?" Ginny said.
"Weasley?" Draco replied. "Um... w-what are you d-doing here?"
Ginny smirked evilly and said, "I could ask you the same question, Malfoy."
He held up the mystery object that was in his hand. "I... I left my book here." Sure enough, there was a book in his hand.
Again, the thunder made a rather loud bang that sounded through the Great Hall. Ginny saw Draco jerk awkwardly, as though he were trying not to let Ginny see his reaction to the sound. But Ginny did notice his movement, and she couldn't help but let a small smile form on her face.
"Malfoy?" She asked. He looked up at her, fear evident in his facial expression. "Are you alright?"
He tried to force a smile onto his face but it didn't work very well; it looked more like a grimace. "What? I'm fine. Yeah, of course I'm fine..." He ran a hand awkwardly through his hair.
Ginny snorted. "Yeah, okay..."
Draco glared at her. But then the lightning flashed, and there was yet another loud clap of thunder. This time, Draco made a noise that sounded almost like a whining puppy, and it looked for a moment as though he was going to cling onto Ginny out of fear. But he stopped himself short and awkwardly took a step away from her. He composed his face to a look of disgust, which could only be caused by being in the presence of a Weasley.
"So, what are you doing down here after hours anyway, Weasley?" Draco asked, his voice sounding almost normal, seeing as the thunder and lightning had stopped for the moment. But Ginny didn't fail to notice his eyes flash up to look at the the ceiling for a moment when the lightning illuminated the sky a moment later. And once again, he looked scared for his life.
"Not that it's any of your business, but I was watching the storm." Ginny replied, unable to keep the smirk off of her face as she watched Draco's reactions to the thunder and lightning. It was quite amusing to her.
He scoffed. "You came down here to watch this horrible weather? And all by yourself? Aren't you scared, little Weaslette?"
Ginny's smirk became more evident on her face. "Oh, I don't think I'm the one that's scared, Ferret."
Draco's face went pale, paler than normal, that is, mostly because of what Ginny had said, but also because the thunder was getting louder. "What are you t-talking about."
"Malfoy, you're afraid, aren't you?" She said, trying not to laugh.
"What? Afraid? What do I have to be afraid of, Weasley?" He responded, trying to keep his voice sounding normal.
"Well, I don't see how you could be scared of this, but apparently you're afraid of the thunderstorm." She said.
"Of course I'm n-not!" Another flash of lightning had lit up the hall as he said this, causing him to stutter.
"Oh, of course!" Ginny said, sarcastically. "Of course, there must be some other explanation as to why you jump, whimper, or stutter every time you hear thunder or see lightning."
"That is not true!" He said angrily. But just at that moment, there was another bang of thunder, and Draco jumped, whimpered, and dropped his book again. After picking it up, he said to Ginny, "You d-don't know what you're t-talking about."
Then Ginny decided to stop being mean, because, well to be completely honest, she thought it was extremely cute that he was afraid of the storm. Not that she would ever actually admit that out loud. She took a step towards him and said, "You know, it's not a bad thing that you're afraid of the storm."
"I already said, I am not afraid of a silly little thunderstorm, Weasley." He growled.
But Ginny ignored him. "You see, we all have irrational fears. Do you want to know what mine is?" She grabbed his hand, and pulled him to the Gryffindor table, and together they sat down on the bench.
At first Draco was surprised that a Weasley was being nice to him (sort of), and outraged that she had the audacity to actually touch a Malfoy. But then he realized that her small, warm hand wrapped around his had calmed him down. In fact, it calmed him down so much that he didn't react at all to the next flash of lightning or the loud clap of thunder. And, if he was perfectly honest with himself, he was curious as to what the bravest girl he had ever met could be afraid of. He nodded, letting her know he wanted to know what she was afraid of.
"Eyes." She said, and giggled.
Draco couldn't help but smile slightly. "Seriously? Eyes?"
She nodded. "I just can't stand them! They're so gross! And I practically flip a shit anytime something goes anywhere near someone's eyes. I'm just terrified of them!"
Draco laughed. "You know, Ginny, that actually makes me feel a whole lot better about my thunderstorm fear."
Ginny smirked. "Hah! You admitted it! You are afraid of thunderstorms! I knew it!" Draco just rolled his eyes. Then Ginny said in a more serious tone, "And you called me Ginny."
Draco felt his face heat up slightly. What was this, he thought. Draco Malfoy... blushing? Why was the littlest Weasley having this affect on him? But he composed his face and said, "That is your name, isn't it?"
Ginny said, "Well, yeah, it is. It's just that you've never called me that before. I'm always just 'Weasley' to you."
He shrugged. "Maybe I'm just tired of trying to be mean to you all the time."
Ginny tried to make sense of what he had just said, but it could have meant so many things that she didn't what he had meant. So she just nodded and said, "Okay then, Draco."
They sat in silence together for a few minutes. During that time, they were both thinking about the person sitting next to them, and how they had ended up in this position. Ginny then realized that Draco didn't seem so scared of the thunderstorm anymore. He just sat there silently, staring blankly ahead, seeming content with where he was. She wondered what had changed, what had calmed him down. Could it have been her presence? Then Ginny felt something. She looked down at Draco's lap, where she realized that their hands were still intertwined. And now, his thumb was slowly tracing circles on the back of her hand. Ginny was pretty sure that Draco didn't realize what he was doing, but she still found it sweet, and cute, and it made her smile.
Then an idea popped into her mind. "Draco?" He seemed to snap out of his thoughts, and he turned to her, raising an eyebrow in a way that she knew meant she could continue. "Let's go outside!"
His calm, relaxed facial expression disappeared, and his eyes were once again showing fear. "What? Why?"
"Well, I fee like dancing in the rain. I've always wanted to do that, but I'd feel stupid doing it by myself. And, well, you're right here! So why not?"
He sighed, trying to remain calm. "Ginny, no."
Ginny pouted. "Please?" She whined. And Draco hated to admit it, but that cute little pout on her face almost made him cave in. Almost.
"Ginny, I can handle a thunderstorm alright from inside, but outside? I'll be a mess." Draco said, looking as nervous as he sounded.
"But I'll be there with you, Draco. I'll protect you. Come on! Pretty, pretty please! Just for a minute, I promise!"
Draco could tell that she desperately wanted to go outside, and for some reason he felt the need to make Ginny happy. So he said. "Fine. Only for a minute though."
Ginny shrieked from happiness. She jumped up from her seat, dragging Draco with her, and led him out the doors of the Great Hall and to the main doors of the castle. But just as she was about to open up the doors and go outside, Draco stopped her.
"Wait." He said, sounding a nervous wreck once again. Then very seriously he said, "...What if we die?"
Ginny burst out laughing. For a whole two minutes straight, she just stood there laughing. Meanwhile, Draco stood there watching her, with a mixture of anger and humor on his face. He was angry because she was laughing at him, but he couldn't really be mad at her while she was laughing. Her laughter made him want to laugh to. "What?" He said, trying to sound serious and angry, but failing miserably.
"I'm sorry Draco," She said between laughs. Once she finally got herself together, Ginny said, "I didn't mean to laugh at you. But of course we're not going to die. Don't worry." She squeezed his hand to reassure him that everything would be okay.
They then opened the doors, and walked outside, still holding hands. The second they were out the doors, they were soaking wet. The rain was falling hard and fast, and they were soaked almost instantaneously.
"Whoa! It's really raining hard out here." Draco said, trying, unsuccessfully, to cover his head with his arms. "Maybe we should go back inside."
But Ginny just shook her head and said, "Isn't it beautiful?" And she started spinning around in circles.
Draco just stood there watching her dance to herself. In fact, he did find it beautiful. Not the rain, but Ginny. She was soaking wet, hair sticking to her face, as she whirled around in the rain, and she looked absolutely beautiful to Draco. Why was he suddenly feeling this way about a Weasley? This was not supposed to happen, he thought. But it was, and he was pretty sure that he didn't mind falling for Ginny. Because she wasn't just the littlest Weasley to him anymore, she was Ginny.
Meanwhile, Ginny was thinking similar thoughts. Whatever was going on between her and Malfoy, well, to be perfectly honest, she liked it. A lot. She wasn't sure exactly what it was, but she just knew that in the short time she had spent with him, she was liking him more and more. And she was pretty sure she was okay with that fact, even though normally the idea of falling for a Malfoy would have horrified her.
Suddenly Ginny stopped dancing, and turned to look at Draco. He was standing there, awkwardly, looking slightly terrified, and watching the rain fall down and watching the lightning flash in the sky. She couldn't help but notice how unbelievably sexy he looked soaked to the bone. The way his white shirt was sticking to his skin, showing of his muscular torso, and the way his slightly long, pale blond hair was all messy, and sticking to his face in way that could only be described as beautiful. Because this man, Ginny realized, was truly beautiful.
She walked towards him, and he didn't seem to notice her until she grabbed his hand, and pulled him a little farther out, away from the school. "Dance with me?" She whispered.
His powerful, silvery gray eyes met her chocolate brown ones, and neither of them could break the eye contact. But Draco said, while still staring at her, "I'll feel silly."
Ginny shook her head. "You won't, believe me. It feels amazing to dance in the rain." She put her left hand on his shoulder, and grabbed his left hand with her right one. Draco slowly placed his right hand on Ginny's waist, and started to dance with her in the rain. They had never once broken the eye contact.
They danced together for a few minutes, hardly noticing the rain pouring down on them, or the harsh winds howling in the night, or the thunder and lightning, which continued on. They couldn't be bothered with any of that. After some time, neither of them could say exactly how long it had been, they suddenly stopped dancing, but stayed in each others arms.
Then, slowly, Draco started lowering his head, and Ginny stood up on her toes so that they were much closer to each other. Then so quickly that you could not say who had actually initiated it, they kissed. It was the most passionate kiss either of them had ever had. And that kiss lasted for God only knows how long, until, finally, they pulled apart.
They continued to stare at each other for a moment, until Ginny said, "What was that?"
Draco couldn't help but grin. "I'm not sure, exactly, but I think I liked it."
Ginny grinned as well. "Glad to hear. Because I'm pretty sure I liked it too."
"Glad to hear that." He replied. "You know," he said, looking down at here, smiling slightly, "I don't think thunderstorms are my biggest fear anymore."
Ginny tilted her head to the side. "Oh yeah?" She giggled.
He nodded. "Yeah. I have a new biggest fear."
Ginny frowned. She didn't want him to be afraid of anything. "What's your new biggest fear?" She asked.
He leaned down, and whispered in her ear, "I'm afraid of losing you."
Ginny sighed as she heard his words, and felt his lips brush lightly against her ear. "That'll never happen." She replied. And she grabbed his face and turned it slightly, forcing him to look her in the eyes. "I promise, Draco." And with that she kissed him once again.
The lightning lit up the dark sky, and the thunder sounded in the otherwise quiet night. And it was absolutely perfect.
A/N: Okay well I think that turned out okay. Not my normal style of writing. I'm used to writing in the first person, but this is in third. And it was actually kind fun to write! And the ending didn't come out as well as I'd hoped it would, but oh well, that's all I can come up with! I hope you all liked it! Please let me know if you did or not! I don't care what you have to say, good or bad, I'd just really appreciate it if you reviewed! So thanks for reading!