Of Jealousy and Yell Phones
A/N: This was written in response to a challenge in the D/G Forums. It's a bit rough, but it's the first short story I've finished in some time. I took a few liberties with the prompt. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it doesn't belong to me.
It was supposed to be a quiet Sunday dinner at the Burrow. Well, quiet may be a bit of a stretch since the entire Weasley clan was under the same roof, but it was certainly supposed to be uneventful. Unfortunately for the youngest Weasley, the day was going to be anything but uneventful.
To give some sort of background to Miss Ginevra Weasley's day, you first need to understand Mister Arthur Weasley, the man that raised my girlfriend's best friend. You see, Arthur Weasley had the most peculiar love for all things Muggle. He was forever sneaking items back home from his office in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department to tinker and generally go against the very thing his department employed him to do. As one might imagine, this sort of upbringing would certainly cause a witch to have a general affinity for all things Muggle. As she grew older, Ginny took after her old man. Through her brother's wife and The-Boy-Who-Wouldn't-Die, she acquired many a Muggle contraption for which she used for her own enjoyment.
One would think Ginny would keep her odd hobby to herself, but you would be wrong. Ginny loved using Muggle contraptions in her line of work as an Auror Detective. This was a constant complaint of her work partner, one I heard about endlessly. Did I mention Ginny's partner was my best mate? That's rather important.
This particular Sunday, Draco was over my flat after an all-nighter. I should mention two very important things at this point. One, I am a barrister for the London Wizengamot. I'm a prosecutor and as a result I work closely with Detectives Weasley and Malfoy. Secondly, I was enjoying a nice lie in with my dotty girlfriend when Draco apparated into my flat, screeching about his mad partner. I jumped out of bed, assuming Ginny had once again lost her temper and assaulted a person of interest. I couldn't have been more wrong.
"What the bloody hell is this thing?" he yelled, waving a little black…thing. I scratched my bum and reached for the device. Dating Luna Lovegood gave me a good idea of all things mad and Draco looked to me for all things related to his partner. Some days I wished I had different friends, or even a different job, just to get away from the madness.
I looked closely at the little black device. It was the size of small steno notebook and had the thickness of a piece of toast. The top part of the box had a screen and the bottom half had little buttons with numbers and letters printed on them. I never had seen something like this before. I pressed the center button, a little ball, and the screen lit up. The day and time was displayed in front of a blue background.
"That's a neat trick," I muttered. Draco snatched the device back from me and began punching buttons indiscriminately. All of a sudden, the device began to play an annoying sound and Draco gave a squawk of surprise and dropped the device on the floor.
"It's possessed!" he cried. I was inclined to agree with him. By this point, my girlfriend had wandered into the living room, wearing my shirt. She looked at me and Draco, then at the little black device which was still making noise. She walked over to the device and picked it up, pushed a button and suddenly the room fell silent.
"Blaise, why are you standing on the coffee table? Were you being attacked by nargles?" my girlfriend's dreamy blue eyes turned towards me. Leave it to Luna to miss the forest for the trees.
"What is that bloody thing?" cried Draco, who was standing on a dining chair, brandishing his wand. Luna looked over at Draco, unfazed.
"Good morning, Draco. Have you gotten anywhere with the Rotfang Conspiracy?" Luna gave him a dreamy smile of greeting. Draco's eyes narrowed; Luna's insistence that there was a group of Aurors that were out to bring down the Ministry of Magic was another of Draco's many annoyances.
"Looney, I don't have time for your crazy. Weasley sent me some possessed item and I'm worried about my eternal soul here!" Draco gestured at the device with his wand and a few red sparks flew from the tip.
"Maybe she wants to scare you into finally professing your love to her," I smirked. Luna and I had long suspected the constantly bickering duo of having some sort of desire for each other. The withering glare Draco gave me only served to further cement this idea. The sexual tension between the two only went unnoticed by each other. It was amusing, really.
"Don't go changing the subject here, Blaise. My soul is in danger here!" Draco snapped at me. My only response was a knowing smirk. Look at the pot, calling the kettle black here.
"I don't know how a cell phone is going to damn you to Hell, Draco," Luna said. She walked over to Draco and handed him the device.
"What the bloody hell is a 'yell phone'?" Draco grabbed the device from Luna and brought it to his nose for closer inspection.
"Cell phone, Draco. It's a portable communication device used by Muggles. Ginny was all excited the other day when she bought one. I just thought she had a case of the Mad Blinkies," Luna wandered off to the kitchen. Draco looked at me and mouthed "mad blinkies". I shrugged my shoulders. Sometimes I wondered if Luna made things up just for her own amusement.
"This is bloody madness." Draco grumbled as he stepped off the chair. Before I could step off the coffee table, Draco had disappeared with a large crack. I swore loudly, knowing exactly where Draco was going. I jumped off the table and rushed into my bedroom, quickly dressing myself in whatever clothing was discarded on the floor. Shoving my feet into an old pair of trainers, I shouted to Luna that I would be back and jumped into the fireplace. Knowing that Ginny spent her Sunday afternoons at the Burrow, I tossed a bit of Floo powder and shouted my destination.
Molly Weasley was busy cutting up potatoes for dinner and trying to take a peek out her window when I arrived. She jumped a bit, startled at my arrival. She held a hand to her chest and took a deep, calming sigh when she saw me dusting the soot off my clothing.
"Oh, Barrister Zabini, you gave me a bit of a fright. I suppose you're here to speak with my daughter and her partner?" Molly asked me. Molly was used to Ministry officials popping in and out of her home. I suppose that was the life of a woman who had several family members in highly sensitive areas of the Ministry.
"Yes, ma'am. Is Draco here?" I questioned, trying not to alarm her. It was futile. Ginny didn't become a detective because she had a pretty face. Ginny was shrew and observant, much like her mother. Molly Weasley knew something was going on; why else would she be peeking out her back window?
"That he is. He came bursting in here in a right strop. I daresay, something hasn't happened between them, has it?" Molly gave me a pointed look. Like I said, everyone but Ginny and Draco knew those two had feelings for one another. You might find it surprising that her family had accepted my mate. But after almost five years of those two working long nights together and becoming inseparable had eased the tension between the two families. Her son Ron wasn't a big fan of her daughter's work partner, but his opinion should be discounted. He is engaged to Pansy Parkinson, after all. Don't ask me how that happened.
"One could only hope. I'm just want to make sure Draco doesn't muck things up," I commented. Molly tutted and went back to her potatoes.
"They're all out back," she said. I thanked her and stepped out the back door. I walked around to the corner of the house where I found several of Ginny's brothers, the blonde French, Harry Potter, Granger and Pansy. Off to my right, the three eldest Weasley sons were setting up tables and hitting each other with playful jinxes. The blondie kept looking over her shoulder at her husband and giving him withering glances. I briefly wondered where their spawn had gotten off to, but assumed they were with Arthur.
"What's going on?" I asked as I approached the group. Pansy turned to me and rolled her eyes.
"This lot thinks they are being stealthy and are trying to listen in on the conversation. I keep telling them it's silly but they insist," Pansy whispered. I noticed the group had several flesh colored strings and were huddled around them.
"Parkinson, don't fool yourself. You ran right over the second those two disappeared into the garden," snorted George. His wife snorted.
"Really, this is pathetic," she muttered.
"Thank you, Granger," Pansy said amiably. Granger gave Pansy a withering look.
"How many times do I have to tell you, you dumb cow? It's Weasley, now," Hermione hissed. Pansy crossed her arms and shook her head.
"You say to-may-to, I say to-mah-to," Pansy sighed dismissively. It was the blondie sighed next.
"Zis is ridiculous," she moaned. Harry turned to us.
"Would all of you kindly shut up? We're getting to the good part?" he hissed. We all shut up and I moved closer, peeking around the corner to see what was happening. I could see Ginny, red faced and flapping her arms. Draco was standing very close to her, arms crossed. I bent my head down to the sting and listened closely.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Draco snapped. He uncrossed his arms and turned from her, running a hand through his hair.
"It's a viable form of communication, Malfoy! With all the cases we're working on, it's the easiest way to stay in touch!" Ginny yelled, flapping her arms again. I wondered aloud why we were watching this, as it was a normal argument of Ginny's appreciation of Muggle items.
"He never pulls her away to argue with her over this," Ron whispered. Harry signaled for us to hush. We went silent and listened some more.
"What's wrong with the post? Or Floo?" Draco asked. He wasn't raising his voice, but there was tension in his words. Draco almost never lost his cool.
"Post takes too long if it's an emergency and the last time I flooed you, you were alone with Hannah Abbot!" Ginny spat. Ah ha! Now it was getting interesting. Draco turned to her and smirked.
"Jealous, Weasley?" Ginny pursed her lips. She placed her hands on her hips and raised her chin defiantly.
"About as jealous as you were when I went on a date with Marcus Flint," she retorted. I didn't have to look to know Draco's jaw was clenched. For two weeks, all I heard about was how much of a prat Flint was and how Ginny was stupid for falling for Flint's charms.
"Only because Flint is a giant troll," Draco shrugged, attempting to stay aloof. Ginny gave a harsh bark of laughter.
"And Hannah Abbot is a true prize. Did it ever occur to you that it bothered me to see you with her?" Ginny stamped her foot, her voice filled with frustration.
"Ten galleons says that he's going to kiss her," I muttered. Harry glanced back at me and grinned.
"You're on," he whispered. Behind me, the blonde tutted.
"I say zey already kissed," she muttered.
"I'll take that bet," Harry smirked.
Granger shushed us and gestured around the corner. I looked back and say that Draco was standing closer to her, his muscles less tense.
"Weasley, I told you, what happened that night couldn't happen again as long as we were partners. It would get in the way of our job," Draco's voice was a bit softer. Ginny gave a frustrated grunt.
"You can't just snog me and tell me it was a mistake!" The blonde made a small noise of triumph and Harry dug into his pockets, fishing out a few galleons. This time, I signaled for everyone to be quiet. Draco's shoulders had sagged. He was giving in to her.
"Maybe the mistake was keeping you as my partner," Draco sighed, "Tomorrow, I'm going to Potter and putting in a request for a new partner." This was interesting. There was a small collective gasp as he turned away from Ginny. Ginny pushed him, hard.
"How dare you? You are just going to keep running away from this? You're a bloody coward, Malfoy!" she yelled. Her voice was wavering, as if she were fighting back tears. Harry smirked at me, thinking he was going to earn back his ten galleons. I smirked back, knowing I was going to be ten galleons richer.
"I'm not running from this, Weasley. If anything, I'm running towards this, towards you," Draco said. He was holding her by her arm, looking down at her. Ginny opened her mouth to speak but Draco's lips closed onto hers, silencing her. She seemed to resist for a moment, mostly out of shock, before kissing him back with equal fervor. I averted my eyes, to give them a bit of privacy. Harry reluctantly sacrificed another ten galleons.
"You do realize we have an audience?" Ginny whispered. They had pulled away, but Draco still held her close.
"Bugger 'em," Draco muttered before kissing her again.
"Oy! Get a room!" George yelled. They broke apart, looking sheepish. We made ourselves visible. Harry looked peeved from losing twenty galleons. I smirked at Draco.
"About bloody time, mate," I said, slapping him on the back. He shrugged, attempting to look indifferent. He caught my eye and smirked back.
"Yeah, about bloody time."
Guidelines/Requirements: D/G with the line"You have got to be kidding me."
Word Count: A minimum of 500. :)
Rating: T
No no's: No Dramione please? Thank you very much. :3
Bonus Points:
figuring out how a muggle contraption works-could be anything.
2.A mention of Luna/Blaise.
barging in to the Burrow.