Title: Away From It All
Author: SilverShiver
Disclaimer: I don't own it. J.K. Rowling does. That's about it.
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Away From It All (1/3)
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Ginny un-rolled her socks to her knees and buckled her black patent leather shoes. She straightened her skirt and smoothed some of the wrinkles out of her shirt. She adjusted the Gryffindor tie that she always wore and slipped her clean black robe on over everything. The hem was frayed and it was a bit shorter than everyone else's, but that didn't really matter. Ginny checked her reflection in the mirror and then added a hair clip above her right ear and smiled. She looked…
…Average.
Ginny's smile faded and she adopted a look of sad longing. She would have given anything to be like all the other girls. Parvati and Padma, Hogwarts' most adored twins, were always getting the attention and Lavender Brown had a new boyfriend every month. True, they were older than her, but only by a year; could a year change a person so much? She was in her sixth year now and, for all of her previous boyfriends, she felt so unwanted and inferior.
Ginny pulled herself together and headed down the stairs into the Gryffindor Common Room. It was time for breakfast and she was sure the others were on their way out. They wouldn't wait for her, and she didn't expect them too. She was still a little sister to them—neither a friend nor anything more. Ginny sighed as she saw Harry leave with his two friends. Their relationship had been short lived last year, and after Harry had been forced to return to school by Remus and Molly, she had thought he might want her back. But he hadn't and she felt as miserable in his presence as ever.
She followed behind the trio as they made their way down to the Great Hall. From a bit behind, Ginny was able to watch and listen unobserved as they talked. Hermione was going on about some homework that the other two hadn't finished yet. They were laughing playfully, calling her a bookworm in a joking manner, and she just smiled back.
At night, when Ginny would visit the Head Girl in her room, Hermione talked about how she wished she could be looked at desirably, like Ginny was. Ginny had to resist from scoffing. Desirable—Ginny? No, she argued. Guys didn't find her desirable. They just liked her breasts. Hermione had giggled at the red-heads audacity, but had nodded. That had hurt Ginny. Even Hermione thought she was undesirable? If even the plain, bushy-haired bookworm could tell that Ginny wasn't anything special, everyone could.
She didn't know what Hermione had to be unhappy about. She might not be classically beautiful, but she was smart enough to know what she wanted and to get it when she wanted. Ginny couldn't do that. She was lucky to scrape an Acceptable in most of her classes.
Ginny entered the Great Hall and sat down by Hermione, unnoticed. After a few minutes she was included into a conversation on Quidditch with Ron, Seamus, and Harry. She said a few things but eventually returned to her meal. She listened to the girls discussing their new dress robes for the Winter Formal approaching, and hung her head as she wasn't included. Suddenly, Hermione asked her opinion on the colour of her robes and she perked up in response. She gave her choice—dark green, but wasn't really surprised when the rest of the group convinced Hermione into red robes.
Sighing in relief at the end of the meal, Ginny left the Hall in front of the others. She overheard a few whispers wondering what had crawled up her arse to make her hurry out of the Hall, but ignored them as she headed for the doors. She had almost made it out when a gang of Slytherin girls nearly ran her over. She tripped over herself trying to avoid them, and fell onto the floor. Closing her eyes, she hoped against hope that when she opened them, the girls would be gone. No such luck. Even before she opened her eyes she could hear them laughing and whispering about her. Sure enough, they were there in front of her, slowly walking away while looking over their shoulders at her.
She overheard Pansy say something about how she played nearly every boy in the school. Then Mandy piped in with something about how Michael Corner had said she was a 'decent lay'. As their voices faded, Millicent said that even the Slytherin's were noticing her reputation—apparently Blaise had admitted in the common room…
Ginny didn't get the last bit of the confession from the dark Slytherin, but she didn't need to hear it to know what would have followed. Michael Corner was a lying prat! She had never slept with him—that had been all he was interested in and she had told him off for it! But apparently he had lied and rumours had now been travelling for over a year. She had dumped him before her fourth year had ended. Suddenly the answer to her question that morning came flooding in. Apparently a year could change a person. Not change, perhaps, but you could obviously develop a reputation—wanted or unwanted.
Realizing she was still on the floor, she lifted herself up and dusted off her robes.
"I'm afraid that won't do any good, Weasley," said a dark voice from behind her. "They will still look hand-me-down; like they are."
Ginny turned around to face the dark haired Slytherin. "Zabini, what do you want?" she growled, not wanting to talk to him after what she had overheard.
"Now, now… That's no way to talk to your superiors, is it?" he chided with a smirk.
"You don't mean you?"
He wasn't fazed. "I do as a matter of fact. I'm glad you're catching on."
Ginny rolled her eyes and turned around. She left the Hall and was walking to her first class when she was pulled into a dark corridor by the same man.
"I wasn't done talking to you, Weasley," he said when she glared at him.
"Really? I don't care!" She shoved away from him and left. He grabbed her wrist again and pulled her back.
"You don't have a choice."
"Zabini, can we do this some other time? I daresay I've heard enough of what you've said for today."
"What do you mean?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I mean… never mind," she said, but she didn't leave. She didn't want to admit it, but at least he was acknowledging that she existed.
"What did I say? I'm sure I haven't said anything offensive to you…yet."
Ginny glared at him. "I overheard Millicent Bullstrode making a comment on something you admitted to doing in the common room."
"Really? And what was that?"
"She said that you… You said you slept with me. So, if you don't mind, I think I will leave you to yourself because I find I am earning an unfair reputation."
"I never said that, Weasley," Blaise said quietly. "I think she misheard me. That, or you misheard her."
Ginny lowered her lashes and blushed. True, she hadn't exactly heard the statement in its entirety, but what else could have followed?
"Well," she challenged. "What did you say?"
Blaise smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
Ginny scowled and turned away. She marched down the hallway, expecting him to follow behind her. From their little meeting, she had learned that he didn't give up easily. Sure enough, he found her wrist again, and had her trapped in a passageway that she hadn't even known existed.
She looked around wildly at her surroundings. "Where are we?" she asked with fear in her eyes. If she didn't know where they were, how could she call for help if he tried something Slytherin-like? Would anyone even hear her?
"Just a secret passage. Now," he said, focusing on her. "Would you like to know what I said?"
"Better yet, I'd like to know what you want."
"In good time, Weasley. But first, what I said." She nodded and waited for him to continue. "I said that I wouldn't mind sleeping with you. I never said I already had."
Ginny's jaw dropped. "You… what?"
"As to why I am here—what I want—that's easy. You."
Ginny backed away and into a wall. "Let me out of here, Zabini."
"Not until I get what I want. I need to find out if Corner was giving you your deserved credit."
"Michael was lying," she said quietly. "I never slept with him. Now will you please let me go?"
Blaise was taken aback but wasn't going to give up that easily. "For a price."
Ginny sighed and slid down the wall. "Fine, then. I'll stay in here and rot. It's not like anyone would miss me."
Blaise quirked an eyebrow. "Surely the Golden Trio would care."
Ginny scoffed. "Right! Let me clue you in," she said, raising her eyes to his. "They're called the Golden Trio for a reason. Not the Quartet."
Blaise was silent for a moment before he noticed the stifled sobs coming from the redhead. "Weasley, you're crying."
She raised her head. "Well that answers the long wondered question of why you aren't at the head of your class."
Blaise scowled. "I'm not at the head, for your information, because that mudblood doesn't have a life."
Ginny raised herself up defensively. "Don't call her that, Zabini," she threatened.
"So you defend people who don't care about you? How Gryffindor."
She glared up at him. "Let me out of here, Zabini."
"Why should I? What do I have to gain?"
"What do you want?" she asked, yearning for an escape.
"You go first."
"What?"
"Tell me something that you want, and then I'll tell you what I want. Maybe we can help each other."
"I doubt it," she said untrustingly. "Besides, what makes you think I want something?"
"Anyone as unhappy as you seem to be wants, or needs, something."
"I don't want anything. Except to get out of here."
His gaze softened just a bit. "Tell me, Weasley."
"Why should I?" she asked. Of course she wanted something, but she would be damned if she was just going to tell him.
"Because I'm listening."
Ginny opened her mouth to respond but couldn't think of a response. She exhaled loudly before speaking. "Have you ever wanted something—no, one thing—above everything else?" She didn't wait for a response. "Wanted it so badly that you would do almost anything for it?"
When she lifted her gaze she saw Blaise watching her intently. "What is it that you want, little Weasley?"
She focused on his eyes. "To get away from it all," she said simply. A moment later she asked him, "What do you want?"
Blaise shook his head. Before she had the chance to remind him that they had made a sort of a deal, he had taken three steps closer to her and had one hand on her back and another behind her head. When he kissed her, Ginny went a bit weak in the knees and had to hang on to his shirt for balance. He was kissing her with passion and she was doing her best to remain calm. After a second she responded, making the ardent kiss even more so. Finally, as they pulled away from each other, Ginny stared at Blaise in disbelief.
He was about to kiss her again when she put her hand on his chest, stopping him. "What are you doing?" she asked breathlessly.
He smirked. "Taking you away from it all." And with that he moved her against the wall capturing her mouth in another kiss.
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A/N: Hope you're liking it... It's been on hiatus on my computer for exactly three months today. I wrote chapters two and three last night and that'sall there is to the story. Three chapters. Quick.
Review please.