Unexpected Consequences 8

Chapter Two

Name: Red


Age: 18

Hometown: London, England

Hobbies: "I absolutely adore flying and playing recreational Quidditch. I'm not on a team, but I used to play a lot when I was younger. I like to read and to learn. I was pretty good at my classes."

Likes: "I love the summer time, especially going to the lake or the beach. I know it sounds so silly, but I love walking on the beach at night."

Dislikes: "Violence. I absolutely detest violence and picking on people weaker than oneself."

General statement: "I consider myself somewhat of a tomboy. I like to be outside, especially to fly. I'm currently single, and looking for someone who gets the real me."

"There is something very familiar about her." Draco Malfoy said as he flipped through his latest issue of Playwitch magazine.

The empty room only answered with silence.

Draco stared at the pictures of Playwitch's newest model, Red. Her face was concealed by her long dark red hair, keeping him from coming to any conclusion about what her true identity might be.

He didn't know who she was, but she was very beautiful. She had to be. With hair like that and a body like that, there was no way her face wasn't just as beautiful. He stared at the pictures some more in hopes that her name (or the name of the person she reminded him of) would come to him.

He sighed. "Must just be my imagination. Like I would ever know a Playwitch model."

Draco turned to the trunk that he was packing for his final return to Hogwarts. He placed the magazine on the bottom of the trunk and threw a few more things in before closing it. Just as he was looking around his room to make sure that he hadn't forgotten anything, he heard his mother call up to him.

"Draco!" She called out. "It's time to leave; you're going to be late!"

He placed a levitating charm on his trunk and made his way down stairs.

He barely paid attention to Kings Cross Station while he was there. He got on the train, found an empty compartment and let his mind wander.

He knew that this upcoming year was going to be difficult and it was all that he could think about. This was his seventh and final year at Hogwarts. That meant that this year he'd have more homework, more tests and worst of all, he'd have NEWTs at the end of the year.

His parents, especially his father had been on his case the past year or so about his grades slipping. Of course, that pissed him off to no end since it was their stupid involvement with the stupid "dark lord" that caused him to divert his attention from his studies to some stupid mission.

If someone were to ask Draco (and he would like to point out that no one was asking him), he would say that his father was insane. His father somehow expected him to bow at the feet of some wormy looking "dark lord", do all of his bidding, and still excel in all of his classes.

Luckily that wouldn't be the case this year, since the boy-who-wouldn't-die had actually succeeded in something (for the first time in his life, Draco was sure) and had killed the "dark lord". But that actually led to the second pressure point in Draco's life.

Since his father was a very well known Death Eater and the stupid "dark lord" had been defeated, his father was now on the run. He had been in hiding for a couple of months, constantly on the move, not even letting his wife or son know where he was. That didn't stop the Aurors from coming around and constantly questioning Draco and his mother about the whereabouts of his father.

Draco sighed. If he had to be completely honest, that wasn't the only pressure he was feeling. Despite the fact that his father was on the run, it didn't seem to stop him from reminding Draco on a regular basis that he would one day take over Malfoy Enterprises. He would be expected to continue the business on in the same fashion that his father had, and his grandfather before him.

It wasn't that Draco was against being a business man; he just wondered how much of the business he would be running and how much of it would be his father's influence. He knew that this year he would start looking over stocks, files, production, and profits for the family business.

His mother, on the other hand had other ideas for him. She desperately wanted him to find a long term girlfriend that he could eventually settle down with. She wanted him to have lots of children so as to make sure the Malfoy and Black bloodlines wouldn't die out completely.

By the time the train was half way to Hogwarts, Draco had an intense headache that was quickly turning into a migraine. He knew he needed to stop thinking about all the things he had on his plate or his head might implode.

So instead, he turned his thoughts towards the new Playwitch model. She was beautiful and captivating. He could clearly see why they had chosen to add her to the magazine. He knew he would love to run his hands all over her body.

That thought alone made him feel a little foolish. He had had a subscription to the magazine for well over two years now and had never felt this way about a model before. He couldn't believe that he was daydreaming about a model. He felt like he was twelve again, thinking of girls all the time and how he might be able to convince one into his bed.

He allowed his mind to wander into a peaceful train of thought, no longer worried about the pressures he was feeling in his life. And before he knew it, he was back at Hogwarts, ready to start a new year.

When the train pulled into Hogsmeade station, Draco managed to snap himself out of his daydreams in time to gather his things and get to the carriages. He entered an empty carriage and was thankful when no one else joined him.

When the carriages pulled up to Hogwarts, he left his carriage and went straight to the Slytherin dorms. He wasn't in any kind of mood to eat or celebrate new additions to his house. Normally he would sit at the long table and observe the new meat that had been added to his house, and check out the girls and see who had developed over the summer. But this year, he just wasn't in the mood.

When he arrived to his dorm, he went straight to his room. His trunk was sitting at the end of his bed, and he immediately started to unpack it to keep him busy while his mind worked a mile a minute. He knew now that he was here, and the year had started, he really couldn't ignore his obligations any longer. He knew this year was going to be stressful. He was just glad that there was no shortage of people to take it out on.

When he finished his packing, he went straight to bed. It took him a couple of hours to fall asleep with his stomach empty and his mind working on overload, but he did eventually drift off.

Normally while under this much stress he would dream about the things in his life causing him stress (mainly his father), but tonight his dreams were full of a beautiful, mysterious woman with long, dark red hair.

~*~

Ginny, on the other hand, headed directly toward the Great Hall when she arrived. She too, was not really in the mood for a celebration, but felt that she should at least make an appearance at the feast.

She only half listened to the announcements at the beginning of the year, and the sorting hat's song. When the first years were led into the hall, she looked around at the little kids and wondered if she had been that small and young looking when she had first started at Hogwarts.

She was already bored out of her mind by the time the food appeared on the table. She pushed her food around on her plate with her fork, barely forcing down a couple of bites. After about a half an hour, she sighed softly and pushed her plate away. She looked around her and found that her "friends" were all preoccupied and talking amongst themselves, so she got up and walked out of the Great Hall and made her way towards her dorm.

When she got to the Gryffindor tower, she was so relieved to find it completely abandoned. She was thankful for the quiet, it was something she welcomed.

She walked towards her dorm and found that her belongings had already been brought up there. She silently went about unpacking her things. She let her mind wander to where her life had ended up.

If she was to be completely honest with herself, she was very excited about the new direction her life was heading in. She was ecstatic to know that she was well on her way to creating a stable foundation for herself when she graduated from Hogwarts.

As she settled into bed for the night, she couldn't help the smile that came across her face. Things were finally starting to look up.

~*~

When Draco awoke the next morning, he was exhausted. His sleep, although long, had been restless. He groaned at the thought of having to get out of bed.

He was just glad that he didn't have to worry about classes today. He didn't start classes until the day after tomorrow.

As he got ready for the day, he made himself that he wouldn't spend all day thinking about Red or his troubles. He needed to stop this little crush of his before it got out of control. He needed to make sure he concentrated on his studies this year and preparing for the real world when he graduated in June. He knew he needed to make sure he got things done, because he knew there would be some severe consequences if he didn't follow the plan that had been laid out for him.

The Great Hall was quiet. Most people were still in bed, seeing how it was their last weekend before classes started.

Just a few people were sitting at the tables, and as far as he could tell they were the people who would always be up early on weekends to study and do their homework.

He sat down at the Slytherin table and helped himself to a big breakfast. Having skipped dinner the night before, he was very hungry.

As he ate his breakfast, he let his mind wander over to the beautiful model he had seen in the magazine. He let himself slip into a daydream where he knew the girl, where he could run his hands over her beautiful curves and bury his face in her long, red hair. He imagined himself waking up one morning and seeing her lying next to him.

He snapped himself out of the daydream when a small commotion came through the doors. Potter and his friends were walking towards the Gryffindor table. Draco rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to his meal.

When he finished with his breakfast, he pushed his plate away with a small sigh. He walked out of the Great Hall and just started walking. He didn't know where he was going, but he figured that he'd find out when he got there.

He wandered outside to the big tree that stood beside the lake. He sat down and looked out at the serene scene that lay before him.

This year could be great. He thought to himself. There was the potential to do something great.

He could excel in all of his classes, and graduate at the top of the class next to Granger. He could put hours into his studies and focus all of his attention on that. He paused and then shook his head at the thought. Throwing himself into his studies sounded way too boring.

He could try to jump start his social life. He could try to be more social and polite to people in an attempt to have more fun this year. He paused again. This could prove to be difficult. He wasn't the most well liked student in school.

If he had to be honest with himself, he knew he was quite nasty to people. But he had a perfectly good excuse. If anyone else had to deal with his father, they'd take it out on everyone else too.

He could always try standing up to his father for the first time. That would end most of the pressure he was feeling and he might actually be capable of becoming a decent human being at the same time. After he stood up to his father, he could find himself a decent friend, someone who would boost his reputation.

That sounded promising.

~*~

Ginny was sitting at the Gryffindor table in the quiet Great Hall, ignoring Harry, Ron and Hermione as they went on and on about some homework or another. She was calmly eating her breakfast and thinking about the letter she had received this morning.

She had received an owl from Gregory who was singing her praises. He informed her that the latest issue of the magazine was a hit and they had already seen an increase in sales from the previous month. They wanted to schedule another shoot as soon as possible.

She had replied, letting him know that in about three weeks she would have some time to come down for a photo shoot.

Ginny smiled to herself as she thought about the massive deposit that had been made into her account at Gringotts. She was hit and people loved her. What more could she ask for?

She was elated at how things were working out. At this rate, she wouldn't have to model for more than a couple years before she would be set for life.

She thought about her next shoot in three weeks. She'd be posing with another model, and she was pretty excited. She had definitely felt more comfortable with the group shots on her first shoot and she was excited to try one with just one other model. All of the other girls had been so sweet, not at all what she would have imagined beautiful models to be. For the first time in her life, she felt like she truly belonged somewhere, that she actually fit in, and wasn't just the pesky little sister.

Ginny gathered up her things and started to leave when she heard someone calling her name.

"Ginny! Ginny!"

She turned around to see Ron, Harry and Hermione staring at her curiously. "Yes?" She asked, very annoyed. She knew it reflected in her voice.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Back to my dorm, outside, or maybe just wandering. I'm a big girl, and I can walk around the most magically protected castle in the time world by myself." She said, a slightly bitter tone to her voice. "You know, you don't need to know where I am and where I'm going every minute of my life."

With that, Ginny turned around walked out of the Great Hall, without another word. She was just a bit pissed. She hate that everyone still thought of her as just a little girl who couldn't do anything without the approval of her big brother and his friends.

Ginny shook her head and turned her mind to her upcoming shoot. She made her way towards her dorm and forgot about Ron and his friends. She had her own life now. And with just two more years of school to go, she would soon be out on her own and living her life completely free of her family's influence.

With this train of thought going through her mind, she started smiling and skipping slightly back to her dorm.

~*~

The next month did not go as planned for either of them.

Ginny was not pleased with how her second shoot went. The other model she was paired up with was not a pleasant person. She was also a little uncomfortable with how strong the homosexual themes were in the shoot.

Knowing that she needed this job, she shrugged it off. After the shoot with the other model, they had asked her to do a solo shoot for the magazine. They wanted to capitalize on her popularity from the previous issue and said that they wanted to put her in the centerfold.

Ginny had been floored and completely honored when they told her that. She had immediately accepted their offer. Granted it took up another couple of hours from her Saturday, but she didn't mind. It was a Hogsmeade weekend that day, but she didn't mind skipping it. Although some questions had been raised when she seemingly returned later than everyone else did.

Ginny was once again sitting in the Great Hall, bored out of her mind. It was lunch time and she was dreading having to go to class. She wasn't in the mood to take notes or listen to some professor drone on and on.

She checked the time and found she had a few extra minutes. She could wander around for awhile before heading to her next class.

She left the Great Hall and decided she'd wander toward the library before class. Distracted as she was, she didn't notice the blond haired boy who stared directly at her.

~*~

As much as Draco wanted to be more social, he found that he was forced to throw himself into school. He didn't realize just how much work was required for NEWT level classes.

His homework load was almost double what it had been the past couple of years. As much as he would like to spend more time in social settings, he still wanted to do well in school.

But he was succeeding in one area. He had been ignoring his father's letters lately. He was getting very tired of his bull shit and just wanted it over with already. So he just ignored him.

Draco knew that he was beginning to change. He knew that he was starting to grow up and become the man he wanted to be, not the man his father wanted him to be. He was learning to prioritize his life the way he wanted to, by what was important to him, not his father. He really started to think about what he wanted out of his life.

He knew what he wanted in life, or he was starting to. He knew that he had the opportunity to have an easy life, one with riches, beautiful women, and any luxury he could ever want. But he knew that what he wanted was a good job, a good wife, and maybe a family someday.

This was very unlike the Malfoy reputation. This was very unlike anything Draco had ever claimed himself to be.

But people change, he thought.

Trouble was, he was having a hard time getting past the reputation he had built over the years. He knew that if wanted to restore his reputation, he was going to have to start soon. He was also going to have find a way to get out from underneath his father's control.

There was one thing had kept him in generally good spirits. That stupid magazine with that model. Draco was still ashamed to say that he had a crush on the model. He felt stupid liking a woman whose face he had never even seen.

She had been in the centerfold this month and she looked even more beautiful than the previous month. She had been dancing seductively in the picture, playing with her hair and running her hands over her body.

Draco sighed as he shook the thoughts from his mind. He was hungry and needed to get something to eat before his next class.

Draco walked up to the Great Hall and was about to walk in when the door opened. He hardly paid any attention to the person walking out until he saw it.

A flash of red.

Hands running through it.

It was her.

Shout Out: I want to thank everyone who has reviewed this story and added it to their alerts lists. I really appreciate the enthusiasm and the positive reviews. I really hope you continue to enjoy this story!