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Sorry for the long break! School gets in the way. Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter! Reviews are always welcome!
Chapter 7: Comfortable Lies
"It's so good to have all my babies home." Molly Weasley hugged Ron and Ginny as they stepped through the fireplace before ushering them into the kitchen where everyone else was already gathered.
Ron quietly excused himself from the room to answer an owl probably from Lee since he was running one of the joke shops tonight. After Fred died, Ron became George's partner. Ron was actually doing well. After all the excitement he had at Hogwarts, he just wanted things to settle down and enjoy life without being put in danger. If only Harry thought that way.
"Ginny, you're all skin and bones. Sit down, everybody, sit down!" Molly put three extra spoonfuls on Ginny's plate.
"With all the late hours she works, I'm surprised she has time to eat." Hermione commented nonchalantly.
"I'll have to have a word with Harser Monday morning about working you too hard." Arthur had graduated from Hogwarts with Nigel Harser, it was one of the reason that Ginny was hired so quickly after her own graduation.
"Dad, I just got a promotion a few months ago. Plus, I've been taking on some extra accounts." Ginny smiled at her father hoping he would leave the subject well enough alone.
"Oh you mean like the Malfoy Industry's account?"
What is Hermione playing at?
"Yes, that one is keeping all of us very busy. We're getting close to finalizing the merger."
At the mention of Malfoy, all her brothers' heads shot up.
"It was my big chance to come up in the company so now Harser and Baelik have put me in charge of it." Ginny shrugged, "Tonks, how is my boyfriend doing?" She felt guilty enough after that kiss tonight and especially because she had wanted more to come from it, but she couldn't let this turn into something about Draco. She really didn't need Hermione rubbing it in more, besides every time she heard the name Malfoy her heart beat a bit faster and she kept picturing Draco without a shirt on. "Blimey, I leave to answer an owl and everyone starts without me." He sat down next to George and everyone stopped.
"Ron," Arthur's face looked like it had aged 5 years. "Your seat is on the other side."
Ron slowly stood up, his face down, realizing his mistake. Hermione squeezed his hand as he took his usual seat. It had been five years that day since Fred had died in the final battle. Molly insisted that they leave his chair open as if they were just waiting for him to walk through the door.
After a few minutes of silence, George excused himself from the table. Slowly everyone followed suit, leaving their unfinished meals. One by one they made their way into the sitting room where Fred's picture hung on the wall. His twenty year old self eternally preserved in the frame. He was smiling as if he had just given someone a particularly nasty trick.
Ginny was instantly taken back to the night of the battle. Seeing the smile frozen on his pale, lifeless face. His body lay surrounded by all the others lost that night like Colin's younger brother Dennis or Tonks' first husband, Remus Lupin. As if Bill was reading her mind, he put a comforting arm around her shoulders and his other around Fleur's.
"Oy, a toast!" George walked into the room with glasses floating behind him. They sat for the next two hours reminiscing about Fred and casually drinking.
"I remember when he locked me in the broom shed for a day and a half, only giving me candy to eat to find out if they had any side effects." Ron shuddered remembering some of the different candies.
"All his idea, I wanted to use Ginny, but Fred wouldn't hear of it."
"Thanks a lot, no wonder he was my favorite twin," Ginny elbowed him in the ribs. "I have to be at work early tomorrow. Thanks for dinner, Mum. It was delicious as always. I'll bring Harry round next weekend if Tonks doesn't steal him away again." She kissed her Mum and Dad good-bye.
"Who is banging on my bloody door at midnight?" Draco yanked the Manor door open about to hex the person on the other side before he saw that Ginny Weasley stood there with rain-soaked hair sticking to her face.
"I went home and it was just so quiet and empty. I don't want to be alone tonight." She had tears flowing down her cheeks. He had never seen her cry before, never seen her this vulnerable.
"What happened?" Draco was immediately on edge, had someone attacked her? Had Harry pissed her off? He could only hope for the latter.
"Can I come in?" He stepped aside and motioned to the stairs.
"We'll go to my wing of the Manor." They settled in his library
"It's just a hard day, I thought I could get through it fine this year. It's been five years, why is it still so hard?"
A phantom pain stabbed into Draco's forearm as he realised the cause to her tears.
Why she had come to a previous Deatheater on the five year anniversay was causing the feeling of dread to sit uncomfortably in his stomach.
"Why did you come here?"
"I didn't know where else to go. My family is all grieving in different ways. And then you see George or my parents and you feel like you shouldn't be as upset as they are. And Harry isn't home."
Draco cringed.
"And Colin and Luna have been in such good places lately I didn't want to upset them." She had stopped crying and had rested her head on his shoulder.
"I went to your apartment right after I left dinner but you weren't there and I remembered Blaise saying how you stayed at the Manor some nights so I went to the Lady of the Night to get Marcus to tell me how to get here. I needed to see you. Should I go?" She spoke softly.
Draco shook his head, "It's hard because you're still trying to understand why." She reached over and held his hand tightly.
"There's no logical reason as to why it happened. We just have to distance ourselves and hope that it will hurt less as time goes on."
Ginny's crying ceased and some time later, she had fallen asleep.
"Bugger." He cursed under his breath before picking her up. He reached the guest bedroom nearest his room and tried to set her on the bed but she had a firm hold of his shirt.
"Weasley," he jostled her a bit but she refused to wake up. He assumed all the crying had worn her out. He sat on the bed with her still in his arms and awkwardly positioned them in bed. He ran his free hand through her hair before wrapping that arm around her as well.
"Night, Weasley."
"Night, Malfoy." She mumbled, brushing her lips softly against his cheek.
Ginny snuggled closer to the warm body next to hers as she woke in the morning. Her movements were met with a low grunt of disapproval.
She smiled, still refusing to open her eyes due to the bright sunlight filling the room.
"I don't suppose you'll fancy a quick shag then." She teased, forgetting where she was. She rubbed the chest of the man next to her.
The next thing she knew he was on top of her, kissing her deeply.
Ginny was surprised at his enthusiasm but she wasn't going to complain. She moaned softly as he grinded against her.
"Bloody wand," Ginny groaned as she heard her wand beep incessantly.
She reached her hand out for a nightstand that wasn't there.
Her eyes opened immediately seeing a head of blonde hair kiss down her body. A flicker of a thought crossed her mind to let it continue, that she knew all along it wasn't Harry.
Her wand was muffled under her pillow. She grasped it to turn off her alarm and shut her eyes, wishing to lie to herself for a little bit longer.
Draco met her lips again and she kissed back, choosing to indulge her inappropriate desires. He thrusted against her again causing both of them to moan.
A sharp pain pierced Ginny's chest as she remembered Harry and that he was coming home tonight.
She sat up abruptly, pulling away from Draco. What am I doing?
Her heart stopped as she heard Harry's voice fill the large room. Draco flipped around quickly and aimed his wand.
Harry's patronus was standing in front of the bed. "I'm home early. Where are you, Gin? I can't wait to see you."
The stag evaporated into the air and Ginny tried to restart her heart.
"How does Potter make it out of the house each day, let alone the bed?" He teased as she got out of bed, wasting no time in buttoning up her shirt.
She ran her hands through her hair and looked around the room, flustered.
"I have to go."
"Ginny, where've you been? Oh, I don't care. I missed you!" Harry pulled her into a hug.
Please don't smell like him, please don't smell like him, she silently willed. "I missed you too. How was your first assignment?"
Harry beamed down at her. "Gin, it was great. Such a rush. We didn't find out much but it was so great to finally be out there." Harry kept going but Ginny was lost in her thoughts.
"Doesn't make me feel cheap or anything, Weasley," Draco smirked towards her. Ginny grabbed her wand and headed for the door but he slammed it shut before she had it open halfway.
"I was only half joking. Don't use me then ditch me when your famous boyfriend comes back to town."
Ginny just gaped up at him.
"We've been dancing around each other for months. Don't deny this."
Of course he was bloody right, but she was living with Harry and she loved him. Was she willing to throw it all away? For Draco Malfoy of all people. This was too much to process after only three hours of sleep.
Draco kissed her again. She pulled away slowly.
"I really have to go. I don't want to see Harry in here instead of his Patronus."
Draco smirked, "Say hello to Potter for me."
"I leave on Thursday again. When do you have to go to work? I was thinking we could have breakfast."
She had barely paid attention to anything he said. I'm a terrible girlfriend.
"I'm due in about an hour and a half."
He kissed her softly. "Mm, I missed that." He set two cups of tea on the table. "So where were you? Hermione said she stopped by around midnight last night to make sure you were okay, but you weren't here."
Damn it, Hermione.
"I was with Luna for awhile."
Harry seemed to take this in, "Then where did you go?" He continued sipping his tea.
"Why are you questioning me like I did something wrong?"
Harry set his tea cup harder than usual, the contents splashing on the counter.
"Because, Gin, I'm an Auror. I track down Dark Wizards. How hard do you think it'd be for me to figure out where you were? Why were you with him all night? What were you doing?"
Ginny shut her eyes, horrified at the situation.
"I went there because I needed someone to talk to. Fred's anniversary really hit me hard yesterday. Hermione hasn't been a real friend to me for months now, I didn't want to talk to her. And you know how I feel talking to my family about Fred. Luna and Colin are great friends, but I couldn't do that to them yesterday. I just needed to talk to someone that didn't know him. Draco always listened to me whenever you and I were fighting. I knew I could trust him. Harry, I love you."
She opened her eyes noticing Harry's white knuckles gripping the counter.
"I know you hate him. I just needed to talk to someone. Harry, say something." She begged him.
She instantly regretted what she had done even more than she already did. The guilt was settling in, she had to make sure he never found out.
"I've talked to Hermione. Why is he always here when I'm not? And why did you need to stay overnight? Am I not enough for you? I think I've been pretty understanding about all the drinks, business dinners, and the late nights at the office. Are those just excuses for you two to fuck?" Harry's voice was getting louder as he spoke. He was furious, she'd never seen him so angry at her.
"No, I've never lied to you about work. And I stayed the night because by the time I finished talking about Fred it was 3 in the morning and I was too tired to Apparate home."
She waited for him to start yelling at her again. Her lies had tied her stomach into knots.
"Fine, Harry, I'm a terrible person. I'm friends with someone at work. Someone who you don't like, who my family doesn't like, and who most of my friends don't like. He was here on Saturday night because of the Millgram case. Blaise messed it up and I was the other consultant so I had to fix it. Four months ago, he was here because you left for Ron's after our big fight and I felt like if I hadn't wanted to succeed at work then we would be happy. He was doing what you should have been doing! Reassuring me that I should want to succeed. And yeah, he did get too close at the ball, but what did you want me to do? If I had called attention to it, Ron would have been all over him. I didn't want to make a scene. What happened on your trip with Cho, Harry? Did she ever get too close?"
He ran a hand through his hair before balling it up at his side.
He paced the small kitchen before he took her hand in his, "We had to act like a couple that were on their honeymoon. That was the real reason Tonks didn't send Dean. We had history so I guess she figured it'd be more realistic. Nothing happened in private. I'm sorry I wasn't here yesterday. I want to be here when you're upset."
Her arms found their way around his waist. It felt like a fist was enclosing her heart and steadily squeezing tighter and tighter.
Ginny looked around nervously as she entered The Lady of the Night. Draco, Blaise, and Adrian were taking a shot at the regular booth. As they slammed their glasses on the table, she could feel Draco's eyes on her. She took her usual seat. Draco ran a cool hand over Ginny's exposed leg. She had taken a sick day on Monday and she managed to fill her schedule with client meetings for the rest of the week so as not to see anyone.
Harry's face flashed through her mind, but before the guilt could set in, Blaise interrupted her thoughts, "Drink up, Weasley. It's Marcus's new specialty."
She picked up the shot glass and drank it quickly as Draco's hand moved farther up her leg. Her throat burned and she grabbed the drink Blaise held out for her. She had missed his wicked smirk as she chugged the drink.
"Bloody hell." Her head was already spinning and she'd only had two drinks.
"Fifteen different types of alcohol." Both of Blaise's heads explained.
Blaise and Adrian soon left the table in search of the two featured dancers of the night, leaving her alone with Draco. An uncharacteristic grin covered Draco's face as she turned to look at him.
"Pissed off two drinks." She took another burning shot that Draco proffered.
"Amazing drink." He commented, following up his shot with another drink. A pink tinge highlighted his face as evidence of his drunken state.
The lights were dimming as another show was about to start. Draco kissed her neck as Ginny finished her second drink. "Come with me." He whispered into her ear before pulling her away from the table.
She wasn't sure where they were going or why the club had a hidden staircase in the back. They stepped into a brightly lit hall. Before Ginny could get a good look at it, he had guided her into a new room.
There's something else in those drinks, isn't there?" She asked as he kissed her neck again.
"Potent, aren't they? I've had four and I'm nearly completely sloshed." He took a step back from her.
Ginny looked around the room noticing the large bed, expensive paintings on the wall, the incredibly white bathroom. They were at an inn and a very high end inn at that.
"Merlin, you look stunning." He told her.
She blushed and took her first real look at Draco that night. His robes were impeccably neat, sleek lines, the darkest black. His hair was in slight disarray from kissing her. He stared back at her with a smirk on his lips.
"Won't they wonder why we're both gone?" Ginny asked.
"You can never handle your alcohol. I always have to take you home." He explained quickly, as she took a step closer to him.
"You've been avoiding me all week."
"I've had business meetings. Couldn't help it." She lied.
"Glad to see that Potter let you out tonight." He kissed the edge of her mouth.
"He doesn't have a say in everything I do." Ginny ignored his condescending glare.
"Clearly." Ginny kissed him hard on the mouth, diving into his new feeling, this new desire that would help her forget the man on the mission right now.
Ginny ripped open his shirt. "That's expensive, wench." He growled.
"You can afford it." She replied with a cheeky grin.
"I think I'm really going to enjoy this." His smile was sinister as he tossed her on bed.
Ginny woke up the next morning tangled in expensive silk sheets. She looked over to find Draco still sleeping.
"Even in his sleep he looks arrogant." She grumbled, trying to untangle herself from the sheets.
"I heard that." Draco pinned her newly freed body back to the bed. She could feel her head still in a haze of alcohol from the night before.
"You're still pissed, right?" She only had two sets of those drinks and she was still drunk, Draco had to be worse off than her.
"Good thing it's Saturday." It also amazed her that no matter how much alcohol Draco had, he never slurred.
"What were those last night?"
"Something I hope you drink far more often." Her mind recalled excerpts from their wild night. She looked past his shoulder to see the room in disarray.
"You are far more amazing than I initially gave you credit for." He smirked.
She returned the smirk, "So glad you could keep up." Draco's eyes darkened salaciously.
"Ready for another go?" She pushed him aside to straddle him like she remembered doing many times that previous night.
"What are you going to tell Potter?"
Ginny froze as she walked toward the shower. Harry. She shook her head, quickly pushing the thought from her mind, "What would you have me tell him?" Her mind was aching now, as her body was feeling the repercussions of her alcohol-fueled activities from the night before.
"He is a fond supporter of the truth." He whispered mockingly into her ear.
"I do love him, Draco." She wasn't sure if she spoke for her own benefit or to convince him.
"He is The-Boy-Who-Lived after all." She could hear the smirk in his voice. He was loving every minute of her anxiety.
"Don't mock me, Malfoy." She turned around to confront him.
"Merlin, don't you wear clothes?" She was pulled against his naked body once again.
"I believe you were the one who was in such a hurry last night to rid me of them. Didn't think you'd appreciate having to do the job again." She scowled, hating herself for reaching out to kiss him again. "I suggest you send your patronus. I really am not in the right condition to be dueling with your boyfriend this morning."
A stab of pain in her chest halted her movements. "He's out of town."
Two weeks later, Ginny walked into Draco's office and took a seat. He wasn't due in for another half hour but she needed to talk with him straight away.
The guilt was eating her up inside. Harry had stopped questioning her every move and started really trusting her. It was time she ended this. Draco would understand. He would just go back to his other girls.
She didn't bother to turn around when the fireplace flared with green flames. She straightened her skirt, readying herself for what she was about to do.
Draco didn't even seem to notice her as he tossed his briefcase on his desk, his eyebrows furrowed. "Is everything alright, Malfoy?"
He looked up, surprised. "Weasley," a smirk crossed his previously serious face.
"Just my father trying to come out of retirement again. So to what do I owe this early morning pleasure?" He leaned against his desk right in front of her chair looking as arrogant as ever. "Draco," she stood up. Do not look into his eyes.
Before she could say anything else he had walked behind her chair, rubbing her shoulders and kissing her neck. "How'd you know I needed to relieve some stress this morning?" Her eyes began to shut before she remembered why she was there.
"Draco," she spoke firmly as she turned to face him. "I need to say something."
He raised his eyebrows, resting his hands on her hips, moving his thumbs in circles.
Does he have to do that? It's hard enough to resist him when he is standing so close.
"I can't do this anymore."
"Why?" He demanded as gripped her hips harder causing her to look into his smoldering eyes. Her breath caught in her throat. Those damn eyes got her every time.
"It isn't fair."
He took a few steps back from her, his face still held together except his eyes. His eyes were anxious.
"Who am I kidding?" She crashed her lips against his, letting out a low moan. "I'm a blighter, I want you so badly."
"Good," he growled into her neck.
