It was two weeks after his confrontation with Ginny that Harry was called to Dumbledore's office after supper one night. He knocked on the door and entered upon permission to find a large variety of people already occupying the office.
Dumbledore was there, of course, and McGonagall stood to the left of his desk, Snape on the right, Madam Hooch, Flitwick and Sprout stood off to the side near the window along with the Captains from the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff teams, and, what surprised Harry the most: Ginny and Malfoy sat in front of Dumbledore's desk, conversing silently.
When he entered, McGonagall motioned to the chair next to Ginny. He moved it a few inches to the left, away from her, before sitting. She made a face to Malfoy.
"What's going on?" Harry glanced around to all of the faces in the office. The portraits were watching intently, vaguely curious expressions on their faces.
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Harry, there is an announcement to be made regarding the Quidditch teams," he nodded to Draco, who stood.
"One of my chasers, Sloan Stalyon was injured in our last match against Ravenclaw. Two weeks have passed and Pomphrey doesn't believe she'll be well enough to play the Slytherin versus Gryffindor match two weeks from now," he muttered something unrecognizable under his breath and Ginny gave a small snort of laughter. Malfoy's smirk dissipated upon seeing his Head of House's sharp look to him. "Therefore," he continued. "A replacement is in order. After a great number of rather…unsuccessful tryouts, I've decided to use Ginny Weasley of Gryffindor as the replacement chaser, seeing as how she is currently absent from their team this year."
The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Captains made odd sounds from the corner of the room, but these went almost unheard when Harry stood so fast that his chair scraped back noisily. "You can't do that!" he accused, furious. "She's a Gryffindor! She can't play on the Slytherin team!"
"But she can," Draco smirked, glancing to Ginny, who nodded.
"He's right, Potter," Madam Hooch stepped forward. "Interhouse replacement rules are obscure and rarely used, but there nonetheless. As long as the substitution lasts no longer than three matches, and all captains consent, as well as the Heads of Houses, then it is perfectly fine."
"I consent," Snape spoke first, softly.
"As do I," Sprout raised her hand, and the Hufflepuff captain nodded.
"The same for me and our Captain," Flitwick squeaked.
"I consent," McGonagall stated, though the line her pursed lips made could have declared otherwise.
"Well I don't!" Harry was disgusted with the other captains for allowing such a thing. "Not at all!"
"Potter," McGonagall barked sharply. "Contain yourself—there's nothing we can do, it's in the rules."
"If all of the captains put in consent—and I don't! And she belongs to my house so I have the finally say!"
"Now really, Potter, let's not go grasping at the past. Things have changed—everybody knows it," Malfoy resisted his smug smirk.
Harry didn't resist pulling out his wand.
"Enough!" McGonagall stepped forward and ripped Harry's wand from his grasp. "You are out of line, Potter!"
"He's the one that's out of line!" Harry pointed to Malfoy frantically. He had to make them see—"Don't you see what he's doing! Are you all so blind!"
"Perhaps you're the blind one, Potter," Draco stated softly.
"This is getting out of hand," Madam Hooch confronted Dumbledore. "Potter, it's in the rules—he has every right to choose any student she wishes as a substitute. Continue with this very unsportsman-like behavior, and I'll be forced to disqualify Gryffindor from the next match immediately."
Harry looked from Hooch to McGonagall to Dumbledore, then over to Ginny, who met his gaze coolly. "Fine," he said, looking to Malfoy. "Take her," he spun around and stalked from the office angrily, leaving his confiscated wand in Professor McGonagall's hand.
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"You and her are about the same size," Draco eyed Ginny when she walked out of the Slytherin changing rooms. "You look good in green."
Ginny smiled and mounted her broom. "Wait until the red of my hair and the green of the robes blend together."
Thanking Merlin that Sloan allowed her to use her broom so Ginny wouldn't completely embarrass herself in front of her own team; she kicked off from the ground. The power of the broom was new to her, the speed a rush, and she contented in circling the pitch a couple of times to get a feel for it.
She had forgotten how much she utterly loved flying, and decided to show off a bit by diving around the others, no one realizing that she had the Quaffle until it was no longer in the other chaser's hands.
The girl flew over to Malfoy who sat above them, observing. "The girl is good," she stated.
"I agree," Draco nodded. He raised his eyebrows upon witnessing Ginny chuck the Quaffle through the left hoop from halfway down the field. He cupped his hands around his mouth, flying higher towards the center of the pitch. "Nice, Red, nice shot! Let's see it again!"
It took Ginny a couple more tries to make the same goal, through the center hoop this time, but when she succeeded it flew through just as flawlessly as it had before.
He had them run some drills, becoming more and more amazed at her abilities with each passing minute. He called his team down when a patch of red from down below stepped onto the field.
"You've hogged the field long enough, Malfoy, it's our turn."
He sneered at the boy. "Is it now? Well I just happen to have written consent to use the field for the rest of the week. We are training in a new player, in case you forgot," he nodded his head towards Ginny, who now stood beside him.
"I hadn't," Harry growled through clenched teeth. His team narrowed their eyes at Ginny as if on command.
Ginny turned to Malfoy, hooking her arm through his. "Why don't we just let them use it?" she glanced over to her fellow Gryffindors. "They could use the practice."
Malfoy nodded to his team, which exited the field through the cloud of Gryffindors, pushing and jabbing every chance they could.
"Bloody gits," Harry hissed, mounting his broom and taking off.
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"Accio feather!" Ginny cried for the fifth time. The feather didn't move. "Gah!" she kicked the chair next to her. "Ouch!"
"Are you putting emotion into it?"
"Yes! I'm mad!"
"Well that's beside the point, we all know you're a bit loopy—but put some emotion into it."
Ginny looked at Blaise blankly. "Haha."
Blaise smiled. "Try again."
"This is pointless—obviously I can't summon it without a wand."
"That's stupid," Blaise pointed out. "Why would you be able to destroy it and not…oh…" realization dawned on his face. "Try to obliterate it again."
Ginny stared at the feather. "Stupid feather. Won't summon to me. Stupid, bloody—Obliterate!"
With a small poof the feather flew up in flames. Ashes sat on the table were the feather had previously been.
Another feather appeared in its place. "Try another one. Draco has taught you destroying spells hasn't he?" Ginny nodded. "Try it."
Ginny shook her head. "I can't do it, I never twist right—"
"It's not important if you're not using a wand."
Ginny looked at him, unsure, then over to the feather. " Diffringo dolui!" she chanted. The feather floated to the ground unharmed, landing in a hole where the table once stood. "Oops."
"Close enough," Blaise shrugged. "Just promise me that if I'm fighting someone and I ask for your help you'll pick any spell but that one."
Ginny laughed. "Agreed."
He walked over to stand beside her, eyeing the hole in the floor. "Poor table."
"Glad you weren't fighting it, aren't you?"
"Haha, you bet," Blaise chucked. Ginny glanced to him out of the corner of her eye quickly when she felt his hand on her arm. "You're doing great," he informed her softly.
Ginny smiled, feeling it falter some as his hand ran down her arm to her own. "Thanks."
"I can't even imagine what powers run through these veins," he murmured, tracing the veins from her wrist to her forearm. Ginny suppressed a shudder. He turned her towards him.
"Blaise—" she started. She never finished; he silenced her with a swift kiss. Instead of pulling away, when the kiss was broken he stayed rooted right where he was, taking Ginny's face in his hands. "You're amazing," Ginny felt herself blushing. "Now, with your powers developing, and before, when you knew nothing about them."
He made to kiss her again. Ginny backed away slowly, trying not to offend the boy. Her back hit the wall. Why, bloody WHY, do I ALWAYS manage to get myself up against a wall in situations like this! Ginny mentally kicked herself, and then again when she realized that Blaise was kissing her and she was just standing there, mentally yelling at herself like a fool.
"Blaise," she whispered, pulling away from him as much as she could without knocking herself out. "Blaise I can't—"
"Do you know," he interrupted her; his voice was soft and full of longing, and his eyes seemed to be on fire. "What it's like to want something so badly and not be able to have it?"
Ginny felt pity and understanding swell up inside of her. She thought of Draco. She nodded to him, trying to get him to understand without actually having to talk to him.
"Then you know," he continued, "how satisfying it feels when you finally get it," he kissed her again, and Ginny gave in, wrapping her arms around his neck.
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He pulled away from her, trying only barely to hide the disgusted look on his face, and failing excellently. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I miss you, Drakey," Pansy simpered, running a hand down his still damp chest. It felt like nothing compared to when Ginny had done it.
"And?" he backed away from her.
"And what? Can't things just be the way they were? Before that whole little episode last summer?"
"You cheated on me!" Draco exclaimed. "With Flint!" he had just showered after practice, but the fact that Pansy Parkinson had just sullied his lips was enough to make him want to scour his pale skin with boiling water until it was raw. "Not as if it mattered, anyhow," he spoke the truth—he had been quite elated to discover that Pansy had found another boy toy to obsess over.
"It's the Weasley girl, isn't it?" Pansy's eyes flickered; she put her hands on her hips in an impatient fashion. "I won't have that blood-traitor trash stealing my boyfriend," she hissed.
"I'm not you're boyfriend! Go find someone else! Don't you get that I never wanted you?"
She seemed unaffected by his harsh claims. "It's that Weasley," she answered her own question. "I'll put a stop to this! I'll—"
He didn't know what she was going to do—she stopped talking when he gripped her throat and pinned her to the wall. "You let her alone, you understand me?" he was barely talking, but each syllable seethed with anger and menacing threats. "You leave her alone, or you'll understand the true meaning of the word pain."
He pulled away from her and turned to walk away, wiping his hand on his robe as he went.
"We'll see!" she called after him. He ignored her. "We'll see who you come back to!"
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Blaise's roaming hands snapped Ginny back to reality. This is wrong! She thought frantically. This needs to stop!
She was about to break away and tell him this when his smooth voice filled her mind. 'You're amazing…Do you know what it's like to want something so bad and not be able to have it?' Guilt and pity flooded her conscience and she barely noticed when Blaise pulled away.
"What?" he asked.
Ginny blinked at him. "…What?"
"You said my name…" he claimed.
Ginny cocked her head to the side. "No…"
"…Yes…" he argued.
"Ha, no I didn't."
"I heard you."
Ginny shook her head, thoroughly confused.
"Whatever," Blaise laughed, closing the space between them. "It's not important," he breathed, kissing her again.
"Hold up," Ginny pulled back. "I can't do this."
Blaise looked away, then back to her. When he did the look that had occupied his face had vanished. Ginny had seen his eyes before he had masked what they stated: a look that said he new that was coming.
"You might have said something sooner," he bit out; from the sound of his voice Ginny could tell that he was pissed, disappointed, and trying (but failing) to hide these emotions from her.
"I'm sorry," Ginny whispered, feeling like an utter tease. "I…" she cleared her throat. "I have feelings for Draco," she finished quietly.
He nodded. "I know…" he stroked her cheek in an almost sad manner and straightened, backing away from Ginny. His face was stony and his voice was curt, but soft. "And I apologize for putting you in that position."
"It's alright," Ginny gave him a small smile. "I'm used to having my back against a wall."
Blaise quirked an eyebrow at this statement.
"No!" she denied quickly. "I—oh, never mind. It's okay," she repeated softly, attempting to shrug it off, but Ginny found that, like Malfoy's kisses, his were difficult to put from mind. "Don't worry about it."
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"You kissed her!"
"Calm down, mate," Blaise tried to sooth his friend.
Draco pushed him to the ground, pulling out his wand. "You know I fancy her!"
"She stopped me!" he offered, searching discretely for his own wand but finding it nowhere.
"It's doesn't matter—you're supposed to be my friend!" Malfoy accused. He directed his wand at the boy's heart.
"Draco, stop it!" Ginny tugged at his arm, trying to redirect where the wand was aimed. He shrugged her off.
"Avada Kedavra!" he shouted. Blaise went limp. Ginny gasped. He turned to her, pocketing his wand and taking her hand. "I did it for us," he explained, "so there are no more things to keep us apart."
"Draco…" Ginny sighed sadly. "There's still so much."
He pulled her close and kissed her with more passion than any of their previous snog-sessions combined.
"I love you, Draco," she informed him.
"Love means nothing," he replied.
Something heavy fell on Ginny's chest. She awoke to find a great black owl sitting on her. A look around showed that the owl had woken her dorm mates as well. They glared at the bird which tired hostility. She stroked his feathers approvingly.
"You woke them all up," she murmured to the bird, snickering. The eagle-owl's eyes seemed to glint with amusement. "What have you got for me, then?" The bird offered his leg to her.
'Are you alright? Meet me in the Astronomy Tower—now'
Ginny sighed, rising and pulling cloak around her. She didn't stop when her dorm mates questioned her, nor when they protested yet another one of her midnight plights. She simply informed them to 'Sod off and stay out of it' on her way out the door.
Xavion took off through the open window, and when Ginny arrived to the tower ten minutes later, she found Draco sitting against the wall, petting his bird.
"My mates looked ready to kill your owl," she informed him, taking a seat next to him and stroking the beautiful eagle-owl.
He smirked. "He would have taken off six fingers before they finished the task."
Ginny chuckled, which turned into a sleepy yawn. "Your message was gobble-de-gook. What did you want?"
"I was wondering if you were okay…" he looked concerned and confused, as if he wasn't sure why she didn't understand the cryptic message.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
Ginny received a blank look from Draco. "What? You…Ginny you called me…"
"I…what?"
"I heard you…in my head…calling my name. I thought something was wrong."
"No, I—I can do that?"
"Apparently."
"Oh…" Ginny blushed slightly. "No, I was dreaming about you and I was—oh, not like that!" her explanation became an exclamation when she saw Malfoy's raised eyebrows and growing smirk.
"Okay so…this is how many powers you have now?"
Ginny listed them on her fingers. "I can blow things up without a wand…and…call?" She wasn't sure what to name the second one.
"Telepathy," he corrected. "Slightly."
Ginny nodded, burning the word into her memory. "Well, sorry to wake you up…"
"I wasn't asleep."
"Do you ever sleep?"
"No. I told you that."
Ginny eyed him suspiciously. "Your hair seems awfully tussled for not being asleep.
He scowled at her. "Just because I don't sleep that doesn't mean I can't lie down—what, do you expect that I stand all night?"
"Well I don't know what you do!" Ginny defended herself. "I mean besides getting drunk—hey!" she hit his arm triumphantly. "You slept that night!"
"That wasn't sleeping, Red, that would be passing out. There's a distinct difference," he notified her, an indignant look on his face.
"Do you pride yourself on never sleeping or something?" she asked incredulously.
He didn't respond to this, but continued to stroke his owl's feathers gently. Ginny had never seen him show that much care to anything, not even her. He should carry his bird around 24/7. Ginny mused. He looks so peaceful…
A low sound emitted from the back of his throat—a soft coo—before he raised his hand and Xavion flew off.
He sighed and fell back against the wall, resting his head against the cool stone. He stole a glance to Ginny from the corner of his eye; she was staring at him. He straightened. "What?"
She quickly returned to the cold tower where they resided at Malfoy's sharp question. "Huh?" she looked around, and felt blood fly to her cheeks as she realized that he had seen her staring at him.
"The look," he said. "On your face…what was that?"
Ginny wasn't quite sure what kind of look she had been wearing, so she shrugged. "I was just thinking."
"About me."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "A little conceited are we?"
"You were staring at me," he pointed out. Ginny nodded.
"Yes…about you."
There was a brief silence. Then:
"What about me?"
Ginny shrugged again, taking a deep breath. "Oh…" she trailed off slightly, trying to put her thoughts into coherent statements. "Just noticing…" he prided himself on being the way he was, so Ginny tried to choose her words carefully. "…that you…seem to like your owl."
He glanced up to the rafters, where the bird had recently returned to, and nodded after a moment, a small smile on his face. "Yeah…my mum gave him to me right before I came here. Bought him from a place in Knockturn alley. Funny…he was the one that I had looking at during the past few trips there and my mum hadn't even noticed…picked him out because she thought he would match my robes," he gave a small huff of laughter and shook his head. "Stupid bint."
Ginny smiled at the memory, though it wasn't even her own, and wondered faintly what it felt like to always get what you wanted.
"He's taken a liking to you," he added after a small break in the conversation. "He usually barely sticks around someone long enough to get the message from him."
Ginny clicked her tongue a few times and Xavion glided down to her, landing on her raised knee. "Hey…" she greeted softly. "Hey there," she stroked his feathers. "I like him."
"Me too," Draco agreed softly. Ginny looked at him. 'You know I fancy her!' The words of her dream drifted though her mind.
"Blaise kissed me and you killed him," Ginny stated.
Malfoy looked at her, alarmed at the abnormality of her statement and at something else, it seemed. "What?"
"In my dream…Blaise kissed me and…you killed him."
"I wouldn't kill my friend for kissing my—friend," he faltered slightly, and it showed in the furious expression he wore. He had made a mistake, almost let something slip that shouldn't have been said, and he was furious at himself for it.
"Well, why would you?"
Draco looked at her; he knew she knew what he was about to say, and he didn't know what to say next. A helpless look fleeted across his features.
Ginny pitied him…she knew what it was like to get caught in something like that. "Of course," she pretended not to notice the expression he wore, "I would probably get pissed if one of my friends kissed you."
A smug, confident smirk flew across his face once again. "Why's that?"
Ginny shrugged. "I don't know…I just…would…isn't that enough for girls?"
Malfoy shook his head, his smirk growing. "Not even close."
Ginny sighed, wishing she hadn't wanted to make him feel better. "I suppose I would because…I like you…and I don't want anyone else to have that with you."
The words were so embarrassing to admit that Ginny closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying her hardest not to blush. His hand guided her chin to face him, and when she opened her eyes, he didn't look smug or confident—he looked happy…almost…relieved.
He leaned towards her, moving his cool hand to her neck as he captured her mouth in a sweet kiss. He didn't move away, but spoke exactly where he was; his warm breath caressing Ginny's cheek, his lips brushing her own as they formed words. "I don't know why I want you so much," he admitted.
Ginny couldn't speak; she closed the small space between them once again and kissed him, making sure to put a little fire into it.
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That's all for now…enjoy…please review! I just loooove feedback! Any requests on what should happen? Any guess on where it's all going? You're probably wrong, but lemme know anyhow!
