DISCLAIMER: Anything familiar, like J.K. Rowling's work for example, is not mine nor do I claim it.
nine. aftermath.
About an hour later, Ginny tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Her mind was still reeling from what had happened, and her brain wasn't ready to shut down anytime soon. She then heard the door quietly open to their bedroom, indicating that Lena had returned. Ginny threw off her covers and hopped out of bed, eagerly head towards Lena, nearly startling the other girl.
"Merlin, Ginny!" Lena said with a gasp. She was still in her dress from the Cotillion, albeit it seemed her garment was a bit rumpled. "You're still up!"
"Yeah! I tried to go to sleep, but I really need to tell someone something," she said, hopping up and down impatiently.
"I have something to tell you too!" Lena replied excitedly, flinging her purse onto her bed.
"You're never going to believe what happened ton-"
"Blaise and I were outside and he to-"
Both of the women started to speak at the same time, their voices overlapping each other. They both stopped upon realizing and laughed.
"How about, you change into your pajamas, I'll get us some tea, and we'll meet out on the balcony?" Ginny suggested. She knew it was past one in the morning, but neither of them were about to go to bed when they both had important news to tell each other.
As Lena headed off to the loo, a house elf appeared, ready to do their bidding.
"How will you be needing me, Miss?" The squeaky house elf asked in a high-pitched voice.
"Um… can you bring up some tea for the two of us?" Ginny asked uncomfortable. She felt conflicted interacting with the house elf. On one hand, she loved the ease that the house elves created. If they ever voiced that they were hungry during the off-hours, they would appear. All of the house cleaning and their laundry was always taken care of. It was nice not having to deal with any of these responsibilities. But on the other hand, she was nearly related to Hermione Granger, house elves rights activist. She was sure Hermione would give her an earful if she found out she was using a house elf for their services. What Hermione didn't know wouldn't hurt her, Ginny decided.
"Yes, quickly, Miss!" The house elf eagerly said, disappearing with a pop.
Twenty minutes later, both of the women were snuggled up on armchairs out on the balcony, wrapped in blankets. It was a little breezy, but they enjoyed the smell of the late night air while the stars danced in the sky. Ginny noticed how brightly the stars sparkled out in the countryside.
Bringing her mug of piping hot Earl Grey tea to her lips, she then said with an eager grin, "So, Lena, what happened tonight?"
Lena set her own mug down on the table that was sandwiched between the two of them.
"Well, the Cotillion was beginning to wind down, so we decided to step outside to the rose garden to get some air," she started. "And, it was so beautiful out there. Madam Malfoy had it decorated it elegantly out there as well… Anyway, while we were out there, Blaise told me he loved me!"
"WHAT?!" Ginny yelped, sitting up straight, nearly splashing the tea out of her mug with her jerky movement. They had only known each other for about a month; how could they even be in love?
"I know!" Lena sighed dreamily. She saw the other girl's apprehensive look. "I know, we've only known each other for several weeks, but it just feels so right! We just have some kind of cosmic connection. I can't even explain it."
Seeing Lena's blissful expression on her face, Ginny couldn't help but feel happy for her friend. Who was she to get in the way of love? If they felt that it was real, who was she to criticize it? "That's amazing, Lena," Ginny said earnestly with a smile. "I'm really happy for you!"
"Thanks!" Lena beamed. "Blaise just gets me, you know? I never would have imagined this would have happened in a million years."
She paused to take a big sip of her tea. "Wait a minute," Lena said. "What's your news?"
"Oh, well…" Ginny stammered, wringing her hands awkwardly. "Dracokissedmeinthephotobooth."
"Excuse me?" Lena asked, unable to make out what Ginny's rambling meant.
Ginny took a deep breath and stated more clearly, "Draco kissed me in the photo booth."
Lena nearly choked on her tea upon hearing the news. Ginny quickly reached down for a napkin, handing it over to Lena so she could wipe up the mess.
"Holy shit! You let me babble on about Blaise while you had this up your sleeve?!" Lena sat up straight, and leaned in eagerly, ready to hang onto every word. "So, how was it?"
"It was weird…" Ginny began. "I mean, not because it was a bad kiss!" She amended quickly upon seeing Lena's horrified look.
Lena breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness! I would have been really depressed to hear that Malfoy was a bad kisser."
"He just surprised me with it! We were taking pictures and then bam! He just laid one on me," Ginny explained while gesticulating. And he's a bloody amazing kisser, Ginny thought to herself.
"You liked it, didn't you?" Lena stated smugly upon seeing Ginny's pleased expression.
"I did…" Ginny admitted. Now that she said it out loud, it felt even more real. "But it's strange! I mean, we were at each other's throats a couple of weeks ago!"
"And now his tongue is down your throat," Lena snorted. She shouted a disgruntled "Hey!" when Ginny threw a piece of rusk at her.
She picked up the rusk and promptly dunked it into her cup of tea. "I knew you liked him. Hatred is too strong an emotion to waste on someone that you don't like."
Ginny growled. "What do you mean?"
"Well think about it. You guys have this intense passion for each other, whether it's hate or lust. It was bound to happen," Lena elaborated, taking a bite out of her rusk and chewed thoughtfully.
"So, do you like Draco?" Lena pressed for confirmation.
"I guess?" Ginny replied uncertainly. "I mean, ever since we called that truce, he's been more than just tolerable. He has his nice moments…" Did those words just come out of her mouth? Ginny's whole world was turning upside down and she couldn't decide if she minded or not.
"You mean a nice arse," Lena quipped. Ginny narrowed her eyes at her but then they both dissolved into giggles.
"Well, there is that too," Ginny agreed, once her laughter subsided.
They continued to chat deep into the night, falling asleep in the armchairs as the first rays of the sun began to illuminate the dark sky.
Draco woke up late that Monday morning, disgruntled. It pained him to have to wake up from the very unchaste dreams he was having that involved a certain red-head and that lovely green dress on his bedroom floor. If he had known that was hiding underneath those ill-fitting matronly dresses, he would've called a truce from day one. He had Reducto'd his alarm clock an hour ago into smithereens due to its constant disruptions during his pleasant slumber. It was the beginning of another week, and as much as he wanted to sleep in all day, he had better get downstairs before class started since he was already missing breakfast.
He decided he needed a quick, cold shower to start off the day, swiftly hopping into the shower, stiffening against the icy, streaming jet of water that was washing over him. Anything to extinguish the sizzling sparks he could still feel when he remembered the touch of her against him. They had had physical contact before, but it was nothing like this. She had been teasing him with those coy smiles, her hearty laughter, and those warm eyes that peeked through her long eyelashes. It had been too much to resist, and he gave into his hidden desires.
While Draco wasn't a womanizer, he had kissed a decent amount of women. But nothing had prepared him for that. While it was evident that a lot of the passion that was infused in their kiss was out of lust, there was something else that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He couldn't get enough of Ginny's soft, supple lips that were much too intoxicating for their own good. Once she had gotten over the initial shock of what he was doing, she began to respond with the same ferocity that he had initiated with, sending shivers up and down his spine. He definitely didn't want to break it off, but the longer it had gone on, the further Draco would have wanted to take it. And that was neither the time nor the place for that.
Snap out of it, Draco chided himself. He never should have given into his curiosity and kissed her because now it was too difficult to put it behind him. He leaped out of the shower, humming cheerfully, and wrapped a towel around his waist. He stood in front of the mirror, his hands resting on the marble counter as he leaned closer to his reflection, his shirtless well-muscled self looking back at him. The looking glass efficiently wiped itself clean of any mist that was created from the steam of the shower. Thoughts of the bet kept coming back to him. A part of him still wanted to win the bet just so it would shut Maxwell up once and for all, but a larger part of him wanted to forget all about it. He found that he enjoyed Ginny's company and didn't want something stupid like the bet get in the way of it. Somewhere along the way while finding parts of her that would be advantageous to him in order to win the bet, he began to uncover parts of her that he actually liked. That was not part of the plan. He had gotten too close for comfort in terms of the bet. How Draco despised making that bet. If only he had a Time Turner to go and undo it. Draco sighed as he looked at his reflection once again uneasily before he headed off to get dressed for the day.
Draco quietly Apparated outside of the dining room with a crumpet in hand just as the crowd started heading to the classroom. He quickly fell back, waiting for everyone else to get ahead of him. He noticed Ginny and Lena chattering away somewhere in the middle, and quickly moved out of sight, so as not to capture their attention. Seeing that everyone had cleared out, he started to make his way, thinking that the coast was clear.
"Hiding from someone are we?" Draco heard an obnoxious, deep voice say from behind him. He winced; he had been trying to avoid everyone this morning so he didn't have to talk about what had transpired over the weekend. He turned around to see Blaise smirking expectantly at him.
"No, I just overslept," Draco said simply, taking another bite out of his crumpet.
Blaise fell into place with Draco as they made their way to the classroom.
"Well, it's nice to see that you're still alive and well."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Draco asked as they walked at a snail's pace.
"I haven't seen you in over a day. Hiding from a certain ginger, are we?" Blaise nearly purred out of smugness.
"No. Unlike you, I actually have work to do," Draco scoffed, popping the last bite of his crumpet into his mouth.
"Please. As if you actually work. And for the record, I invest, so I don't need to work, thank you very much," Blaise replied irritably, his feathers ruffled.
Draco smirked; it was always a silly point of contention between the two, and was always a good button to push in their arguments. "You buy and sell art. Takes you an hour tops."
"And you are deflecting, dear Draco. You still haven't told me what happened during the Cotillion," pointed out Blaise.
"What's there to talk about?" Draco buffered.
"Well, you've been aloof and nearly silent since yesterday morning," said Blaise as he started to climb the staircase. "That means something bad happened."
"Why would something bad happen?" Draco said irritably. Stupid nosy Blaise. If he wanted to tell him anything, he would do it on his own terms. Until he figured out just what it meant, he was planning on keeping this little anecdote to himself.
They nearly made it to the top of the winding staircase when Blaise suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, Draco continuing to the top. "Then something good happened," egged Blaise challengingly.
Draco merely said nothing, figuring that a statement in either vein could possibly be incriminating. Luckily for him, they had reached the classroom, and he quickly slid into a seat in the very back. Very far from the red-headed witch sitting towards the front of the class, still furiously taking notes like he had seen her do during the first lecture.
Unfortunately for Draco, the only other unoccupied seat was right next to him, meaning that Blaise quickly filled that seat. Draco groaned. Now he was trapped for the next couple of hours with Blaise, who he knew was going to continuously pester him.
Instead, the irritated blond decided to pay attention to what was happening in front of him, for once. His mother had been lecturing for nearly fifteen minutes now, and he had no idea what the subject matter was even about.
"…and that is why we are at our current topic today. While you all have learned the importance of navigating the social stratosphere as well as managing oneself within it, this week's topic will be much more central to the importance of building a foundation for true companionship…" explained Narcissa when Draco began to tune in.
She continued to pace up and down the front of the room casually. "…As such, this week will once again be a double lesson." Predictably, the whole class groaned, as did Draco and Blaise. Was she seriously trying to kill them with these convoluted lessons? Last week was nearly the death of him. What could this week possibly bring? Draco swore that his mother got some sort of twisted pleasure out of making the students miserable, himself included.
"Psst!"
Draco ignored Blaise, not wanting to have to talk about The Forbidden Incident as he had now decided to call it.
"Just tell me what happened!" Blaise whispered pleadingly to Draco, earning him some cross shushes by his neighboring classmates.
"Maybe if you stop pestering me, I'll tell you eventually!" Draco hissed to his mate, unable to stay silent any longer.
"Mister Malfoy, Mister Zabini, is there something you would like to discuss with the class?" Narcissa called out to them, seeing the two young men clearly distracted from the lecture at hand.
Blaise gave Draco a long stare and eventually conceded. "No, Madam," he replied, turning to face Mrs. Malfoy.
"Then I suggest you two to quiet down rather than infringing on my designated speaking time. Understood?" Narcissa said giving them both an icy glare.
"Yes," Draco and Blaise chimed lamely while some of the classes gave into their bubbling snickers. Lovely, thought Draco. Another thing to add to the list: getting chastised by my mother in front of all of these buffoons.
When his mother turned her back on them, Draco gave Blaise a warning stare, indicating to cool it for the time being. With only minutes left in the lecture, he had decided to give in and tell Blaise what had transpired that evening. After all, if you can't confide in your best friend, who could you confide in? He hoped it would at least get him off his back.
Narcissa dismissed them for lunch and Draco bolted out of the door before Blaise could catch up. As the rest of the class trickled down the corridor, he carefully watched them all behind a dark tapestry off to the right side in a smaller, deserted corridor. When he finally saw Blaise sullenly walking by, he quickly aimed his wand at him.
Blaise felt himself being pulled towards the tapestry, seemingly by an invisible rope that was wrapped around his waist. He tried to resist it, unsure of what was happening, but the bind would not untie. Draco smirked as Blaise floated over to him in the dark corridor.
At first Blaise's eyes widened in confusion, but narrowed once he realized who was behind the spell. Once Blaise was in the vicinity, his dark eyes narrowed at his friend.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to seduce me Mr. Malfoy," Blaise said dramatically with his arms folded.
"Do you want to know or not?" Draco growled, unconsciously running a hand through his hair.
"You could have just called me over instead of being all dramatic about it," Blaise grumbled.
"Yes, so I can catch everyone's attention, including hers?" Draco exclaimed.
"'Her?'" Blaise emphasized with a wide smirk. "I just KNEW something happened that night! Did she hex you? Is that why you're embarrassed? Did you end up doing something to make her slap you?" Blaise continued to come up with more scenarios in which Draco wronged Ginny, each one getting sillier than the previous one.
"What makes you think I did something wrong?" broke in Draco with a scowl. He wasn't that much of a git… was he? He could be perfectly charming and well-mannered, when he wanted to, that is.
"Because you can be the biggest wanker when you want to be," Blaise said honestly then added, "I mean that in the nicest possible way as your best mate."
"I… I…" Draco stammered, then closed his eyes. "I kissed Ginny!"
He opened his eyes to see that Blaise was stunned into silence. He then quickly recovered with a sly grin, saying, "So it's Ginny now, eh?"
"I mean Weasley!" Draco hastily corrected. "Weasley!" It had to be repeated for emphasis.
"Well, it's about damn time! And Lena owes me five Galleons!" Blaise whooped.
"What do you mean 'it's about damn time'?" Draco demanded, folding his arms.
"Either you two were going to destroy each other or shag each other senseless," Blaise explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It was only a matter of time."
Draco only grunted in response. Blaise decided to change tactics, asking, "So how was it?"
"It wasn't bad," Draco stiffly acknowledged. What he really wanted to say that it was pretty bloody amazing and he wanted to kiss her senseless, but he was already giving away too much information he would rather keep to himself.
"Sure," Blaise agreed, not believing a word that Draco was saying. "How does she feel about the matter?"
"I don't know," Draco admitted. "She definitely kissed me back but I walked away before she could respond or react."
Blaise face-palmed, shaking his head. "You're a right fucking idiot sometimes, you know that?"
Draco narrowed his eyes but didn't respond. Trying to be a bit more positive, Blaise suggested, "Well, isn't this a good thing? You're that much closer to winning the bet."
"I don't even care about that anymore, it's not worth it," Draco muttered so quietly that Blaise barely caught what he said.
Blaise eyes widened and looked utterly shocked at the person in front of him. "Draco Malfoy. The Draco Malfoy whose ego is larger than this Manor. Is willing to forfeit the bet," he proclaimed.
"No, it's not like that," Draco quickly denied. "It's just not worth my time." Yes, that was a completely viable reason as to why he no longer wanted to deal with this silly bet anymore. It had nothing to do with that red-headed vixen he was still figuratively tethered to for a few more weeks.
"Then why did you even take Fawley up in the first place?" Blaise pointed out.
"I don't even know why I told you anything at all," Draco sighed, pinching the bridge of nose between his thumb and index finger.
The gong boomed again, indicating that the afternoon session was about to start soon.
"Well, it must have been pretty damn important because you made us miss lunch," Blaise sniffed, stepping back into the main corridor.
They both fell into place as they slowly trudged to the afternoon lesson. The rest of the class was still many steps behind, leaving them with some room to continue to the discussion.
"So… what should I do?" Draco asked earnestly. He had to face it; he needed help and it wasn't like there was anyone else he could go to.
"Just play it cool," suggested Blaise. "See how she reacts to you and go from there."
"What do you mean Lena owes you five Galleons?"
"Don't worry your pretty little head about it," Blaise replied flippantly as they wandered into the drawing room from their earlier sessions.
Several moments later, the rest of the class began to trickle in, stopping in the center of the room, ready to hear the instructions for today's practical lesson. His eyes easily fell on Ginny, and surprisingly, he felt slightly nervous. Draco knew he could easily find her in the crowd because of her vibrant hair, but also in part because he wanted to find her. He glanced at her red tresses that were tied back with a ribbon today. He finally had a chance to run his hands through those lovely curls when during their brief snog. It was just as soft and silky as he had hoped it would be. He couldn't stop watching as she joked and laughed with Lena, her face illuminated with her infectious smile. Her head eventually turned towards him, their eyes locking. His own gray eyes widened before he quickly broke contact, feeling his face grow warm. How could she have such an effect on him after one measly kiss?
After she had that long discussion with Lena right after the dance, Ginny still felt just as confused as ever. She had somehow managed to avoid Draco over the rest of the weekend and this morning, though it left her slightly disappointed. Was he trying to avoid her? Did he regret what had happened between them? Was he only tolerating her for the sake of his mother? She couldn't decide how she felt since she had not been able to gauge his reaction to the situation.
Again, she cast a customary glance over at Draco's direction. She felt herself get slightly nervous, with what felt like fairies flitting around inside her stomach, and her palms getting a little sweaty. Pull yourself together, woman! It was unreal that she was losing any sense of dignity she had merely at the sight of a man. She saw his head turn and she caught him with his lips twitching upward, talking to Blaise. The same soft lips that had captured hers a couple of nights before. The same lips that had stirred inside of her something, reawakening feelings she had long forgotten existed. The same lips that uttered her name, a sound she quite liked, realizing upon reflection.
"…Gin? Ginny?" Lena called, bringing the red-head back to reality.
She looked blankly at Lena, who in turn had a smug expression on her face.
"What?"
"Oh, never mind. I saw you were entirely too entranced by Draco Malfoy's face to talk to me," Lena replied casually.
"I was not!" Ginny protested.
"Please, Gin! Your drool was nearly reaching the floor," Lena teased triumphantly.
Ginny flushed, only further proving Lena's point. She had been staring at Draco for far too long. Just because she unfortunately thought he was handsome and a pretty damn good kisser, didn't amount to anything. Nope. Not if she could help it. After all, she was a Weasley, she had an image to maintain!
"Damn, I owe Blaise five Galleons don't I?" Lena muttered, her upturned lips turning in the opposite direction.
Casting an Amplifying Charm on herself, Narcissa's voice bounced off the walls. "Good afternoon, class. Now that you are happily satiated from today's lunch, we will get down to business. As I had mentioned in the morning, this week's class will be focused on an important aspect of marriage, and that is companionship and partnership. While it is undoubtedly a union of love, it is also most definitely a concentrated effort in cooperating and collaborating with one another. Today, Kendra and I will be discussing with each of you what you would want out of your own ideal partnership as well as your own personal goals for life. While waiting, partners will also discuss the same topics to see new perspectives and similarities." Ending the charm, Narcissa let the class disperse into their little groups as she proceeded to conjure her clipboard of names.
"Why must we have to discuss this?" Ginny moaned. Why must they discuss such a heavy topic at a time like this?
"Because five times out of six, Ball partners end up married," Lena explained. "Don't give me that look. That's what Gwen Sagramore told me, for what it's worth. She's had three sisters before her who've completed the program. All of them married to their partners."
Shooting Lena another disturbing glance, they separated as Blaise had arrived to whisk Lena away. Scrounging up whatever amount of courage she had within her, Ginny headed over to Draco. She decided it was better to deal with the awkwardness sooner rather than later and to face her problems head on. Putting her chin up just a bit higher with confidence, she strode up to him.
There was a shadow of uncertainty cast across his face before he quickly returned to his usual calm, collected state. He had his hands shoved into his pant pockets, shifting his weight from heel to toe.
"Nice to see you're still alive," Ginny said carefully, looking everywhere but into his eyes.
"What?" Draco replied, alarmed with his eyebrows raised.
"I mean, just that I haven't seen you since Cotillion," Ginny said awkwardly, casting a quick glance up at him.
"Oh, right…" Draco trailed off.
Ginny cleared her throat. "So, anyway, did you hear about Blaise and Lena?" She figured maybe a change of subject would be better, although she didn't know why she brought them of all people into the conversation.
"It was about time," replied Draco, motioning to her to head over to one of the spare sofas, which happened to be a loveseat. He sat down and patted a place down next to her. She cringed inwardly. She was going to be sitting so close to him, and the last time that had happened, his lips were on hers.
"I know!" Ginny said once she settled into the sofa, trying to maintain a cool demeanor despite the wave of panic that had rippled over her. "I just can't believe they're in love already, though! We've only been here, what, a month?"
"I guess when you know, you know," Draco replied obviously, looking at her soberly.
Ginny snorted. "I thought I knew but I ended up being spectacularly wrong." She made a face. "What a farce."
A sudden thought occurred to her. "Do you think they're going to get married?" Her tone went up a pitch upon voicing her thought out loud.
"Probably. I've never seen Blaise like this over a girl," Draco answered with a small smile.
Stop smiling, Draco, this is torture! Ginny thought, secretly hoping he would somehow get the message. It was easier when he would just scowl at her all the time.
Ginny couldn't fathom the thought of finding someone so quickly. Unable to hold her thoughts in, she said, "Isn't marriage so strange? Suddenly this person becomes a part of your life forever. They're like a permanent fixture."
"Well... That's kind of the point, Weasley," Draco affirmed, his smirk returning. There, that's a little better, Ginny thought. Except, now even his damn smirk now looked appealing to her. "You're sounding a bit thick."
"But that's exactly my point!" Ginny exclaimed, choosing to ignore Draco's half-hearted insult. "Half of the time I can barely decide what to wear, so how can I decide that a person is the right one?"
"I don't know how you can still be indecisive when your wardrobe is not that extensive," he pointed out, shifting in his seat. He rested his arm atop the sofa, his arm essentially slung across her shoulder as she was leaning back. She stiffened for a moment, but forced herself to relax, which was proving to be difficult. She could practically feel the heat radiating from the close proximity to his body. It was probably just an automatic impulse on his part, she told herself.
"And how do you know that? Do you happen to keep track of everything that I wear?" Ginny challenged, folding her arms.
"Well, let's see… There was that black dress, your dragon-hide jacket – that was rather nice – the skirt you spilled juice all over, your jeans, and of course the pièce de résistance from Cotillion," Draco listed, counting on his hands. "But, I wasn't paying attention or anything."
"Deflecting, Draco," Ginny said, folding her arms, though she was completely floored by his impeccable memory. Or had he truly been keeping track the whole time? Had he really been looking at her like that?
"I guess that's just the fun of it. You just know when it happens…" he replied earnestly, raking a hand through his nearly silver locks.
"Well, that's helpful," Ginny huffed sarcastically, playing with the hem of her dress.
"Well isn't it better than irritating family members you're stuck with? At least you get to choose," Draco pointed out.
"But, I don't dislike any of my family members," she bit her lip, looking up at him, gazing into pleasant looking gray eyes rather than the icy ones she had been so accustomed to seeing.
"Really? In that entire dynasty there isn't one person you dislike?" Draco asked, his lips twitching upwards.
"Well…" Ginny started. "Sometimes Percy gets on my last nerve…" Noticing a stray curl near her cheek, she quickly tucked it behind her ear.
Draco's eyes widened in surprise before laughing. "I didn't actually expect you to answer. I thought you'd claim family loyalty or something."
"I didn't say I dislike him! I wouldn't trade him or anything," Ginny quickly replied, her cheeks flushing. He just knew exactly what to say to get her riled up. While in the past she would have hated him for it, she wasn't sure she could anymore.
Just then, Kendra came back into the room, clipboard in hand. She glanced down and called out, "Draco Malfoy." She headed back towards the doorway, jotting down some notes with her quill.
Draco reluctantly stood up and stretched, as they had been waiting for some time. Ginny couldn't help but notice his muscles shifting in his upper arms and back through his soft cashmere maroon jumper. Dropping his arms, he turned around to her, and she quickly averted her eyes to the fireplace to the right of them, as if she had been focused on examining its immaculate design the whole time.
"By the way, I forgot to tell you something the other night," Draco began, his eyes twinkling mischievously.
Ginny's heart quickened. What on earth did he have to say now? "Oh?"
"You looked stunning at Cotillion, Ginevra," he said sincerely, a genuine smile dancing on his lips. Leaving her dumbfounded and blushing, he made his way to the exit. Ginny watched as Draco's form disappeared while he whistled a tune as he wandered off. Normally, she would have threatened to hex anyone who used her given name, as it was something she detested. But coming out of Draco's mouth, in that seductively deep register, well she quite liked that. And had he really said she looked stunning? Merlin, this man really is going to be the death of me, Ginny thought to herself as she slumped in her seat.
A/N: I was hoping to get this chapter out sooner but the holiday got in the way. That lovely hate/love quote that Lena says is from an episode of Doctor Who, "Mummy on the Orient Express". I only borrowed it because it so eloquently explained what I'd been trying to put into words! Also wanted to say only got halfway through the NaNoWriMo challenge, but still happy I finally attempted it - and it helped me jump start the next idea for my longfic! Hope you enjoyed – please leave a review on your way out!
