AN: I am so sorry that it took me this long to update! D: I hope that you guys haven't given up on this story, because I most certainly haven't and I will try to update more often this year than the previous one ^^" With that said, I'd firstly like to thank my beta-readers, Slave and Sawnie, for reading through this story :D You guys are the best! 3 and secondly, I hope you readers will enjoy this new chapter ^v^
Chapter 10
Three months is not a lot of time, Ginny realized one day as she sat studying in the library. However, it was enough time for changes.
March month had arrived in the blink of an eye and ever since the Yule Bal, the Gryffindor's life had taken a turn to what she considered being the better. The girl had quickly become one of the castle's most popular girls and there wasn't a week where she didn't get asked out and had to turn down boys.
Though she did occasionally go on a date, all under Draco's strict supervision of course. Even though Ginny might not have been up to half of the dates, her coach had explained to her the value of the dates. They were a statement, saying that the red-head wasn't untouchable, but that she wouldn't go out with just anyone.
At least that was what the blonde said she was doing and as long as Ginny could enjoy the ride, she didn't mind it one bit.
Despite Ginny's rise through the ranks, it seemed that she was yet to fulfil her goal with the whole man-eater business; obtaining the Boy Who Lived's love.
Ginny blamed it partly on Cho.
If the red-head had thought that Harry spent a lot of time with the Asian before Christmas, it was nothing compared to now. It was barely so that the boy's two friends got the opportunity to see him. Therefore, Ginny was confident that the raven-haired boy would have noticed her, if only a little, if the Ravenclaw wouldn't have been there to distract him.
Horrible as it may sound, a part of the younger girl's mind wish for Cho to dump Harry. That way, he would no longer be distracted.
Of course this was Draco's fault. Before the Gryffindor began spending so much time with the boy, she never would have thought anything like that. Being around the blonde had caused his bad behaviour and manners to rub off on Ginny.
However, it was the price the girl paid so that she could reach her dreams and it was a fair enough one. Dreams that were still far from her grasp. Even though this should frustrate her greatly, it didn't. At least, not that much.
Though that might be because red-head had been occupied with so many other things that she barely had time to think about Harry.
Yes, that had to be it.
Realizing that she wouldn't be able to study any more that day, having far too many distracting things on her mind, Ginny thought it best to return back to the Common Room. After all, she wouldn't want to give Ron a heart attack by staying out too late. Again.
With light steps and an equally light mood, Ginny began her way back to the Gryffindor tower, only to be stopped halfway by a familiar face.
In front of her stood Jeremy, who seemed pleasantly surprised to have run in to the red-head. The boy flashed her a warm smile and it was not long before the two of them were engaged in a conversation regarding Quidditch.
They were having such a lovely time that, when the boy asked if Ginny wanted to join him to the Quidditch pitch, the Gryffindor couldn't say no. How could she say no to some one-on-one time with Jeremy?
Plus she liked Ron's slightly hysterical and overprotective side too much not to let him show it once in a while.
And so, the two youngsters were off to have themselves an aerial adventure. It wouldn't be until some hours later that they returned back to the castle, both beaming. Ginny wasn't sure when she had last had this much fun and it appeared as if she was unable to keep a smile away from her lips. Not that she found any reason to stop smiling.
Except the minor detail that she might look like a fool. But then again, Jeremy didn´t seem to mind her smile.
Being very polite and displaying some good manners, unlike some people that the Gryffindor knew, Jeremy escorted her the whole way to the Gryffindor Tower.
There, the boy bid his farewell, but not until he had made the red-head promise that they would do something together soon again.
Upon entering the Common Room, Ginny was met by her brother. And if the girl had thought that her evening had been good to begin with, she was in for a treat.
Ron looked at her with dark, gloomy eyes and it looked like something inside of him was slowly breaking. It seemed that the poor boy still had some difficulties to coping with his baby sister's sudden burst of popularity and had it not been for Hermione's comforting words, Ginny was certain that her brother would have had a break-down long ago.
"Out so late…" , he muttered to himself with a hollow voice, not even bothering to address Ginny.
Locking her eyes with Ron's, Ginny flashed him a wicked smirk. "Well, life is too short to be wasted away in here."
The words made the boy's left eye twitch ominously, but before he could give her a scolding, Hermione showed up. The brunette led Ron far away from the younger girl, knowing full well that a quarrel would otherwise break out.
Not that Ginny would have cared that much about it, but it was better for her brother's health if he didn´t strain himself. Besides, the mere sight of him was enough to keep her amused for days to come.
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Draco was sulking. According to him, Ginny had betrayed him as well as hurt his feelings.
For all Ginny knew, the boy was being silly.
It wasn't as if he had any 'real' reasons to be mad at her. Sure, Ginny might not have mentioned to him that she and Jeremy had started to spend time together. Frequently. And yes, maybe it had been a bit of a blow finding out about it through a rumour that circulated through Hogwarts nowadays, but still. He was being childish and they both knew it.
Or well, at least Ginny knew it. It sometimes seemed impossible for the blonde to even begin to grasp his own flaws. But then again, to him, he was a flawless god incarnated. That still didn't justify the Slytherin throwing a fit the second Ginny entered, before resigning to sit quiet on the windowsill and glare at the red-head.
Oh, silly little blonde! How was she to know that this was a sensitive spot to Draco? Sure, he was her love coach and the one who taught her... well, the one who taught her everything! That didn't mean she had to report everything to him, did it?
Knowing that the boy could sulk all day long if he wanted to, Ginny knew she would have to talk him over if he was going to stop.
"Oh, come on Draco!" Ginny said, trying to reason with the boy. "Isn't this what I've been trained to do? Allure boys and spend time with them while being on my most charming behaviour?"
The blonde remained silent, persistently looking through the window.
The red-head kept trying to reason with him for a few more minutes, until she realized that it was a lost cause. Draco wasn't going to speak to her any time soon.
Well, he had another thing coming! Two could play that game!
The red-head sat down on a chair, intending to wait the boy out. This proved to be a longer wait than the Gryffindor had first anticipated and as the hours past, Ginny began to lose her determination. When her stomach let out a high grumbling, the girl had had enough.
She would rather be doing something productive than sitting here and waste her time on someone who wasn't even talking to her!
Standing up hastily, Ginny managed to knock down the chair she had been sitting on. The loud bang echoed through the almost empty classroom, causing the blonde to snap out of his sulking and look at Ginny for the first time in a few hours.
Not letting this moment pass the girl by, the red-head began to speak immediately. "You're acting really childish and I no longer have any intention to waste another second in your company if you continue to behave this way!"
A few seconds passed by, and when it became obvious that Draco still wasn't going to speak with her, Ginny headed towards the door. However, she soon stopped dead in her tracks as the Slytherin surprised her by actually answering her.
"Okay", the boy began, "I'll stop being so… 'childish'." The tone he used to emphasize the word indicated that he believed the girl to be wrong in her statement, yet was willing to compromise. "Besides, I've already gotten over it."
The girl snorted. Took him long enough, didn't it?
"However, you must tell me the next time you meet with him."
For a second Ginny thought she heard something close to pleading tone in the boy's voice rather than a proper, Dracolesque one that didn't take no for an answer. Though as soon as the red-head turned around, she was greeted by Draco's usual smug smile and conceited appearance.
" Em… why?" The Gryffindor asked.
"So I can marvel at my success of course! How else am I supposed to know just how well I have succeeded in turning you into a man-eater?"
Even though the blonde said it in his usual superior and arrogant way, Ginny still felt as if there was something else behind it. Or was there? Becoming unsure over her own observation, the Gryffindor decided to let it be.
"Why are you standing there, looking like a fool?" Draco said, making the girl forget all about her thoughts."Weren't you supposed to leave? Though, it's quite understandable that you're having a hard time leaving while I'm still here, being as smashing and handsome as I am."
For the second time that evening, the red-head snorted at the boy, before heading for the door, making sure to slam it shut as she exited the classroom.
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Keeping true to her promise like the good little Gryffindor she was, Ginny made sure to always let Draco know when she spent time with Jeremy. This happened to be almost all of the time.
Despite this, it seemed as Draco was determined to always be present and the Slytherin didn't miss out even once. If Ginny wouldn't have been so occupied with Jeremy, Draco's presence might have started to bug her. But the blonde was behaving and the Ravenclaw was far too good of a distraction for the red-head to actually take that much notice of the Slytherin.
Though perhaps the red-head was spending a bit too much of her time in the company of Jeremy. Especially if he was only supposed to be like the other boys she had dated this term. Then again, maybe he wasn't just like any of the other boys. And how could she stay away from him when he was charming, interesting, handsome, fun... Well, basically everything a girl could want!
Draco wasn't slow to notice Ginny's interest in Jeremy, nor to comment it.
"Don't you think you're spending a bit too much time with that Ravenclaw boy?" He tried to sound casual, but wasn't successful.
They were meeting for yet another coaching. Not that it was much of a coaching these days. Nowadays the two of mainly met to talk a bit about Ginny's meetings with Jeremy before moving on to other subjects.
"Maybe just a bit", Ginny said, looking away. "But you know what I have been thinking? Harry isn't going to break up with Cho any time soon and why should I just sit around and wait for him? I mean, it isn't going to make him stop dating Cho. However, if I were to perhaps date someone more seriously it might just spark his jealousy… or something."
An almost ominous and tense silence followed, during which Draco intently was looking at something in the other corner of the classroom.
It ended soon enough and Draco turned towards the red-head. "I don't suppose that that someone might be Jeremy?" The Slytherin said, eyeing the girl carefully.
"Well, yeah, why not?" Ginny hoped that she wasn't blushing.
Yet another silence followed, making the Gryffindor even more uneasy than before. What was with the blonde today and his silences?
"Well", Draco began, eyes focusing on his fingernails,"why not?"
His reply baffled Ginny. It wasn't like the blonde to be so… accommodating. Quite the opposite, actually.
"He is a fairly good catch and it is not as if he would make you any less popular", the Slytherin continued, using a voice that roughly sounded like someone trying selling an out-dated broomstick. "Forbidden fruit always adds a spice to things and usually will attract a larger crowd."
Flashing one of his infamous smirks, Ginny once again couldn't help but notice that something was off with it. It was as if Draco had become half-hearted with everything that involved the coaching. But why? And why was Ginny so keen about finding out why?
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Now with what Ginny took as Draco's approval, she went from spending almost all of her time with Jeremy, to only spending her time with him. Having grown into a habit of always going to the Quidditch pitch together, the two of them usually spent a few hours every day out in the brisk air. Except playing, they would also talk a lot about various things and it was during one of these conversations that Ginny all of a sudden realized that her face was awfully close to Jeremy's.
As if on auto-pilot, Ginny used the stare to lure the boy in closer and found herself leaning in towards him. When they were only inches away from each other and with a stomach filled with fluttering butterflies, Ginny closed her eyes and felt her lips brush against the Ravenclaw's.
But before she got any further, something hit her in the side of her head, causing the girl to lose her consciousness. Though before her whole world went black, Ginny though that she caught the glimpse of a person with a mass of platinum-blonde hair hastily making his way away from the pitch, as though he was afraid of getting seen.
Waking up in the hospital wing hours later, the girl sprang up from the bed. Something she regretted only seconds later, as her legs gave way to her weight and she fell down to the floor. With the steady hand of Madam Pomfrey on her back, the red-head was put back into the bed and instructed not to make any sudden movements.
Left on her own again, Ginny resigned to think back on why she was in the hospital wing to begin with. Slowly her memory came back and realizing that it had to be Draco that put her here, the girl became enraged.
That bastard, ruining her moment with Jeremy! What had possible gone through his head this time! Oh, he better watch himself, for when she finally got a hold of him, he would pay!
Too busy with plotting evil plans of retaliation, Ginny didn't notice her visitor until he stood right in front of her. Letting out a slight shriek, the Gryffindor managed to make Jeremy to jump a little.
"Oh, I'm so sorry if I scared you!" The boy blurted out, a remorseful expression on his face. "I just wanted to see how you were doing."
Ginny merely nodded, still a bit taken by his sudden appearance.
Before another word could be spoken, Madam Pomfrey returned. Upon seeing the Ravenclaw, the elderly woman went hysterical.
"No, no, no!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed. "Miss Weasley has suffered a severe concussion and even though I have attended to it, she still needs her rest!"
With that, the woman proceeded to chasing the boy out of the infirmity. Throwing a glance towards the red-head as he left, Jeremy gave Ginny an apologetic smile, as it was his fault that he had to leave.
When the door closed behind the boy, Madam Pomfrey returned to care for Ginny.
It would be a full hour before the school nurse would let Ginny out of her care and then only if the red-head promised her to rest the whole evening. The girl gave her word, before she headed towards the Gryffindor Tower.
She had barely crossed over the threshold when Hermione threw her arms around her.
"Oh Ginny, I'm so happy you're okay!" Hermione exclaimed, sounding as if the red-head had just been in a near-death experience.
The girl decided not to comment on this, and returned the hug. "I'm fine, Hermione."
Stalking up behind brown-haired girl, was Harry and Ron, both wearing equally upset expressions.
"Those vicious little Slytherins!" Ron cried out, fuming.
"What?" Ginny blurted out in surprise.
Did they know that Draco had done this to her? As angry as she was with the boy, she didn't like the thought of Ron and Harry knowing about his involvement in her injury. They didn't need any more reason to dislike the boy than they already did.
"Well, they hit you in the head with a bludger, didn't they?" Harry said. "We heard from Katie that someone from Slytherin seemed to be in a hurry to leave after you were hit, though she couldn't say who it was."
"Go figure!" Ron said viciously. "The big game is coming up soon and I bet they want to lessen the competition!"
"Yeah" Harry nodded in agreement and went on. "Well, they have another thing coming! Nothing will be able to get in the way of Gryffindor winning!"
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In the coming days, it became obvious that Draco was avoiding the red-head. Every time the girl came within sight, the boy would turn his eyes away and try his best at not looking at her. Once he even left the Great Hall without eating just to avoid having to walk by her.
But why was he avoiding her? Sure, once Ginny got the chance to confront him, she would most likely explode and try to hex him. But an enraged Ginny had never scared the blonde before. Nor had he ever felt any guilty over his actions. Draco, along with the rest of the Slytherins, didn't have a conscience.
Even though this behaviour was strange, the strangest thing of them all was that the boy had shot a bludger at her to begin with. Now that was the real mystery.
Still hoping that the blonde would stop avoiding her, so he could receive his punishment, Ginny headed to the usual classroom. Not much to her surprise, she found it empty.
Never having been alone in the classroom before, Ginny notices just how big and empty it could be. And how lonely it could make her feel.
Ginny told herself that she would wait a little while, just in case the Slytherin happened to come by. Taking the seat by the window where Draco himself usually sat, Ginny began to wait.
Sitting there all on her own, red-head couldn't help but feel a little hurt. Even though she knew the boy was avoiding her and that it was unlikely that he would show up, Ginny had still hoped otherwise.
As the sun set, the girl finally came to the conclusion that it was a lost cause. Just as she was reaching for the handle of the door, it swung open to reveal Draco standing outside of it. Baffled, the girl remained quiet as the blonde closed the door behind him.
"You... You came", Ginny said at last.
"But of course!" The blonde's reply was filled with his usual conceited tone, causing the girl to grow mad.
"Well, you've been avoiding all sort of contact with me the last few days, so why change that now?" Ginny's voice was dripping with contempt.
The blonde, obviously becoming a bit uncomfortable, looked away from the red-head. "I take it that you already know that it was I who hit you with that bludger."
The girl snorted loudly, but before she had any time to come up with a vile retort, Draco went on. "Before you say anything, I just want to say that I'm sorry."
Shocked, Ginny could only look at the boy. Draco never said that he was sorry. No matter what.
"You're what?"
"I said I was sorry", the boy said, clearly annoyed by the fact that he had to repeat himself. "Did you hear it this time or did your hearing get damaged by the bludger?"
Reacting on the boy's viciousness, Ginny leaped out at him. "Despite you having grown a conscience since the last time I saw you, it doesn't excuse your action. Why would you do such a thing to me?" Pulling out her wand, Ginny glared viciously at the blonde.
The boy replied with a snort. "You really think that I would hit you on purpose? For your information, I wasn't aiming at you!" The way the Slytherin said it made it sound like this justified his action.
"Is that supposed to make it all better!" Ginny exploded. "So what if you didn't mean to hit me, you still did! Besides, who else could you have been aiming at? Jeremy?"
"As a matter of fact, yes, I was."
"Well, then I guess you missed", the Gryffindor replied angrily. "Why would you even try to hit him?"
"It was a minor miscalculation", Draco said.
"Minor!" The girl shrieked and pointed at the boy with her wand menacingly. "You call knocking me out a MINOR miscalculation! It's anything but minor!"
The blonde looked away and muttered. "I'm a seeker, not a bloody beater."
It was then that Ginny no longer could retain herself. It was clear that Draco wasn't as remorseful as he had first appeared and she had had enough of it. Raising her wand, Ginny threw a hex at the boy. Unfortunately for her, the blonde reacted quickly and managed to pull out his own wand to block the charm with it.
This did not discourage the red-head and she kept throwing spells his way.
"Bastard!" Ginny cried out, still throwing hexes. "Tosser! Jerk!"
Even though the boy never got hit by the spells, it still appeared that the constant dodging of them was wearing him out. "Enough!" Draco finally exclaimed, barely avoiding a stun spell. "I do NOT approve of getting charms cast at me!"
"Well, you know what? I do not approve of getting a bludger to my head!"
The urge to keep throwing spells was still present, but once more regaining her composures, Ginny decided against it. For now.
Taking a deep breath, Ginny glanced over at the boy. "So why then? Why did you aim that bludger at Jeremy?"
Almost as soon as Ginny had spoken the words, a part of her regretted it. In a matter of seconds, she had managed to change the whole atmosphere in the classroom into one that was heavy and pressing.
"I had my reasons", Draco merely stated.
The Gryffindor waited for a continuation on this, perhaps even a little speech, but the blonde persistently remained silent.
"Aren't you going to say anything else?" The boy didn't even look her way at her question.
Sighing, the red-head went on. "Have I done something to upset you? Does it have anything to do with Jeremy?"
At the mentioning of the Ravenclaw's name, Draco snorted. It seemed that this most certainly had something to do with the Ravenclaw.
"You can't have that much to say about that, can you? You wanted to make me into a man-eater and you did."
"Yes, I wanted you to become a man-eater, not a girl that falls in love with the first person you date more than once", Draco hissed at Ginny, turning towards the red-head, his blue eyes glinting dangerously.
"I don't see how this is any of your concern nor why you should have a say in the matter", Ginny hissed back.
Draco let out a contemptuous snort.
"Oh come on!" The girl was starting to lose her patience with the boy. "You even said that it was a good idea if I started to date Jeremy, so I don't see why you should be able to be angry about it now!"
"Well, I lied!" Draco cried out. "Honestly, I believe it to be a horrible idea and I can't stand the thought of the two of you together!"
Baffled, Ginny looked at the boy with a puzzled expression."Why did you even agree to it then? You're not making any sense!"
"Do you want to know the truth?" The boy's voice dropped, taking on a serious tone. More serious, than the Gryffindor had ever seen him before.
With those words, Ginny's heart speeded up. It was as if she had reached a crossroad and if she went down this road, she could never go back. Despite her better judgement, despite that little voice telling her no from the back of her head, Ginny nodded slowly.
Barely had she nodded, before the boy was upon her. Only inches away from her, Draco locked his eyes with hers.
"The reason why I don't want you to see Jeremy", the boy slowly began in a soft voice, eyes still locked, "is because I only want you to be with me."