Chocolate Biscuits

April 4th

'Harry! Hang on!'

Harry turns to face me, his eyes emotionless, and lacking their usual Harry-spark. It shocks me, a bit, and I adjust my pace, halting quietly in front of him.

'Gin.'

'Hey, what're you lot up to? It's Bill's wedding, you know, you can't possibly leave me alone here with Phlegm's Mum, she's a night –'

'Let's break up.'

'W – what?'

'Break up. Completely. Not ever see each other again.'

I'm getting angry now, my eyes flashing. 'Why?'

Harry's face doesn't change. 'Because I lied. I don't love you, Ginny. I never have.'

It hurts. It hurts a lot, and my anger turns into something else entirely; something that curls around my heart and squeezes hard, disabling my ability to breathe properly.

I clench my fist in my dress. My lovely, periwinkle dress that Mum sowed for me especially because I overheard Harry say he liked blue.

'But –'

'Don't make it hard on me, Ginny –'

'Hard on you? You just said you never had any feelings for me!'

'You're Ron's sister. I don't want to hurt him.'

'Fuck you,' I spit, and slap Harry across the face. He doesn't look shocked. Ron does, a bit.

Abruptly, I shot awake.

Damn.

It's been a while since I remembered that.

8:30 AM, the alarm clock on the night-stand says

Where am I?

8:32 AM

'Gin? You a'right?'

Dean – shirtless Dean – is hovering over me, hair tousled from sleep and eyes oddly green in the morning light.

Dean's Apartment

8:33 AM

Damn.

Damndamndamn.

I thought that had been a part of the dream.

8:34 AM

'Good morning,' I greet, sleepily, trying to sit up, but Dean kisses me in reply, and before I rightly realise it, I'm kissing back.

8:40 AM

Mhm.

Dean is such a good kisser.

8:45 AM

I'm realising, I'm realising! I'm really late for work!

'Ah, damn, Malfoy's going to kill me –'

'I'll drop you off, don't worry.'

Dean's smile does something really funny to my knees, and I can hear myself agreeing.

April Fourth

Charms Department, Meeting Room #456

9:20 AM

'Here's fine, Dean, really –'

I don't know what's with him, but Dean made me breakfast and he helped me track down the rest of my clothes in his apartment (my bra was in his aquarium – cringe) and insisted on tugging me through the hallway until we're at the place where the Contact Secretary (we've a new one, again) said the meeting was.

Dean flashes me a smile, but doesn't let go of my hand. 'Gin, I said I'd drop you off, didn't I?'

I don't like that smile.

9:21 AM

By Merlin.

9:22 AM

Dean sweeps me up in his arms and spells the door open with his wand. At the bang, everybody turns to look, and I flush a bright red. Dean doesn't pay attention to any of the shocked faces, and drops me neatly into my chair.

'I'll pick you up for lunch,' he says, and then pointedly kisses me. He gives a little wave to Malfoy, who's gaping, and closes the door again behind him.

9:24 AM

I can't help but laugh, more at Dean's charming idiocy than at Malfoy's outraged face.

'WEASLEY!' Malfoy eventually splutters, when he's back to normal.

'Ah, sir,' I say, levelly. 'Sorry I'm late.'

'WHAT WAS THE MEANING OF THAT?'

'I believe we were in the middle of something, Miss?' I say, but Sabrina is very bad at taking hints. She's still staring.

'WEASLEY. OUTSIDE. NOW.'

Malfoy tugs me out by my arm, hard, and slams the doors behind him. Immediately, everyone begins talking, and I roll my eyes. Gossip fiends, the lot of them.

'Sir, I think we should be getting back to the meeting.'

Malfoy pushes me back, effectively trapping me in one of the nearby alcoves. 'Weasley,' he says, and he didn't even seem to have heard me. 'I really don't get you.'

'Er –' I reply, because what can you say to that, honestly?

'I mean, there you are, Ginny Weasley, girlfriend of the great Harry Potter. Then you change your mind and go for Zabini, who's nothing but money and a good name. Then Smith, a blundering, engaged idiot, and now you're with Thomas, the great post-war portrait painter.'

I glare at him. At least two of those are wrong, the Harry one included. And what business of his is it, anyway?

'I don't get it. I don't get why I –' He leans forward, hands on either side of my face against the wall, and I panic.

9:30 AM

I didn't mean to!

I panicked!

It's NOT MY FAULT!

9:35 AM

Oh, god, Malfoy's bleeding.

I think I've killed him.

I shouldn't have hit him with my purse. My purse could be a deadly weapon! The glittery rhinestones could really not be there just for decoration, but for killing purposes!

9:45 AM

I kneel down and sort of awkwardly grab Malfoy's head, laying it atop my jacket. 'Malfoy,' I say, but Malfoy lies absolutely still.

Bloody good help, he is.

'Malfoy?' I shake him, slightly. 'Malfoy? Helloooooooo?'

9:46 AM

Malfoy doesn't move at all.

Even when he's out cold, he's an arse.

'Malfoy?'

Damn him and his inability to be able to take a hit by my purse like a man.

10:00 AM

All right, this is not funny.

Malfoy really isn't waking up.

OhgodIkilledhim.

10:02 AM

I grab Malfoy's wrist and Disapparate.

Godric's Hollow

10:15 AM

'HARRY! HARRY, I KNOW YOU'RE HOME, WAKE UP!'

Harry stumbles into the living room some two minutes later, bleary-eyed and half-naked. He probably thinks it's very distracting. It's not.

(Okay, it sort of is).

'Gin? Gin, what are you doing here at arse o'clock in the morning?'

'Harry, I think I killed Malfoy. I didn't mean to, it sort of happened, I mean I hit him with my purse and I didn't think those rhinestones were that deadly but maybe that witch at Magos is secretly a Death Eater and she set me up to kill Malfoy while I didn't even know it, but this purse is seven years old, so she must've been a Seer and she must've known I would give him a smack with it one day –'

'Gin. I can't think with you nattering on like that.'

'– sorry.'

'You – you killed Malfoy?'

'I might've,' I squeak, showing him what's on his carpet.

Malfoy lies there, and bleeds a bit more. Sort of pointedly. Like he's well aware of the distress he's causing me. I resist the urge to give him a swift kick. Honestly. Prat.

'Woah, Gin, what did he do?'

Harry sounds amused, which is not at all appropriate for these sort of occasions, I should think.

'It doesn't matter. You've to help me - fix this.'

'Why?' Harry asks, and crosses his arms over his muscled chest.

'Because … you really like me?' I supply, with a very charming grin.

'He's not dead. I think you've hit his temple, though.'

'But, the bleeding?'

'The rhinestones,' Harry supplies, and gestures to my purse. Four of the rhinestones are broken.

'Oh. Right. I knew that,' I say, and try to lug Malfoy up a bit against the sofa. 'Can I just – dump Malfoy here, then? You'll take care of him?'

'What? No, Gin, I've plans, I can't baby-sit Malfoy –'

10:40 AM

I know it's wrong. I really know. But I'm desperate! I can't have Malfoy showing up at work, firing me - I only need another fifty galleons before I can start my Healer training! That's only this month of work left, and this month is nearly over!

I'm so close.

With that in mind, I – I lean forward and kiss Harry.

10:43 AM

'What was that for?' Harry asks, hoarsely.

'Please,' I ask, 'for me.'

'I – I suppose –'

'Thanks, Harry.'

Ministry

11:05 AM

God, I'm such an arse.

I'm so mean.

I – didn't mean to, I mean, it was wrong and it was manipulative, and I like Dean and I think I'm with Dean, but I love Harry, and Malfoy was just really being a prat, I mean, you were there, you saw!

11:13 AM

I'm really awful.

I shouldn't have.

11:15 AM

'Hey.'

Just what I need. Zacharias waiting for me at my office.

'Gin, have you seen Malfoy?'

'No,' I lie smoothly. 'Why?'

'He hasn't showed up after he tugged you away at the meeting. We had to postpone. Sabrina pitched a fit.'

'Oh. How weird.'

'What did he want?'

'He fired me. Again. I don't think he likes Dean,' I offer, with a smile. Zach smiles back at me. 'It's good you've someone, Gin. Potter and you don't work, you're both too explosive.'

'Thanks, Zacharias.'

Office

11:35 AM

Hate self.

11:45 AM

I'm mean. I'm rude. I kissed Harry.

I kissed Harry, knowing full well he wouldn't be in his right mind afterwards, and thus help me hide Malfoy's body.

I'm a criminal.

11:46 AM

I'm worse.

I'm a Slytherin.

What I did qualifies as Slytherin-y.

Oh god.

11:49 AM

The Sorting Hat sucks. It contemplated putting me into Hufflepuff!

Me, evil and conniving Ginevra Molly Weasley, Boy Seducer Extraordinaire!

Well, I'm not really extraordinary.

Or good at seducing.

I'm actually rather bad.

11:50 AM

God, I just suck at everything.

11:52 AM

How depressing.

11:59 AM

'Hey, Gin.'

'Dean,' I say, and I'm too relieved for my own good (it's because Dean likes me. I think).

'Lunch?'

'Yeah, I'd love to.'

Godric's Hollow

3:40 PM

It's like a gigantic war zone in here. There's furniture everywhere, and a few of the vases Mrs Granger (granted, very ugly ones – I think bad taste runs in the family) gave to Harry for his last birthday are lying in shatters on the floor and near the sofa.

'Harry?' I squeal, in my panic.

'GINNY WEASLEY. I AM GOING TO KILL YOU.'

'Now – er, why would you do that?' I say, jumping a bit as Harry comes out of the kitchen, eyes angry, but still half-naked.

3:42 PM

You'd think a bloke would dress.

3:43 PM

'Look at it!' He gestures wildly to the living room.

'It was about time you re-decorated?' I supply, lamely.

'Malfoy is in the kitchen. I'm never doing something like this for you again.'

'Well, to be honest, I don't really plan on nearly-killing my boss every day, if that's what you're implying, Harry –'

Harry smiles. 'Just go get him, Gin.'

'Fine, fine. If I must.'

Harry's Kitchen

3:50 PM

'God, haven't you been causing trouble?'

Malfoy is sitting, bound to a kitchen chair, glaring at me as if I've done him a personal wrong.

3:51 PM

The nerve.

3:52 PM

'Honestly, Malfoy, you can't even properly die without making a fuss,' I say, while I advance on him.

Malfoy's eyes widen and he tries to scramble away. Which, you know, he can't, since he's bound and all.

'Relax, I was just joking.'

I untie him and dust him off a bit, grabbing him by the arm.

'Thanks Harry, I owe you one!' I shout towards the living room, where sound of glass being put together can be heard over objects zooming over one another.

Malfoy glares some more and leans on me a bit, so I quickly Disapparate.

Malfoy Manor, Gate number four

4:00 PM

'Here we are, Malfoy. Home. I suppose.'

The wards at Malfoy Manor are insane. You can't Apparate in even if you live there! You have to Apparate to some sort of weird spot in the garden and then walk the remaining distance.

Guests who try and Apparate in are automatically transported to gate number four, which is where we are now, and a house-elf with an ugly, wrinkled face is glaring at me from where he's sat, on a chair.

4:01 PM

Guests must feel so welcome here.

4:02 PM

'It's all right, Juanes,' Malfoy says, startling me. I nearly drop him. 'She's with me. Is Pansy in?'

'Mistress out,' Juanes the house-elf says, with a distinctly Spanish accent.

'Thank you.' Then, Malfoy says something in Spanish, and Juanes tugs us closer and pushes me through the gate.

'Ah, no, that won't be necessary,' I start, but Juanes dismissively hands us a rose.

Immediately, we're transported to the front porch.

'Malfoy,' I say, sort of uncomfortably, as I take in how the Manor looks. It's gorgeous in the late afternoon light, with at least a million rooms, by the looks of it.

'It'll be fine, Weasley. Just help me in.'

Some corridor, apparently near Malfoy's Room

4:35 PM

I help Malfoy in, all right. Then I help him up three flights of stairs and through seventy-five different corridors. How big is this house, honestly? It's that Malfoy knows how to navigate around here; I would've gotten lost and died miserably four times already.

'Just here is fine. I'll get Bitty to bring you back.'

'Er, Malfoy,' I say, as he stands on his own finally and draws himself up to full height. 'I'm sorry I accidentally nearly sort of killed you. I didn't mean to.'

'Weasley, you're fired,' he says calmly, in reply.

I suppose it couldn't be helped. I hadn't expected him to suddenly forget everything.

4:37 PM

All right, I sort of did.

4:38 PM

'I understand. I am really sorry, sir. Malfoy. I mean. Yeah. I'll just … go now, then. Bye!'

'Weasley?'

'Yeah?' I say, hesitating and turning around.

'You might to wait for Bitty. You'll get lost.'

'Right, yeah, I will, then.'

I go to sit down near a staircase that seems to have materialised from nowhere, my head in my hands.

4:40 PM

All right, so I am a Slytherin-y person and I nearly kill people, but I was good at my job. I was efficient and a perfectionist and good, which is why Malfoy chose me, and not Cynthia Bobbins, for instance, even though she's much prettier.

I suppose I'm going to have to find another job, then.

4:45 PM

Wow, Bitty is taking an unfortunately long time.

4:48 PM

'Malfoy?' I ask, with a raised voice.

The reply comes a while later, and is muffled through the thick door. 'What?'

'Bitty is a house-elf, right?'

'Why?'

'Well, it's just, she hasn't shown up yet, so I was wondering if she was on her way and all, since –'

'ALL RIGHT. YOU HAVE YOUR JOB BACK. NOW GET OUT.'

'Er, Malfoy, that's not what I – I really do want to leave –'

There's a lot of noise and then Malfoy shows up, shirtless, and tugs me into his room. I'm too shocked to see him partially naked (what is it with boys not dressing today? Is this some sort of trend? Oh, oh, if it is, I hope to bump into Margois Benée from the Snakes soon) to do anything as he all but shoves me into the fireplace.

'I am sorry, Malfoy –'

'Shut up, Weasley,' Malfoy snaps, and throws some green powder in the fireplace. I manage to choke out Kamiro Gardens as the flames well up and Malfoy Manor disappears before my eyes.

Author's Note: It's been a while, I'm quite aware. In my defence, I have nothing other to say than the fact that unrequited crushes suck, and that boys should not be allowed to be this pretty.

Thanks to all of you who leave a review. It really brightens my day!

Oh, and on a fair note to MinaPotterUesugi: thanks for all your reviews, they're quite thoughtful! Oh, and to answer you question (if it was a question): I'm really, really bad at Maths. I think it plans to conspire against me. So I sort - make everyone aware of that fact. A lot.