A/N: The last scene is a little graphic but kind of important to the plot. If you don't want to read it all though you only need to read the last 2 paragraphs to get the basic drift of it and its importance.
Chapter 9
After flooing away from Malstone Manor, Ginny stumbled through her own fireplace to find an irate Dean waiting for her.
"You took a while," he remarked coolly. "Malfoy been keeping you entertained has he?"
"As a matter of fact he has, but not like that."
"Really, then why are you wearing his shirt and not your own?" His arms were crossed over his chest in an accusing manner.
"I," she giggled a little. "You know how clumsy I can get, I spilt wine all over it."
"Convenient," he commented, his tone more chilling than she had ever heard.
Rather than be scared by it, Ginny found herself getting annoyed. She gave a small groan of frustration, "You're impossible to deal with when you're like this. I went to Draco's; we had some wine and chatted for a bit, I spilt the wine so went into the bathroom to change while he got me a new top. We talked and drank some more and I came home. That is all that happened. You've got to get over this, Dean."
"Get over what exactly?"
"This petty jealousy of yours. I'm not the kind of person who cheats, that's you remember?"
Dean glared at her for half a moment before raising his right hand as though to slap her. Ginny watched it, wide-eyed in terror as it began to descend clenching into a fist and stopping just millimetres from contact. She felt the wind brush her skin.
"How dare you?" She shouted at him. "How dare you raise your hand to me? I am your fiancée Dean, not a punching bag. Just because I said something you don't like does not give you the right to hit me."
"I know babe and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He sounded sincere enough; his eyes were blazing with surprise and horror at his actions.
"You're always sorry Dean, but what's the point in being sorry when you just do it over and over again anyway?"
"Babe, it'll never happen again, I swear it. Please, forgive me."
Ginny looked deeply at him for what felt like hours but lasted no more than half a minute. "I'm going to bed." Dean made a move towards her but she held her hands up to stop him. "Don't, don't touch me and don't follow me. You can sleep out here." And she walked away from him, closing the door to the bedroom quietly.
The second the door acted as a barrier between them Ginny sank to the floor; knees pulled up tight to her chest and buried her head in them. Her hands ran through her hair a few times but despite the mixture of feelings she had bottled up inside her, the tears welling up in her wouldn't fall, couldn't fall.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
There was a knock on the door to Draco's room before it opened and Ginny's head appeared.
"Hey, can I come in?" She asked brightly, a perfect smile plastered on her face.
Draco, sat on the floor leaning against a wall, stared at her as though she were crazy. "Why would you want to do that?"
He saw the visible portion of her shoulder move in what he assumed was a shrug, "Why not?"
"Are you crazy, she-weasel? I'm the big bad Draco Malfoy. I'm surprised they'd even let you near me, anyway." He sounded rather bitter as he pointed this out to her.
She shrugged again, this time he saw it all as she stepped into the room, closing the door behind her, she sat opposite him at the other side of the room. "They didn't want me to but like I told them, I've been alone with you plenty of times already, if you were going to try something you'd have done it already."
"But then I was Damien Nichols, now everyone knows who I am there's no point in pretending, is there?"
To his surprise she began to giggle, "I already knew who you were."
"Huh?" He gave her a similar 'you're crazy' look to previously.
"You can change your hair, your clothes, your attitude but you can't change your eyes."
"My eyes gave me away?" He asked doubtfully. "There's got to be thousands of people in the world with grey eyes."
Ginny nodded, "Probably but not all of them have those tiny flecks of icy blue in. Add to that the dark mark, the snobby voice and the holier-than-thou attitude it's not hard to work it out."
"You're lying," he accused lightly, noting the teasing in her voice.
She laughed, "Just because no one else in my family is smart enough to pick up on these things doesn't mean I'm not."
Draco made an incoherent sound that made Ginny laugh more.
"Oh, hey, do you want to look like yourself again?"
Draco nodded, "But you're underage, you can't do magic."
Ginny shrugged, "War's raging on outside, Malfoy. Who's going to be that bothered if I do a little hair lengthening and colour changing spell?
Draco considered this, "You always had that rebellious streak, Weaselette?"
"Pretty much," she nodded, slipping a hand inside her jacket to pull out her wand. "Do you want me to or not?"
Draco hesitated, whether she knew who he was before or not, she knew for certain now. Just because he'd gone to her side for help didn't mean he didn't still cling to the illusions of his life up to this point, she knew it just as well as he did. Could he honestly guarantee that she wouldn't try anything? She noticed his hesitation and shrugged.
"Suit yourself, I'll have Moody do it instead, shall I?" She flashed him a mocking grin.
He winced and shut his eyes. "Fine, you do it!"
She giggled, there was almost fear in his voice. She waved her wand and his hair changed back to its original platinum blonde colour, another wave and he could feel it grow at super-speed. Shorter than it was but still moderately long, Draco admired his hair with satisfaction.
"Not bad," he commented, running a hand down the bang-like strands that fell onto the left side of his face, stopping just short of his eye.
Ginny smiled and found herself crawling closer to him.
"What?" He frowned whilst simultaneously raising a brow in curiosity.
She stopped in front of him, putting her hand to the right side of his head, brushing strands of his hair down from their place behind his ear. With a quick flick the hair fell to the same place on the right side as it were on the left. "Much better," she smiled, not moving her hand away.
The two teenagers shared a shy look as they leant in towards each other. The moment they shared was shattered though as the door opened, hitting the wall with a resounding slam. They sprang apart and fortunately, despite looking suspicious, Moody appeared not to have noticed the scene he'd just disturbed, he looked suspicious most times after all.
"Your brother's here, Miss Weasley," he growled. "They're in the dining room. Malfoy's wanted as well."
He turned and walked, leading them to the room. Ginny followed dutifully, Draco beside her.
"They?" He whispered to her quietly, hoping Moody couldn't hear.
At this Ginny grinned. "Ron, Hermione and Harry," unconsciously her speed quickened.
"Oh, fantastic," Draco muttered sarcasticallyunder his breath, rather pointedly his speed slowed down.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
The day after Dean was as sweet as one of Molly's blueberry pies to Ginny and apologetic for his actions with it. It took Ginny all of three hours to accept his apology although she was obviously still shaken by his actions, which explained why he was hesitant to get too close and took the day off work to pamper his fiancée. By the end of that night they were back to sharing the bed, by the end of the next night the night time exercise Dean expected had returned. On the third day it was as though Dean had never nearly hurt Ginny and she never told anyone about it. Even Draco, who Ginny knew would have 'sensed' her fear, anger and upset had the psychic connection he claimed existed been real, had left her alone since that night. She was somewhat surprised to find herself missing his company and the infuriating mannerisms it entailed.
By the time Thursday rolled around Dean had forgotten anything had happened and Ginny was pretending nothing had so that when the time came to go to dinner at the Burrow no one could sense any friction between the happy couple.
"Oh, my baby!" Molly cried immediately engulfing her daughter in hugs and kisses before smothering Dean in a similar way.
Ginny refrained from rolling her eyes at her mother's behaviour. "Mum, calm down," she scolded.
Molly had the decency to look embarrassed as she pulled away from Dean. "Sorry, I'm just so excited for you both. I've been looking for some ideas and there's a beautiful dress in Madam Malkins."
"And what's that like?" Ginny asked, humouring her mother but already envisioning a hideously puffy and lacy dress. Dean, sensing the conversation would do anything but interest him, left the kitchen to track down a male Weasley who would most probably be habiting the house.
"It's white, obviously, floor length with inch-wide straps. It's quite form-fitting but will cover all of your…" here Molly coughed, "modesty. The skirt of the dress is bell-shaped with ruffles of lace around it. The top is silk with a lace hem."
Ginny tried to hide her horror at the sound of the dress, "I'll keep a look out for it," she said sincerely while thinking, so I can avoid it like the plague.
"Oh good," Molly smiled, too preoccupied with her cooking to notice the less than one percent sarcasm that tainted her daughters tone.
"So where is everyone?" Ginny asked, moving to stir a pan of pasta her mother had neglected.
"Oh, the boys are all outside doing Merlin only knows what, everyone else is in the living room." Everyone else being, of course, the women and children.
"Why aren't they –"
"Leave that pan alone!" Molly cried at her daughter. "You'll ruin the pasta if you stir it too early."
"Well I guess that answers why they're not in here," Ginny muttered. "I'll just go…" She entered the living room to be greeted by knowing faces.
"I tried to stir the pasta," Hermione announced, looking up from the novel in her hands.
"Me too," Ella, Charlie's girlfriend supported.
"And me," Fleur supplied.
The other ladies in the room nodded making Ginny roll her eyes at her mother but smile at the same time, "That woman is far too protective of the pasta!" She announced, earning a few laughs.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
"But how do we know we can trust him?" Ron Weasley asked for the fifth time in the half hour this debate had gone on for.
"He passed the veritaserum test," Arthur said wearily, this was at least the sixth time this had been pointed out.
"But he's a death eater, they're trained to lie."
"No one can lie once they've taken veritaserum, Ron." Hermione pointed out gently.
"Unless they've taken a counter potion." Draco piped up for the first time since he'd entered the dining room.
He was sat on the floor in the corner of the room whilst every member of the Weasley family (minus Percy), Moody and Kingsley either sat or stood around the table at the other side. In fact, the only person near him was Ginny, and that wasn't through lack of trying to get her away on the others' part. Potter's in particular who seemed to detest the way in which the young woman stood to defend the traitorous murderer.
"You're not helping yourself," Ginny hissed at him barely audibly.
Hermione pursed her lips at his interruption. "Right, but there isn't a counter potion in existence that lasts more than a week, veritaserum was used two weeks after he arrived at the Burrow. Malfoy has had no access to any of his belongings and Ginny is the only one who has been in his room, she wouldn't give him any counter potion. I doubt she even has access to one or the ingredients needed to make one."
"And you thought I wasn't helping myself," Draco half-sneered, half-teased Ginny. "Miss Know-it-all has just proved I couldn't have used a counter potion." In response Ginny hit his arm playfully.
Her actions earned them several looks of disapproval and a death glare aimed at Draco from Harry.
Still watching them closely, Harry spoke. "What if he had it hidden somewhere? Malfoy's a sneaky little git, he could easily have concealed it somewhere." He knew it was unlikely but he had to be sure. Kingsley was the one who answered him.
"There are several flaws with that argument, first Malfoy was very closely searched before brought here, second he and his friends have no way of knowing where here is. Then there's the fact that he didn't know if or when veritaserum would be used, he'd have to take a guess and hope for the best. And his story checks out; Narcissa is dead, her body was found a month ago floating in a muggle river. Sneaky git he may be but Malfoy gains nothing from telling us his story, whether it be true or not, and I believe it is true."
"As do I," Arthur rose from his seat and stood with Kingsley.
"Well I still think it's a load of bull," Ron crossed his arms defiantly across his chest.
Frowning, Harry spoke, "I don't trust him."
"Neither do I," Bill and Charlie said simultaneously.
"I don't like him," Hermione said. "But I believe he's telling the truth."
"Hermione!" Ron gasped in surprise.
"I theenk 'Ermionee eez right," Fleur spoke up. Since Bill's attack and their subsequent marriage Fleur had insisted on staying with her husband at all times, which meant she was dragged into this tiring debate of whether Draco could be trusted to be telling the truth or not.
"Fleur!" Bill declared remarkably similarly to his youngest brother.
"I pity him for the loss of his mother, I truly do but he is still a Malfoy and he is still a death eater. He may well be telling the truth but I cannot trust it enough to endanger my family's safety."
"We disagree," George announced, surprising all for he and Fred were glaring the most at Draco.
"As masters of trickery and false truths we understand the importance of a good lie," Fred continued. "A skill we have passed on to our dearest sister."
"And he," George pointed at Draco. "Could never use such an unlikely story and convince her it was the truth unless it actually were."
"Barking mad!" Moody growled at the twins. "He's lying and if you believe him you'll live only to regret it."
With an even split amongst the adults the argument started up again.
"What would happen to me if the majority didn't believe me?" Draco asked Ginny quietly.
Ginny paled slightly but stayed silent.
"I doubt it could be anything worse than what he will do if he finds me, it would just me good to have a little warning."
Still Ginny remained silent, making Draco sigh.
"I suppose, of course, that they'll do this all over again with another vote? And we'll end up with another tie because the French one will side with the longhaired guy but then your mother will agree with your father. If only there was someone else to act as a decider."
Ginny snapped, realising what he was blathering on about. She stood up, trying to get the warring groups attention. "Guys! Hey guys!" Her shouts went unnoticed though. After a few moments she gave way to sheer desperation and put her thumb and finger in her mouth and blew, resulting in a long, shrill whistle that soon stopped them long enough to realise she was still there. She gave them a fake sweet smile.
"Do I get a say in this? Because last time I checked I was just as part of this family as you lot. In fact, four of you aren't even blood related and you got to have a say."
"You're a little young," Molly replied. "And your…acquaintance with the boy is clouding your judgement."
"I'm one year younger than Ron!" Ginny argued, fully prepared for the fight they showed signs of putting up. "And my 'acquaintance' means I'm the only one here that's gotten to know Malfoy."
Molly opened her mouth to say something but Hermione got there first with her intrigued and voice-of-reason part. "Go ahead, Gin."
"Before you used the veritaserum, before you knew he was Draco Malfoy, you were starting to believe him, I know you were. I spoke to him; I believe he was telling the truth before. The veritaserum just proves he was, right? The only reason we're having this conversation is because you found out who he really was. You say talking to him has clouded my judgement but petty family feuds is clouding yours."
"This is why you're too young," Molly snapped. "It's not as simple as all that."
"Yes, it is."
"No, it's not."
"Yes, it is," rather than angry, Ginny sounded purely frustrated. "I'm not quite as clueless as you all think, you know. I know you've spoken to Snape, I know he's explained Dumbledore's death and that it corroborates Malfoy's story. That you let him go again. So why when the veritaserum tells me he's telling the truth and Narcissa being dead tells me he's telling the truth do you still not trust Malfoy? But Snape, the man who Harry admits actually killed Dumbledore, you just let walk free." By the end of this rant Ginny was breathing hard, her hands clenched and unclenched at her side.
"Ginny, how do you know all this?" Bill asked her gently.
"That's what you pick up on in all of that?" Draco sneered in amazement at the stupidity of Weasley's up close. Ginny shot him a look to shut up and he did instantly.
"It doesn't matter," she answered. Just like it doesn't matter what he may or may not have done in his past, it's the future that matters. He came to us, remember? He wants to make amends." She turned to her mother and gave her a rather pointed look. "It is that simple."
That said Ginny left the dining room with all the grace and honour one can when they argue with half of their family to protect said family's enemy so strongly that it actually leaves them thinking if maybe, just maybe, they are wrong after all. Of course, she didn't realise she'd left every member of the room wondering just when she'd become so grown up and tough enough to argue her point so strongly in the first place.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
"This food smells delicious, Mrs Weasley," Dean flattered the Weasley matriarch. "And I'm sure it will taste it, too, as always."
Mrs Weasley beamed at the young man, motioning for he and the others to sit. She pretended not to notice the twins as they made scornful actions at Dean's obvious sucking-up, though she did give them a warning glare. All sat around the table, the Weasley's and they're guests began to eat their meal with the normal companionable chatter.
"My, I think we'll need a bigger table soon, what with Gin and Dean getting married and another grandchild on the way," Molly looked over at Bill with a smile before giving her other children helpless looks as though to say 'when will your children be coming?'
"Oh, the wedding," Ella declared as she cut delicately at a potato. "Have you two set a date yet?"
"No," Dean said immediately, giving a contradicting answer to that given by Ginny.
"I was thinking October twenty-seventh."
The reaction to this news was instantaneous. Molly drew in breath, pinching her lips together tightly, the forks of Ron, Hermione, Bill and Fred clattered on their plates with such force it was a miracle the plates didn't smash. Fleur, Charlie and George stared at Ginny, mouths open in amazement while Arthur cleared his throat in a way that told them he had something to say but it could be saved until later. Apart from the children, Ella, Dean and Fred and George's current girlfriends Amy and Julie were the only ones not to understand the significance of the date. The tension caused by the announcement did not go unnoticed though and Dean spoke in hopes of calming the situation about what he thought the problem was.
"Gin, don't you think that's a little soon?"
Ginny, either not noticing or not caring about the tension, laughed at him. "It's two months away, and we've been together for five years, Dean. We know this is it so why wait?"
Dean looked nervous at this question and Ella shot him a curious glance before excusing herself for the bathroom. "We don't have to wait forever, maybe just a few more months so we can get used to the idea of being engaged first."
Arthur let out another cough, this time signalling he wanted to speak immediately. "Dean's right, perhaps October isn't the best time. How about December? You always wanted a Christmas wedding when you were little."
Ginny wrinkled her nose in disgust, "That is so clichéd." She turned to Dean with her best puppy-dog pleading pout. "Come on babe, October twenty-seventh. Please?" As she asked him she ran her hand, which had been placed securely on his knee, very slowly and seductively up his leg towards his crotch area. She could feel his jeans tightening beneath her touch the higher she got until she reached the bulge she had hoped to find. Once there she quietly undid the zip and slipped her hand inside. Her fingers danced lightly to-and-fro, "For me."
"Whatever you want, baby," he choked out hoarsely before hastily excusing himself and running from the room faster than anything anyone had ever seen.
With a satisfied smirk reminiscent of a certain Slytherin, Ginny turned her attention back to her meal.
"Ginny that date…" Bill began cautiously. "It wouldn't be proper, it being the same day that he –"
"Draco," Ginny interrupted him. "His name is Draco and I am well aware it is the same day he arrived at this house but that does not mean it can't be used as a celebration, does it?"
"Of course it doesn't but would you really want to celebrate on a day that reminds you of the great git."
"His coming here was the best thing that could have happened for us. He helped us to win the war, or have you all forgotten that? If I choose to have my wedding then that is my decision, not yours, and you will all do well to remember that."
The kitchen fell into an eerie quiet after that, a moment later Ella reappeared. She seemed flustered but that was easily attributable to overhearing the argument that just occurred and then having to walk into its icy aftermath. Slowly conversation started up again, though it kept away from any talk of weddings. Fifteen minutes after Ella reappeared, Dean entered the kitchen looking and feeling far more at ease than when he had left.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
When Ginny and Dean returned to the flat that night, Ginny was fully prepared for the onslaught of kisses that hit her lips and jaw and trailed right down her neck to her collarbone. She expected the strong hands that slid up her legs to grip her waist before picking her up and setting her upright on the kitchen table while their owner settled himself between her legs. She knew the hands would then wander to her top where they would expertly take it off in one swift movement before the lips would move lower and part around her belly button, the tongue slowly licking it. She'd already accepted that the lips would return to hers and the hands would amuse themselves with her breasts for a few minutes while she did her part.
What did come as a surprise though was that when she went to take off his shirt he stopped her, returning them to around his neck. She moved them to begin unfastening his jeans and he once again stopped her. Even more of a surprise was that when she brought her naked knee inside his legs and ran it along his crotch playfully he did the usual playful bite on her breast, though a little harder than normal, but did not react in any other way. His refusals of her advances were driving her crazy, especially when she let him conduct their usual foreplay to his heart's content. She had one last plan.
She slid off the tabletop, falling to her knees before him. She had done this only once before, finding it a tremendous turnoff for herself but knowing it to be one of his desires, and why should she be the only one so incredibly turned on at this moment in time? He allowed her to undo his jeans and push them and his boxer shorts down but as she went to make her move on his semi-erect penis, he held a hand to her forehead, preventing her from getting any closer. He bent down and collected his jeans, replacing them on his waist before bending down once more and picking Ginny up again. He slung her over his shoulder fireman-style and carried her to the bedroom where he deposited her not so gently on the bed.
He licked her bully button again this time moving kisses lower, pulling her skirt down as he went. He reached her pelvis and rubbed his hands up and down the insides of her legs, his fingers playing gently across her vagina.
"Do it!" She cried gutturally. "Dean, do it now!" She begged.
She felt his fingers stop playing and him shift, leaning down and applying pressure where she most desperately wanted him inside her. She ran her fingers through his hair, "Dean, do it now!" But she never felt him enter her; she looked up at him in confusion to find him smirking down at her.
He leant in, putting his lips beside her ear and whispered. "Not tonight baby, I just wanted you to know how it felt to get so turned on but having nothing happen. If you ever try a stunt like you did tonight again then Merlin alone can help you."
And with that he jumped away, stripped off his clothes and lay down beside her. He fell asleep soundly leaving her naked and feeling used and ashamed at her behaviour. Mostly though she was surprised that he had the restraint to do all that but stop himself before he carried the act through, maybe he had changed after all, and if he had she was definitely making the right decision staying with him.
A/N: I know, another one, I can just feel your excitement! I just want to make a couple of things clear though: First off, I have never been a victim of abuse but going off things I have read and seen on TV Ginny's reaction seems pretty reasonable to me. However, if you don't agree tell me how you think it should be and I'll consider changing it.
Second, I want to warn you, next chapter might be one long flashback, but it will be the last flashback if it is. It depends how long it ends up. If it is less than 7 pages I'll put proper chapter in there, too. If it's more you'll have to wait for the final chapter before the prologue.
Anyway, this is getting long again so I'm just going to say the usual thing: Let me know what you think of the chapter.
Also, I wonder if anyone's picked up on a little bit of a plot twist…
Rae :D