Chapter 14

With a flutter of excitement and a quietly grumbling stomach, Ginny made her way to the Room of Requirement with a basket in hand. She had just finished the last of her exams a few hours ago and the next morning, she would be heading home on the train for Easter holiday. At the moment, however, she had finished her task of getting food from the kitchens — something that seemed to confuse the house elves since everyone else at the school was currently at dinner. Though she knew her absence and that of a particular blonde Slytherin would probably raise some suspicions, they had both decided that they'd take that risk to spend a bit more time together before the nearly month long break.

After pacing back and forth along a small stretch of hallway, a door materialized and she entered with a bright smile. "Sorry I'm a little late," she apologized, closing the door behind her, "but I got the food." Draco turned his head to peer at her from the sofa as she came up behind him and grinned before pulling her head down to plant a kiss on her lips. Once he pulled away, her lips curved and she walked to the other side of the couch to place the food on the table. "Can you believe Easter hols are starting already?" As soon as the words left her lips and she saw his expression darken, she knew she'd said the wrong thing.

"Unfortunately..." he muttered, his eyes falling to the floor. Ginny sent him a sympathetic look as she pulled two plates out of the basket.

"Are you going home?" she inquired softly, to which he responded with a sigh.

"It's not like I have a choice."

The bitterness in his voice caused her heart to sink as she focused on pilling food onto the dishes. "You know..." she started sheepishly, "If things were different, I'd ask you to come home with me..." She heard a dry laugh come from right.

"Your brothers would kill me," he remarked matter-of-factly, though she could tell he was appreciative of her statement.

With a broad grin, she glanced over at him. "I'd keep them in line," she quipped before her voice took on a more thoughtful quality. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you'd only have to worry about Ron and the twins. Charlie hardly ever holds a grunge against anyone, and Bill would understand..."

His brow furrowed slightly. "Don't you have six brothers?"

"Well, we never see Percy anymore... That prat..." she grumbled, a soft clank sounding as she scooped mashed potatoes onto one of the plates a bit more violently than intended.

"Had a bit of a falling out, did you?" She took note of the way he said this without the jeering tone that would've been present in earlier years — reminding her that, while he was still a jerk at some points, Draco really wasn't the person he'd been before.

She exhaled tiredly. "He's always put his work above everything else. I wasn't surprised," Ginny admitted, handing him a plate.

"Thank you," she heard him say before he held out a glass for her to take. She accepted it quizzically before noticing the previously unseen bottle that was sitting on the table beside another glass. "...Firewhiskey?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How'd you get this?"

He gazed at her with that familiar smirk of his before filling her glass with the smoky liquid. "I am seventeen, in case you've forgotten. It's not illegal for me to purchase it."

Ginny rolled her eyes, sitting down next to him. "But you're not supposed to have it in the school," she admonished as she raised the glass to her lips and took a swig rather expertly, causing him to raise his eyebrow with an amused look.

"Clearly you've had it before."

A grin played on her lips. "You're not the only one who breaks the school rules. Fred and George snuck this in loads of times."

Draco chuckled before sipping his own drink as the red-head beside him placed her glass on the table in order to start eating her food. After chewing a bit of chicken pensively and swallowing, she broke the silence. "I guess I won't be able to send you letters, huh?"

"Not with the manor under constant surveillance..." he mumbled, picking at his food. "We're not exactly trusted anymore."

"I hate the fact that you're going back there," she blurted out, the tone of annoyance obvious in her voice. "What if you just didn't go?"

"I'd rather not find out," he murmured causing her to let out a frustrated huff.

"I can't wait until this is all over. It would be so much simpler; we wouldn't have to hide anything." She glanced over at him, a tiny mischievous tinkle in her eyes. "Or would you still be ashamed to be seen with a Weasley?"

Draco faced her with a small smile. "Not you."

She couldn't help the delighted expression that came to her face. "So, if all of this ended tomorrow, what would you do?"

"...I think I'll tell you when it actually ends," he replied with a hint of facetiousness. Honestly, he had no idea, though it would probably have something to do with him snogging her like his life depended on it. Heck, even now the idea sounded appealing as her cheerful laughter rang through the room.

They continued to casually converse as they finished their dinner, along with the bottle of firewhiskey, leaving Ginny a bit giddier than she'd been before and the usually guarded Slytherin with weaker defenses. A few hours later, the red-headed girl was beginning to show signs of tiredness as she leaned her head against his shoulder while he had an arm loosely draped around her.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do without you and Blaise," she uttered glumly. Draco's mind had been harboring similar thoughts all week — with the Dark Lord using his house as a base and the absence of his usual companions, he doubted Easter holiday would be anything but downright miserable. Of course, he hadn't told either of them that, not that he needed to.

"It's just a little less than a month. It's not like you won't be able to write Blaise."

She looked away with a quiet sigh. "I meant after this year..."

Not wanting to think about it yet, he pushed the thought to the back of his mind and suggested that she do the same. "Don't worry about that now."

Ginny rotated in her seat as she smiled at him, though he was paying a bit more attention to the impish way her brown eyes shone in the fire light. "You're right." She leaned a bit closer and his eyes unconsciously rested their gaze on her rosy lips as she mumbled, "Worrying just makes things worse anyway."

His eyes lifted to meet hers briefly as the corners of his mouth quirked. "Better to just act on impulse, wouldn't you say?" He was answered with a tiny grin before she covered his lips with hers.

Within seconds, Draco was lazily trailing his hand down her side, causing a shiver to course through her body, before resting it on her hip as he smirked against her lips. She couldn't help the sheepish tint that rose to her cheeks; it was if the conceited prat knew exactly how he could make her mind spin with just the faintest of touches. Or maybe it was the firewhiskey... She wasn't quite sure, but either way, she moved to straddle his waist as he reached up to lace his hand through her red locks. Using his free hand, he braced himself in response to the added weight before deepening the kiss and eliciting a soft moan from her in the process.

It was at that point that he shifted so she was now pinned between him and the sofa, though she didn't seem to mind. Her leg bent at the knee as her fingers brushed against his cheek, causing her skirt to ride up just a fraction. His grip on her arm tightened ever so slightly as she ran her hand down his chest before it moved on to toying with his hair, something that seemed to have a sedative effect on his mind. When he noticed this, he started to pull away, but Ginny, in an effort to hold the kiss a little longer, made a quiet sound of protest and raised herself up onto one elbow. He relented, but due to the unfortunately small size of the sofa, her elbow slipped off the cushioned surface and they were sent tumbling to the ground, landing with a loud thud in an awkwardly tangled mess of limbs.

Draco groaned as he picked himself off the ground, rubbing the side of his head where it had hit the table while the girl beside him had her eyes squeezed shut in a wincing expression. "Shit... Sorry about that."

Ginny relaxed as the mild pain from her sudden contact with floor eased. She opened her eyes to see him gazing down at her, his grey eyes much darker than she'd ever remembered seeing them. With an apologetic smile, she breathed, "That was my fault."

He smirked, still hovering above her. "I never would have pegged you as the clumsy type, Weasley," he mocked. She reached up and pulled him closer with a playful grin.

"And I never thought you'd be such a damn good kisser, Malfoy."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere," he remarked, planting a quick kiss on her smiling lips before getting to his feet and offering her his hand. "Come on. We need to get you to bed."

Her demeanor quickly changed to one of annoyance at his authoritative tone, but she accepted his hand anyway. "I'm not a kid anymore," she objected once he'd helped her up. "I'll go to bed when I want to."

"You had nearly three glasses of firewhiskey. If you don't get back soon, you're just going to pass out here," he countered. With the lulling warmth of the fire and the dim lighting, even he was on the verge succumbing to drowsiness.

"I'm fine with that," she retorted, moving to flop down on the couch, but her action was prevented by his hold on her wrist.

"I don't like being ignored, Ginny," he sighed, though his voice was still stern. "You can't stay here."

"I could if you stayed with me."

His lips twitched as he fought back a chuckle. "And have to put up with all the grief I'd get from Blaise? Not bloody likely."

Ginny felt her cheeks heat up at his insinuation. "It's not like anything would happen," she snapped indignantly.

This time, a chuckle did escape his lips before he drawled, "Of course... but I'm still taking you back to your Common Room." She pulled her hand from his and crossed her arms over her chest with a sour look.

"...Fine."

"We'll see each other again before the train leaves," he promised in hopes of quelling her temper. His attempt failed miserably.

"I know," she responded coldly, turning away from him. Draco tried to ignore his frustration at her change in attitude as he headed for the door.

"Now come on. We should hurry back before Filch starts doing his rounds. I'd rather not have detention as soon as we get back." She grudgingly followed him out of the room, the Room of Requirement disappearing behind them.

"It can't be that late..."

"It's nearly 11 o'clock." Her eyes widened at the information. After a moment though, her lips curved.

"I guess what they say is true — time does fly when you're having fun."

He smiled. While her tone was impassive, he took this as a sign that she had quickly gotten over their little spat in the Room of Requirement. "I think you're the one to blame for us looking track of time."

"And how do you figure that?"

"Well, you were the one who started snogging me..."

Ginny wasn't about to give up quite yet. "But you can't tell me you would've stopped if I hadn't-"

A low snort cut her off. "What? Fallen off the sofa?" She frowned and decided to remain silent; he glanced over at her with amusement focusing once again on the empty hall in front of him. "You're right though. I probably would've waited for you to pull away first."

A quiet laugh sounded through the corridor. "You know..." she began musingly. "It really isn't that late." He paused in his step when he noticed that she'd stopped. "I'm sure I wouldn't be any worse off if I made it back to the Common Room just a few minutes later."

Draco easily caught on to her train of thought and with a smirk, he pulled her closer. Just when her lips were barely an inch away, the sound of footsteps caused them both to jump.

"Brilliant..." he muttered before she dragged him towards one of the classrooms.

"We can hide in here," she suggested, her hand closing around the brass knob as she opened the door. It slipped off barely a second later as her jaw dropped at the sight that greeted them, for one Blaise Zabini was also in the room, glued at the lips to none other than Mandy Brocklehurst.

Ginny was knocked out of her bewilderment by the sound of the door shutting behind her. "...What the hell is going on?" the blonde behind her demanded, leading her to believe that she wasn't the only one who was just finding out about this.

Mandy hastily pushed the other Slytherin away with a clear look of mortification on her face while Blaise diverted his gaze to the floor, shaking his head with a small chortle. The red-head saw Draco open his mouth to continue his interrogation before holding a finger to her lips, causing him to refrain. "Remember why we're in here in the first place," she berated in a hushed tone.

At this time, Blaise seemed to recover from his unusual bout of silence and raised his head, looking at them with a grin. "Well, this is an odd coincidence."

"Yeah, I'd say," Draco bit back, his eyes narrowing. "When was I going to find out about this?" His friend shrugged, clearly undisturbed by the boy's anger.

"All in due time. I mean, she was just helping me study-"

"What? The inside of her mouth?" He let out a huff before grumbling, "And you always harp at me when I don't tell you stuff... Remind me why you're my best friend again." Blaise's grin widened.

"Because I'm perfect."

Draco rolled his eyes with a scoff. "Yeah, that's it..."

"I knew it!" The occupants of the room all turned to Mandy, whose outburst was accompanied by an expression of realization as she placed the glasses that she held loosely in her hand back on the bridge of her nose and hopped off the desk she had been sitting on. "I knew there was something going on." The Ravenclaw suddenly whirled around to face Blaise. "You lied to me!"

"Not really."

She knit her eyebrows together in confusion. "But yesterday you told me they weren't dating."

"I simply asked you why you thought they were," he clarified nonchalantly.

"And I said that they seemed like they get along a little too well, at which point you replied-"

"That in actuality, they still argue quite a lot," Blaise finished before casting a blithe glance in Draco's direction. "I believe I mentioned the incident at the lake as well. So all in all, I neither denied nor confirmed it."

"...You're irritating sometimes, do you know that?" she frowned, to which Ginny nodded with agreement.

"I've said the same thing."

Blaise smiled as he wrapped an arm around Mandy's shoulders and led her to the door with a faint sigh. "I'll explain it while I walk you back."

As they passed, Draco muttered, "Keep it vague, will you?"

"You got it, mate." And with that, they left the classroom with the door clicking shut in their wake.

"Well... That was interesting," Ginny commented, directing a weak smile at the boy beside her.

"That's one way to describe it."

Laughter bubbled through her words as she continued, "But while we're here..." She trailed off, instead catching his gaze with a mischievous glance. With an earnest smile he snaked his arm around her waist, meeting her blissfully amused lips with his own.

A/N - I would love to hear what you guys thought about the chapter : ) Some parts are pretty awkward ([cough] the snogging scene [cough]), but I think it turned out alright over all... Either way, I hope you enjoyed it and I'll try to have the next chapter up pretty soon : )

-Twilight-Songstress