A/N: Alright. First things first, I really have to apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I've been trying to get it finished for weeks now but have had the biggest distraction you can possibly imagine fall into my arms... literally. You see, just before Christmas, I had a baby - a healthy and happy little girl. But she came 10 days early, completely robbing me of the time I thought I had to get this story done... lol. I know this all sounds crazy but ginger28 can vouch for me. Anyhow, I promise to get this finished up soon. And again, I'm really sorry for the wait. Now on with the show!

Disclaimer: I own nothing HP

Chapter 21 – Endless Night

"Draco, please don't do this."

It was those words that woke him from the spell being cast. He tore himself violently away and spun around to face his demon… his greatest pleasure and deepest pain embodied in one single form.

Draco stared at the man in wordless disbelief. Finally finding his voice, he spat viciously, "You're joking! You do realize you have no sodding right to ask that?"

The other man shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the next, his eyes scoping about nervously in order to avoid Draco's piercing gaze.

"Are you happy with this arrangement?" the other man finally asked.

Draco snorted and turned away to look out on the gardens. "I wasn't happy before it, so what difference does it make now?"

"What about Pansy? Do you really want her to be miserable for the rest of her life?" the man asked, coming to stand at Draco's side.

"You are so melodramatic. She'll get over it. She always does." Draco spouted, keeping his eyes trained forward. "It's Pansy, for Merlin's sake. She has the depth of a soap dish."

"I don't know. She looked pretty desperate to me. I mean you'd have to be blind not to –"

"Of course I don't want her to be unhappy," Draco finally snapped, turning to face his companion. "Why do you think I told her she could be with the Weasel if she really wanted? It's not my fault he's an uptight, self-righteous wanker."

"Obviously adultery doesn't sit well with him," the man bit back sharply. "I can't say that I blame him. You didn't actually think I would go for that ridiculous plan of yours either, did you?"

"You didn't even cross my mind, so don't flatter yourself." Draco lied through a cruel sneer and turned back out, trying to veil his disappointment.

"Why are you pushing this marriage on her anyway? She doesn't want you and you don't want her," the man snarled in response.

"Because I don't have any other choice in the matter. Neither of us does. It's the patriarchs of the family who negotiate these things. That would be my father and Robert Parkinson. Since my father is in dispose at the moment, it's all up to old Bertie. And who says I don't want this marriage. I have to think of my own needs right now, don't I?"

"What do you mean? Your own needs?" the man asked, clearly becoming confused.

"My father's never going to see the light of day again; Mother is selling off heirlooms just to keep up appearances; and I…" Draco stopped and scoffed mirthlessly. "Well in your own words, I'm very effectively running the family business clear into the ground. In that light, I don't have many options, now do I?"

Disregarding the obvious dig, the man pushed on. "So, you would use her for her money? You could have just asked me. I would have loaned you the galleons. Damn it, I would have given them to you if it meant – "

"If it meant what? That we'd be together? Word to the wise, we wouldn't be regardless." Draco panted out angrily. "And for your information, it's not about the money. It's not just about the money. I need the support… the security… I need someone who I can trust and rely on. Pansy has always been my best friend. Yes, we bicker and hiss at each other. Yes, we say nasty things but she's like family to me. I've known her since I was four. I know she'll be there when I need her. That's more than I can say for some people," he muttered the last.

"I said I was sorry. What more do you want – "

"Nothing! I don't want anything from you," Draco barked loudly.

"Draco…"

"What? What do you want to hear? That it hurt when you kept waffling about introducing me to your gaggle of miscreants or even meeting my friends for that matter. I understood… I tried to understand. I was willing to deal with their reactions, but you weren't. I get that."

"I'm sorry about all that. How many times do I have to say –"

"Not that you don't already know, but would you like to know what did it in for me? Hearing you on the floo with him after you thought I'd left." Draco snarled, ignoring his companion's pleading tone.

"I didn't mean for you to..."

"No, of course you didn't. How many other times did you badmouth me to him? To anyone and everyone who would listen, and I just wasn't there to hear it? Do you know how often I ask myself that?"

"That was the only time, I swear."

"Bullshit! A year! A fucking year we were together. You can't tell me…" Draco stopped his words abruptly and began to pace, agitation riddling his every step. "Do you have any idea what it does to a person to hear…? I thought you were happy with me."

"I was. I mean I am. I would be if you'd just – "

"Then why did you say those things?" Draco implored.

"I don't know." The other man reeled back, his defenses going up. He scrubbed the back of his head with both hands and huffed out a frustrated breath as his arms came flopping down to his sides. "He just kept pushing me to get out there. Start looking around. He didn't get why I wasn't seeing anyone. I know he was probably joking in adding you to the list but when you're name came up, I panicked."

"You could have just said I wasn't your type like you did with the others. Or better yet, you could have said 'Now that you mention it…' No, you had to act like it was the most disgusting idea in the world to you."

"He was goading me on."

"No, he wasn't! Not at first, he wasn't." Draco's voice shot up a full octave as he got louder. "He just made some asinine little comment and you jumped all over it. He didn't start the knock down. You did. You're the one who, chuckling the whole time I might add, referred to me as a walking sexual disease that would fuck anything. Man… Woman… Dog… Didn't make much of a difference. That you wouldn't touch me with a ten foot pole when just that morning, you… we… You know what? Never mind. I'm tired of this. We've been over it a thousand times. You're just a bloody hypocrite."

Draco started to move toward the house, but was grabbed by the arm and spun roughly back. He wrenched himself free and put a good six feet between them, running his hands roughly through his smooth blond hair.

"Draco, please just hear me out."

"And then…" Draco restarted his angry rant, ignoring the other man's pleas. "And then, you couldn't stop there, could you. Do you realize the two of you went on for nearly twenty minutes, tearing me to shreds over everything from how I dress to how I run or rather ruin a business? Like I don't know I'm shite at that already."

"You're not shite. You just need some practice and guidance," the other man mumbled feebly.

"Oh cut the supportive crap. It's too late now." Draco snarled.

"Draco, I… I do love you. You have to know that."

"Really? That's almost funny now, hearing you say that," Draco sneered coldly. "You really want me back that badly? Well, then you know what you have to do, don't you? Go and make an official offer to Parkinson… or publicly challenge Pansy. Whatever you need to do. That's what most people do when they really love someone. But that would be too much to ask of your precious ego, now wouldn't it? To make it public like that," he spat sardonically.

A few heavy seconds of silence passed between them before Draco turned his head to the side to mask the new gash of pain and disappointment etching its way across his face.

"That's what I thought," he finally ground out tightly after it became clear the man in front of him was not going to offer up a response. "As it stands, I think I'm better off sticking with Pansy. Now if you'll excuse me, Mr. Potter, I have an engagement party to attend to."

With that, Draco brushed past his former lover and quickly disappeared into the house. Harry was silent, his eyes remaining fixed on the ground, bright and sharp.

----------

"Just a minute!" Ginny called as she ran to the door. "Bloody hell! Who the fuck stops by at such an ungodly hour?" she mumbled to herself.

"Yes?" she spouted as she threw the door open.

There before her stood the ghost of a memory and her mouth went completely dry. She cleared her throat, pulled the neck of her pink dressing gown closed with a tightly clenched fist, and tried again but with far less confidence. "Yes? What do you want?"

"Hello Apple. It's good to see you," the tall, dark, handsome visitor offered, a hint of uncertainty lacing his voice.

"Don't call me that. What do you want, Zabini?" she repeated herself coolly.

Blaise stiffened and his charming smirk faltered. "I need to speak with Percy. Is he here?"

Apprehension stole over Ginny's features and she glanced over her shoulder. "Now is not the best time."

"I imagine not but it's important, Apple."

Ginny huffed at his blatant disregard to drop with the pet names, and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm sure it is. Isn't it always when you lot want something?"

"Ginny, this is not about us."

"No, it's not. It's about how all you snot-nosed Slytherin wankers think that you can treat everyone else like a piece of garbage. You use someone until they're no longer of any use to you and then you toss them aside."

"That's not what happened with us and you know it."

"That's exactly what happened with us. You used those bloody, sodding exact words."

"And you believed me? I thought you knew me better than that," he teased, trying desperately to lighten the mood.

"You were very convincing," she threw back at him in a complete deadpan.

"Ginny…" he pleaded.

"It's over now so it doesn't make an ounce of difference," she cut him off with a tight lipped response. "Obviously you didn't come here to discuss this. What do you really want?"

Blaise studied the stoic, icy expression blanketing her features and released the breath he was holding. As much as it stung, it was clear this issue was not up for discussion nor would it ever be. He'd buggered up his chances with her royally because of one stupid moment of fear and greed and he was just going to have to come to terms with that.

"I need to speak with Percy," he finally muttered.

"About what?" Ginny spat, still clinging to her haughtiness.

"What do you think?"

"If it's about that bitch Parkinson, then you can just turn yourself back around and move along."

"Ginny, Percy needs to know – "

"What do I need to know?" came a voice from down the hall.

Both looked toward the source of the question, and then exchanged a nervous glance. A moment later, Blaise brushed past Ginny and traveled down the hall toward the warm light spilling from the den. Ginny released a heavy sigh and shook her head. This was going to be a very long night.

----------

Blaise strode into the den with Ginny hot on his heels to find Percy sitting in a comfy armchair staring fixedly into the fire. His stillness was eerie, giving the unsettling appearance of a Muggle portrait.

"To what do I owe this pleasure, Mr. Zabini?" Percy growled, breaking the picture he made.

Blaise shook out of his daze, and tried to compose himself. By the look on Percy's face, this was not going to be pleasant. "I've come in regards to Pansy. As a close friend, I was greatly distressed to find – "

Percy snorted loudly, interrupting him, and then took a quick, deep pull of his Firewhiskey. After regarding the remaining amber liquid in his tumbler and swirling it slightly, Percy mumbled, "And how is our little Ms. Parkinson? Enjoying her party I assume. Basking in the light of being the centre of attention."

"Not exactly," Blaise responded stiffly. "After Draco announced that the hostess had come down with a dreadful headache and then proceeded to send everyone home, I went to look for my girl and found her curled up on the stairs sobbing. So no, I wouldn't call this one of Pansy's shining moments."

A ripple of tension rolled through Percy's jaw and he clutched at his glass tighter. "What? Did Malfoy say something mean to hurt her feelings again?" he lobbed back viciously.

"Listen you wanker, we both know why she's a mess."

Percy jumped up and was in the other man's face in a flash. "No, tell me, Mr. Zabini. Tell me why she's so upset. I haven't a bloody clue."

"You fucking arsehole!" Blaise snapped sharply.

"I'm the arsehole?!? I'm the fucking arsehole?" Percy barked back. "I'm not the one who started a relationship with someone knowing I couldn't… wouldn't be with them. I didn't go and bind myself to some bloody ferret… to someone I didn't love. It's her own bloody fault."

"She had no choice in the matter," Blaise bit back, raising his voice to match Percy's.

"Everyone keeps telling me that," Percy mumbled, the edge of vicious sarcasm clear in his words.

"Boys! Please!" Ginny called, trying to calm the spiraling storm.

"You know nothing of our class," Blaise spat.

"And you know nothing about really loving someone," Percy volleyed back.

That was the final straw. The full meaning of Percy's insult hit Blaise square in the chest. He glanced to Ginny only to have her look away, shame torturing her features. Without warning, Blaise lunged at Percy and both men began to grapple with each other, arms and hands flailing for dominance. Finally, Percy pulled back and landed a right hook onto Blaise's jaw, sending him hurtling backward. Tripping on the rug under foot, Blaise fell and bumped the back of his head on the coffee table.

Finally entering the fray, Ginny jumped between them and began to shout. "That's it! Stop it! Now! Just stop it!"

Both men stilled save for their volatile panting. Blaise dabbed gingerly at his bleeding lip, eyeing Percy narrowly, who, in turn, glared back in sheer loathing.

"You don't sodding get it," Percy growled. "I can't sit around waiting for her to throw me a scrap of attention while she goes on living her socially acceptable life with her socially acceptable husband, having socially acceptable children. I need more than that. I deserve more than that."

By the time he'd finished his rant, Percy had run out of steam. Without another word, he stormed out of the room.

"Percy!" Ginny called to him, but her plea was lost on him. The front door slammed loudly not a moment later. She turned back to Blaise after a few seconds and glared down at him. Kneeling, she began to examine his split lip.

"Are you all right? How's your head?" she asked, trying to sound detached and clinical.

He grinned at her sheepishly, and leaned more fully onto his right elbow to face her. "Yeah, it's fine. I'll be fine. Sorry about that."

"You should be," she scolded as she began to mend his lip. "Pansy has no right to be making demands of him."

"She isn't. I came because I wanted to."

"Well, she's still in the wrong." Ginny huffed, trying to hold onto the stream of her anger. It was hard when he kept looking at her with his deep chocolate brown eyes.

He watched her in silence as she continued to wordlessly cast the necessary mending charms. On a whim, he reached up with his left hand and gently stroked her cheek with a solitary finger.

Ginny gasped and leaned back slightly. "What the devil do you think you're doing?"

Sitting up and moving closer to her, he cupped her cheek and offered softly, "Appreciating my medical treatment."

"Well… don't!" she bit out harshly, pulling away from his touch.

"What? Can't a bloke thank his nurse?"

"I'm not looking for your… gratitude." Ginny stated coldly, remaining strong against his flirting.

"What about my love?" he asked plainly.

The candor in his voice unsettled Ginny. She met his even gaze with a questioning eye. When he didn't waver or demure, she looked away under the guise of needing to tend to his wound.

Breathing down her growing nerves, Ginny answered quietly. "You shouldn't say things you don't mean."

He grabbed her hand with his free one, stilling her distracted attempts at treating him. "I do mean it."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" she lobbed back, trying to lessen the intensity of the moment.

He chuckled a little, shrugged his shoulders, and gave her a lazy smile. "I guess we'll just have to find a way of keeping me awake just in case, now won't we?" he murmured, replacing his hand on her cheek and brushing his thumb along her bottom lip.

"Oh no, we won't." Ginny huffed as she stood quickly and began to scamper about the room, tidying the disarray that Percy had left behind. "I have a long day scheduled tomorrow and the last thing I need is to be hashing things out with you all night."

"But Apple," he pleaded in a low whine as he jumped up.

Turning abruptly to face him, Ginny shot him a dark glare. "Don't you 'Apple' me. I'm done with being manipulated and played."

"I'm not playing you," he whinged.

Ginny simply crossed her arms over her chest and leveled him with a scathing look and a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not. I know what I want now." He insisted.

"Sure you do." Ginny tittered out in a disbelieving singsong as she restarted her cleaning.

"I do!" he pressed. When she continued on without regarding him, he reasoned on another tactic. "All right, I admit it took me some time to get past my… issues, but – "

"You know what, luv? It doesn't matter anymore because, as it turns out, I don't know what I want." Ginny interjected.

"Pardon?" Blaise asked after a moment of confusion.

"I don't know what I want." Ginny repeated before taking a anxious breath and steeling herself for the diatribe she'd been preparing for months – a speech she never thought she'd actually have the opportunity to give.

"I know what I don't want though. I know I don't want to be used and then told I'm not worth the shit under your shoe. I know I don't want to be just another woman you, or any other man for that matter, beds just to toss aside when he's through with her." She hammered at him. "I, Ginny Wealsey, am worth so much more than that."

"Of course you – " he tried to cajole.

"Shut up! I'm not done," she snapped, cutting him off mercilessly.

Blaise was instantly cowed. Who was this dragon of a woman standing before him? As thoroughly arousing as she was, he wondered where the fun, playful girl he knew had gone.

"I will not be told I'm worthless." She continued. "Or that what I do is meaningless. I am better than ten of your little rich poptarts combined."

"Without question." Blaise interjected, finally finding his infamous nerve.

She eyed him uncertainly before going on. "If anything, you don't deserve me."

"No, I don't but I'm willing to try." He managed to get in before she could restart her rant.

"You can try all you want, and I might play with you for a bit to pass the time but I won't make any promises not to ditch you if and when someone better comes along."

At that, Blaise blinked his eyes a few times in shock. Was she serious?

"Then… Then I guess I'll just have to convince you that that person doesn't exist." He finally managed.

Ginny offered a small giggle. "Knock yourself out. Makes little difference to me. In any case, I was about to take a bath when Percy dropped in. If you don't mind, I'd love to get to it. If you'll excuse me."

She then turned on her heels and sauntered from the room. After a stunned moment, Blaise shook his head and tried to find his bearings. What the hell had just happened?

With a renewed fire, he bolted for the archway, bent on getting her to take him back. As he made it into the darkened hallway though, he tripped on something that had become tangled around his feet. Bending, he picked up what looked to be a large, fuzzy piece of pink material. It took his mind a moment to register what it was he was in fact holding but when it did, he instantly went as hard as a rock.

'She wouldn't have.' He mused in awe.

With a schoolboy like nervousness he hadn't experienced in years, Blaise slowly looked up. Standing at the other end of the hall was the darkened silhouette of the woman of his dreams clad only in a pair of screaming white cotton knickers, the light from the open bathroom door kissing her outline and accentuating her delicious curves.

Turning and putting her back to him as if to head into the steam filled bathroom, she glanced back over her shoulder and murmured through a devilish smirk, "You know where the door is." And with that, she disappeared, leaving the door to the bathroom wide open.

All at once, Blaise felt his chest tighten and his knees turn to jelly as a jolt of pure, unadulterated lust shot straight down his spine. In a moment of clarity, he realized that this was his ideal. To crave a woman who seemingly couldn't care less about him. To desperately want her and chase her while she in turn only mildly entertained thoughts of him. It was sick and twisted, but he ceded he would be completely smitten with her for the rest of his life as a result of her apparent apathy. He would never tire of her… the unattainable. Either he was a masochist, or she was a bloody genius. Being honest with himself, he knew it was likely a bit of both.

Regaining his senses, Blaise muttered softly in response to her dare, "Damn straight I do," before setting off down the hall toward the "door" to claim the beckoning treasure.

----------

Pansy lay in her darkened bedroom, leaving the wetness on her cheeks unchecked. After finally having convinced Blaise that all she needed was to be left alone, she put locking and silencing spells on her door and room, and then fell unceremoniously onto the bed still fully clothed. That had been a good two hours ago and she hadn't so much as stirred from the fetal position she had curled into since.

This wasn't happening to her. She couldn't have actually fallen in love with someone only to be told 'no'. It didn't seem real. She'd never been refused anything in her entire life. In the past, she'd need only push out her bottom lip and whine slightly, and whatever had been her fancy at that precise moment was automatically hers. Now, when all she wanted lie in one person, she was being denied. If she could, she would have traded all those inconsequential 'yeses' to reverse this one monumental 'no'.

Suddenly, there was a quiet displacement of air and Pansy knew someone had just apparated into her room. It could only be Blaise. Had she not told him… railed at him that she just wanted to be left to her own devices? She took a moment to compose herself and then rolled onto her back to face the intruder, giving them a stern glare. The shadowed figure that stood at her bedside looking down at her was most definitely not her old friend. As he stared at her for several long seconds, she could just make out the features she'd grown to love so dearly.

"Last time," he finally murmured on a quiet breath.

Unable to get around the knot in her throat, Pansy could only offer him the smallest of nods before reaching out her arms to him, beckoning him to claim her.

----------

Percy's eyes hungrily ran the course of her figure, desperately trying to memorize everything about her. He had fought with himself, his mind struggling with his heart to stop this inevitable flight to her side. He just couldn't resign himself to the fact that the last time they were together – that playful morning romp two weeks past which seemed like years ago now – was indeed their last time.

He needed to know it… feel it… be able to savour each and every touch, kiss, and caress, burning them into his mind and keeping them safe in his memory where he could revisit them in the cold hours that were bound to come.

"Last time," he heard himself say.

Where he'd found the strength to utter those words he would never know. She only gave him a slight tilt of the head and then stretched her arms up to him. That was all it took. He was powerless to resist the tug that sight caused in him, and in one swift motion he crawled to her side and sprawled himself along the length of her body. Burrowing his left arm under her head, he raised his right hand and delicately smoothed away the tears still clinging to her face, before cupping her jaw and running his thumb along her cheek. Slowly, he leaned down and took her lips in a searching kiss, trying to forget that after that night he'd never feel them again.

There was no mad rush to shed their clothing or burning, fiery need to quickly consume each other. Aversely, this encounter was slow and devout, both taking their time to relish each moment without so much as a word passing between them. He took the all-consuming love she offered, and reveled in it, and then gave his love back to her tenfold. After several hours of gentle gasps, soft murmurs, and quiet lovemaking in the near darkness, the two unlikely souls lay facing each other simply holding hands.

"Don't leave yet," Pansy whispered, struggling to get past the tightness in her chest.

In response, Percy merely brushed his thumb over her delicate knuckles and then brought them to his lips for a reverent kiss.

"Wait until I'm asleep," she supplied, the tears already pooling in her eyes and spilling over onto her pale cheeks.

Percy pulled her into his arms and held her close, trying to sooth away the heartache he was coming to know all too well. For her own part, Pansy wrapped her arms around him and promised herself that this was not going to be the last time she held him.

xxxxxx

A/N: So it's not perfect (or where I wanted it to be... I'm a little anal), but I had to get it to you before it drove me mental. Okay, so one... maybe two chapters to go!

SMichaelM: I love them too. I can't help it they're so flawed and entertaining.

welshgenie: Thank you so much. I'm sorry this one took so long. I've been trying. Now that we have a bit of a schedule going at home though, I should be able to update sooner.

qt4good: Thank you :) I guess I can tell you now that it is Harry. I wanted to try something different in the love department there. An odd pairing that's not always done.

ClumsyTonks: There might be a happily ever after ;) Pansy just might go for her man... then again, something might happen before she can take that chance.

EmmaMaelstrom: Yes, it is Harry. I can shout it from the roof top now. lol.

QueenoftheClumsyDorks: Thank you. I wanted to work with characters that JKR hadn't developed fully to see where I could take them.

splatethy: Thank you so much. I'm a firm believer that any and every character has an interesting story to tell. To be honest, this pairing was a test for me at first. But I quickly fell in love with them and their chemistry.

autumnlover: And now the giver of the kiss is known. lol.

Miss Anthrope: Okay, so now you know. You were actually closer when you guessed Ron. lol. I know Harry might not have been a popular choice, but I was playing with pairings and testing my writing ability with this story. I'm actually kind of getting into their love/hate thing. lol.

gingerale22: Are you squeeing now? Yes, it's Harry. And although most of the characters do seem resigned to their fates, Harry's not the only one who could potentially save the day ;) But now I've said too much.

ginger28: I am soooo proud of you... lol. Percy wasn't so noble in this chapter unfortunately. You can only ask so much of a man in love. I'm not sure Pansy would really care at this point who Draco was snogging. In her mind, it still wouldn't free her from their arrangement.

Serena Goodkey: lol. All afternoon? That's crazy. Yeah, they're an unlikely pairing but oh so much fun.

kalira: hahahahahaha!!!! Oh my god, I loved your review. I had to go back and reread it half a dozen times. Yes, it is Harry. And yes, the torture is almost over. Almost. lol. The angst is coming to an end.

jrintha: Yes, she was rather stupid but you nailed it. The upper classes have to do something when forced into an arranged marriage.

stoneofpurity: I love Ron too. I'll have to come up with something fun after this one's done... just for him :D