Chapter 29: Could I Stay Over
"So is it gonna be a night in or night out?" asked Francis, taking out her pack of cigars.
"In, definitely," said Cecilia.
"Whose house, then?"
There was a bit of silence.
"How about Ginny's? The redhead I got a glimpse of is pretty fetching," grinned Lola.
Ginny shook her head, her eyes wide. "That's my brother and he's married. And his wife is pregnant right now."
Lola looked disappointed. "Oh," she said. "That's like the worst time to seduce a married man."
"Don't even think about it," Ginny said sternly.
"You girls can come to my house," said Cecilia finally. "I live alone with my boyfriend but I can kick him out for the night."
"You have a boyfriend?" said Ginny, surprised. "I mean...is he okay with...?"
"That's how I met him," Cecilia smirked. "I mean...that's how he met me."
It was the first time that Anya lost a husband and not by death. Of course, she did her bit of crying and wailing and holding on, but Raoul kept a straight face as he signed the divorce papers.
In the Wizarding World, of course, a divorce was a rare event; the marriage magically bounded a couple for eternal love, so on and so forth. So Raoul spent a small fortune paying for the professionals who could undo the magic, but he did not think twice about it.
"You'd rather believe those young children of yours and divorce me?" cried Anya. Today she was not in her usual state, which made her morphing skills weaken. Her skin managed to stay pale but it was cracked here and there, showing bits of wrinkles. Her hair was the most depressing shade of gray.
"It's not about you, Anya, it's about me. And them," said Raoul. "I cannot let my daughters live wretched lives so that I could live with you."
"You don't love me?" Anya said, clinging on to his arm. He shook it away.
"It doesn't matter if I do," he said. He hadn't really believed that Anya would hurt him, but it really did not matter now. He couldn't let his daughters do porn just to make a point to him. He had a duty to his lost wife, after all.
Blaise wasn't there to witness all of that. He didn't want to, and his respect for the Bladdin girls and Raoul grew, even though he felt as if he should be guilty like his mother. And what was he going to tell Ginny? Yes, that was my step-dad, but he divorced my mom so that his daughters won't do porn. And the girls were doing porn so that he would divorce her, or else he's going to die. Why did he have to belong to such a wickedly corrupt family?
Those were his thoughts as he sat snuggled close to Ginny on Friday evening. He had invited her to his place and they were sitting on the very sofa Blaise was lying on the night Ginny had slept on his bed. She had woken him up by whacking him with a lamp.
"Are you sure you don't have to go home?" he asked.
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" cried Ginny, smacking his arm.
"It's just that I'm worried your brother might get mad..."
"He won't even notice that I'm not there," she said, rolling her eyes. "His head is so full of Hermione and the baby that I could be missing for days and he won't notice."
Their eyes met. Blaise's body trembled at the thought of keeping Ginny for days with him, and she was quite flustered as she realized what she had possibly suggested. What she did not know, however, was how much hot and bothered she was making him as days went by, as troubled as he was about bringing her to meet his mother.
He cleared his throat. "You know, Ginny...my mother wants to meet you."
"Oh?" she said, looking up at him. "Sure. When's the best time?"
He was flustered. "I didn't really expect that type of reaction."
"What else did you expect?" shrugged Ginny. "You met my mum and dad, so I guess it's time for your to meet your mom and dad."
"Well, the thing is...I don't have a dad anymore," he said darkly.
"Oh, no," said Ginny. She had heard of Blaise's mother's ex-husbands and how they all died...
"No, no, no, he didn't die," said Blaise hurriedly, reading the expression on her face. "They got a divorce."
She stared at him, wide-eyed. "So you aren't those girls' stepbrother anymore?"
He frowned. "No...but what does that matter?"
Ginny could not help but blush, embarrassed. "It's nothing. It doesn't matter," she said. "Now...when should I meet her?"
"Anytime that's good for you," he said gently.
"Anytime's good for me," she shrugged. "Ask her."
Blaise nodded, smiling. "Thanks." This time he did not suppress the urge to press his lips against hers. "So...you don't have to go home tonight?"
She shook her head slowly, a blush rising up in her cheeks. She snuggled closer to him, and he felt his whole body warm up in the most pleasant way. "Could I stay over?"
Blaise cleared his throat, his face turning pink. "I...take it you want to take the bed."
"Of course, you can't expect a lady to sleep on your couch now," Ginny teased, wrapping her arms around his neck a bit more boldly. "And you can't expect her to sleep alone..."
Blaise knew that she felt him gulp, and he was very embarrassed indeed. It seemed as if dating Ginny made his playboy qualities disappear. "I guess...we could..."
"Okay, I'm done."
Ginny emerged out of his shower, her red hair wet and in one of his large button-up shirts. He drew in his breath in realizing that she didn't have pants on; the shirt was just long enough to cover the upper part of her thighs. If she were to turn around and maybe bend a bit, he would be able to see her...
"I am dreadfully sleepy," she announced, interrupting his train of thoughts.
Blaise blinked. He was lying flat on one side of the bed, and knew that Ginny was lying on the other, turned away from him on her side. Her breathing was soft and barely audible, but he heard it- no, he was more like listening.
It would have been completely natural to kiss her, as they had kissed many times before, but kissing on the bed is something completely different. It was sure to lead to something else. Something they both wanted...but they weren't sure if they were ready for it.
"Blaise?"
His heart skipped a beat; he had thought she was sleeping.
"Yes?" He heard her move to face him, and he had no choice but to do the same. Their eyes met in the semi-darkness, reflecting the moonlight through the window.
She was leaning closer to him, placing her hand on his side. Their lips were only an inch apart, and Blaise closed his eyes.
There was some silence, and he didn't feel her soft lips press against his. He opened his eyes and sighed. Ginny was fast asleep, resting her head on his arm.
