Bonds Discovered:
With Ginny staring at him, Draco couldn't remember what he'd meant to write, not to mention actually put his original thoughts down on the parchment. Which meant that the rough copy of the letter he was working on to his father went from being 'rough' to 'complete and utter gibberish'. But he kept pretending to write anyway because, what else was he supposed to do?
Admit defeat and leave?
Not fucking likely.
Aside from the fact that she'd randomly shown up in what was supposed to be his secret place, he was also basically in shock that she wasn't in his godfather's bed right now, getting shagged to within an inch of her life by a… better than average cock he was determined to not be envious of.
Mine's not exactly underwhelming either, he thought with a mental sniff.
I wonder if she left of her own accord or if Uncle Sev kicked her out.
I hope it's the first. I hope it's because she came to her senses and realized she didn't actually want to be touched be a wizard old enough to be her father.
Unless I ask Snape later I'll probably never know. And it's not likely…
The sudden appearance of grass on his parchment pulled Draco from his thoughts. He looked up at the girl who'd decided to torment him with her presence just as she asked, "Watcha writing?"
As cute as she looked with her chin resting on her fist and her chocolate eyes glittering at him with reflected sunlight, he still couldn't help but snarl out, "Why do you care?" (Okay, there was probably some lingering resentment from the jealousy of seeing her in Snape's bed.)
She shrugged, plucked a daisy and tossed it at him. He only raised an ire-filled eyebrow as it bounced off his chest and landed on his parchment. "Why not? If you're going to make me share my space, we might as well be friendly about it."
What?! Did she just offer a truce? No way. Draco stared at her, looking for deception in her eyes and found none. He wasn't a highly skilled Legilimens like Snape, but he had, out of necessity, learned how to read people without actually using magic to do it. (Having a moody Dark Lord and all of his lying and backstabbing minions living in or visiting one's house would do that.)
She's actually sincere. Merlin. Maybe I have a chance of surprising Father tonight after all. Draco found himself beaming at Ginevra Weasley like she'd just invented the first flying broom and presented it to him as a gift. "Thank you," he said with more sincerity in his tone than he'd used in a long time.
Now it was Ginny who was blinking at him like he'd just done something unfathomable, but her expression quickly turned into a returning smile. "You're welcome." She tilted her head a fraction and she sat up a little straighter as she gave up holding her head up with her fist. "You know, I don't think I've ever heard you thank anyone before."
Draco grimaced slightly and averted his eyes from her searching ones, staring blankly at his parchment as he twirled his quill between his fingers. He didn't know why, but he felt like he needed to try and explain himself to her, so he did. "I know I was a right git who walked around like I owned the world, but I also felt like I had absolutely nothing to be thankful for here, if that makes sense. I hated this school from day one and I only ever wanted to get out of it as soon as possible. For a time, I thought if I was obnoxious enough, Dumbledore would send me home and tell them not send me back."
"That obviously didn't work," Ginny said as he paused to take a breath. He glanced up to see her studying him with curiosity and even a little sympathy, which gave him the courage to continue.
"No, it didn't. And then Potter grew to be so fucking famous for not actually doing all that much other than surviving stuff if you think about it, and the whole school turned into a Potter fan club even more than it already was and I hated it here even more. Made my day when he was suddenly ostracized for the whole name in the Goblet of Fire thing." Ginny made a slight choking noise, but he forged on, not looking at her because he didn't want to see any censure in her eyes. "Then he was a champion and everybody loved him again as my world was being turned upside down at home. I promise you, I've said, 'Thank you, My Lord' about a thousand times all while pretending to actually mean it because my life and my parents' lives depended on it, so if I never said thank you to anyone at school after that either, it was because the words were like needles on my tongue."
A finely shaped hand suddenly appeared in his line of sight and came to rest on his forearm. "Draco…" His eyes shot to hers and he only found more sympathy in the depths of hers. And understanding. Actual understanding. "I'm sorry."
He had no desire to shake off her hand like his stupider, younger self would have. He flashed a pathetic, crooked smile at her. "It's okay. I'm just glad that part of my life is over. And as for this last year… well, school still sucks to the extreme and I have yet to feel like anyone deserved my thanks except for Snape, but you would never be around to see that, I'm sure."
"Yeah, not likely," she laughed once and drew her hand back into her lap before it got too awkward. He found that he missed her touch, even if it was just on top of his sleeve. Her expression hardened slightly under the new warmth she'd shown him. "While I'm not going to condone how you acted to my friends and family all these years, I think I can forgive you for it. I understand hating school because I hate it too. I understand how depressing it feels to be cast in the shadows of Harry's fame. I understand how terrifying it is to be under Voldemort's control because I literally was. And I'm sorry the world has dumped you in the villain box even though you were actually a victim. Unfortunately you're rich and good looking, which makes them automatically envy you. And envy so easily turns to hate."
If Draco hadn't been utterly, inexplicably, infatuated with her before, he was now. (And she thinks I'm good looking!) He adopted her chin-on-fist pose and gazed at her like she might just be an angel. "Has anyone ever told you that you're really smart and beautiful and caring and talented and far too good to be real?"
Ginny's eyes widened and she leaned away from him a little in shock. "Ummmmm, a boyfriend or two in the past may have mentioned a few of those things at some point or another, but I don't think anyone's put it quite that way." Her eyes narrowed in sudden suspicion that he honestly couldn't blame her for. Draco hardly even recognized himself right now. "Why?"
He shrugged. "It has just occurred to me that I might have fallen asleep in the sun and that this is all a dream. One of the best I've ever had, even, because all I've ever wanted is for someone to actually understand me. The only person who even comes close is Snape, and, well, he's not exactly the snuggly conversationalist type."
She stared at him for two seconds in complete silence as even the wind in the trees seemed to pause for breath, and then she was laughing, sounding like bells to his ears.
"That wasn't meant to be funny," he said dryly, putting his writing off to the side and leaning back on his hands while she continued to laugh. Some little part of him thought he should be offended, but the rest of him was more fascinated with studying her face and how the sunlight and shadows danced across her skin and brilliant red hair as she moved.
Merlin's toes. Even if this is a dream, it's still the best thing to happen to me in ages.
Ginny wasn't sure why she found Draco's last line ridiculously funny, but she was pretty sure it had something to do with the fact that Snape was probably snuggling and conversing with Hermione right now.
Or going for round two.
That last thought was sobering enough that she was able to regain control of herself. Through a few last wheezes, she said, "I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at you, I swear."
Draco raised one of his perfect eyebrows. "Care to let me in on the joke, then?"
She shook her head. "You probably wouldn't believe me even if I did."
"Try me."
Catching the dare in his tone, she tilted her head in acknowledgment. "Fine. What if I said that at this very moment, Snape is more than likely in bed with his wife and undoubtedly having a very interesting conversation."
Draco didn't scoff as she expected him to, but sat up abruptly with wide eyes. "Did you say wife?"
"I did."
"Not possible. He would have told me. And you, you were…" Draco cut himself off abruptly. Which reminded her that he'd implied earlier that he expected her to be somewhere else. And he didn't seem shocked by the in bed part, considering Snape is currently at school where he shouldn't be in bed with anybody.
A sneaking suspicion started to form. "I was what?" she demanded.
Draco flushed and turned his attention to the flowers with a sudden intensity that told her all she needed to know. But his muttered words confirmed it. "There with them."
Ginny saw red for a moment as anger swelled within her. She pushed him hard on the shoulder, so that he ended up catching himself back on his hands again. "You! You were spying on us, weren't you?!"
His flush deepened and he nodded once, righting himself again. He only met her eyes for a second before the flowers became his main focus once more. "Only for a minute or two," he said quickly. "And only because I heard noises coming from his classroom. Then I found the new door in the closet to his bedroom and couldn't help but be curious."
Ginny had to give him that. She would have done the same. But she still demanded, "What did you see?"
Astonishingly, Draco managed to redden even further. Even the tips of his ears flushed to the colour of cherries. "Not that much, I swear! I saw you and Granger kissing Snape's arms, still dressed in your uniforms. And I saw more than I ever wanted to of my Godfather's tied up person. That's it. And after that, you were talking, mostly. About me. Then I left."
In that moment, Ginny decided that it was best that Draco never know that she'd undressed down to her underwear and let Snape finger her to a climax. Why, she couldn't say for sure, but something in her didn't want to hurt him with the knowledge. "I left too, not long after that."
His eyes shot up to hers, astonishment in the now steel grey depths. Funny, I never noticed his eyes could change colour before. Must be tied to his emotions.
It took him a second, but then he asked, "Why? You seemed to be enjoying yourself from what I saw."
Ginny felt her face heat. "I was, I guess. It was never really my idea to be there, though. I was just giving Hermione moral support. And I left because they were forming a soulmate bond right in front of me and they really didn't need me there for that."
His eyes went wide, almost comically so. "You're sure?"
Ginny grinned on behalf of her friend. "Yep. I could practically see the magical sparks between them. And - this is a little embarrassing - but I stayed in the classroom while they were getting busy and watched the closet until it glowed gold."
"Fucking hell," he breathed, head shaking slowly back and forth in amazed disbelief. "Magical soulmates. I thought that was just a myth."
"It's not. My parents are soulmates."
Draco gawked at her for a moment before he remember to close his mouth with a snap. "No way."
"Way," she grinned.
"Hunh." A slow grin formed on his lips that made her heart stutter for some reason. And his eyes shone silver again as he looked at her. "No wonder you have so many siblings."
It took her a moment, but then she was laughing again. "Yeah."
"Magical chemistry is irresistible, I guess," he continued, still teasing. But then he blinked once and a mask of pain settled on his face before his expression became more neutral as his shoulders slumped slightly. He clenched a handful of grass and ripped it out of the ground before throwing it. "Something I'm sure I'll never feel," he muttered.
Ginny looked at him with concern. That flash had been more than just the average longing for something every witch and wizard wished they could have. "What is it, Draco? Why do you seem so defeated?"
His eyes, when he looked at her again, where thundercloud grey and made her heart hurt. "Father's making an arranged marriage for me with an older witch that I've never even met. From Russia."
And now her heart broke for him for sure, because Ginny couldn't imagine being forced into a marriage that she didn't want. "Oh, Draco, I'm sorry." Leaning forward, she put her hand on his to stop him from tearing out more grass by the roots that didn't deserve the abuse. "Maybe you can…" Ginny froze suddenly in midsentence, then looked down at their hands as frissons of electricity travelled up her arm. "Do you…" she whispered. "Do you feel that?"
Draco looked at her with huge eyes as he nodded and gulped. "Yeah. I do. There's no way… Is there?"
Ginny swallowed hard too, her body started to tremble faintly with shock. She curled her fingers under his and raised their hands up, grasping his fingers hard. The magical shocks jolted in response and she gasped, dropping his hand like it had burnt her. "Merlin," she breathed.
Draco lifted his also trembling hand up to hover by her face, his eyes locked on hers. "May I?"
Mutely, she nodded her consent, and he turned his hand to touch the back of his fingers to her cheek with no more pressure than a butterfly would make. Her skin tingled nonetheless in a way she'd never felt before from others who'd touched her the same way. "Draco," she whispered, raising her hand to hold his hand to her face. Pleasant shocks travelled down her arm again. "I think we're…"
His perfectly sculpted lips parted on a sharp inhale, and then he whispered back, "Yeah, I think we are too."
A/N: So I have some news.
I'm now unemployed. Because I've moved. I have another job lined up, but it doesn't start until April at the earliest, which means I'll have lots and lots of time to write for you guys. That's the good news. The bad news is that after cleaning stalls and taking care of horses for 26 years, I feel it's time to try and do something a little more meaningful with my life before I kick the bucket and my headstone says, 'Here Lies the World's Best Stall Cleaner'.
What I really want to be is a full-time writer. I'd prefer to just write fanfics for you all, but it's already been proven to me that that just isn't possible. So I've started the process of converting as many of my stories as I can into original works and have set up a website where you all can continue reading your favourite stories in a somewhat different version for a small fee. (50 cents a chapter or $5 for an entire finished story is what I'm currently thinking. Anyone agree with me that this sounds fair?)
I'll also continue picking away at the fanfics that I can't convert because they're just too strongly based on canon, but probably not as often as you're used to. (Which is already months between updates because of how many stories I have, lol.)
If there's anyone out there who'd prefer that I write your fanfics full-time as they are instead, well... you know what to do. And if you don't, pm me. My Facebook page, TheLoneRebel's Stories, will have updates and new information as it becomes available.
