Chapter 5: Sixteen at Shell Cottage
"Merlin, I'm glad we're getting out of this house," Draco mused, leaning back in Ginny's desk chair and propping his feet up.
"Happy birthday to me!" Ginny said. She grinned and tossed another pair of shorts into her bag. "I think Mum and Dad knew I was getting antsy."
Two nights ago, over dinner, Mrs. Weasley had broached the subject.
"So it's Ginny's birthday coming up," he had said between bites of peas. "And your mother and I were thinking that you kids might fancy a trip to visit Bill and Fleur."
"You're going to let us barge in on the lovebirds at their love-cottage?" Fred said slowly. He looked at George incredulously.
"Well, not barge exactly," Mrs. Weasley chimed in. "But we do know that it's been hard on the four of you, being cooped up here for the past two months, and we thought that a nice weekend away might be a nice treat. Bill and Fleur agree."
"Draco's invited as well?" Ginny said.
"Well of course, he's been stuck around here like the rest of us," George replied. "Right, Mum?" Though they certainly weren't the best of friends, the twins had warmed up to Draco considerably over the past few weeks. Ginny suspected that his convincing performance during the Death Eaters' visit had done wonders to convince them of his trustworthiness.
Mrs. Weasley nodded. "Mind, it's only for a week, because you two," she looked pointedly at Ginny and Draco, "have to get back to your studies. Luckily most of the Sixth Year textbooks are upstairs in Ron's trunk for you, Ginny. And the twins," now she shot Fred and George an acid glare, "still have their hardly touched Seventh Year materials for you, Draco, dear."
Ginny kicked Draco under the table and shot him a look of mock horror at the thought of resuming their studies. Draco shrugged and raised his eyebrows in resignation. It had been decided several weeks before that they would not be returning to Hogwarts, which it was rumored was going to be run by Snape and a crew of Death Eaters in the upcoming term. Draco certainly couldn't go back, and Ginny's parents were uncomfortable sending her into that kind of danger.
"Well, when are we leaving?" George said, suddenly brimming with energy.
"Yeah, George and I have been dying to run some of our new inventions by Bill."
"And by 'run by,' we mean 'test out on,'" George admitted laughingly.
Mr. Weasley gave them a wholly unconvincing look of disapproval. "We thought you could all Floo over on Friday evening. So Ginny can spend her birthday in the refreshing sea air, how does that sound, Gin?"
"It sounds great," Ginny smiled, "Thank you, it's a great idea."
With the promise of the beach and a new environment before them, the rest of the week had flown by, but, true to form, Ginny had waited until the last minute to pack.
"I don't know why I do this to myself," she groaned, glancing up at the clock on her bedroom wall. "We're supposed to Floo over there in fifteen minutes and…hang on, I have to go grab my toothbrush."
Ginny dashed across the hall and into the bathroom, stuffing toothbrush, floss, brush, and moisterizer into a pouch. Ever since the night of Bellatrix's visit, Ginny and Draco had been nearly inseparable. Their friendship was a biting, baiting, teasing sort of friendship, but it was a friendship all the same, and Ginny was enjoying the new level of comfort they had reached around each other.
"Are you already packed?" she called to Draco.
"I was packed three days ago," he called back.
"Great, now I feel much better about my procrastination," Ginny said, coming back into the room and throwing her newly full toiletries pouch at Draco's smug face.
"Cool it, Weasley," he replied, tossing the pouch back to her, "I barely have any belongings here, remember?"
Ginny rolled her eyes and stowed the little bag away, stepping back to survey the clothes tumbling out of her dresser.
"You're going to bring this, aren't you?" Draco said, amusedly holding up a too-small green bikini with one extended finger. "A little too sexy for the little Weasley baby, isn't it? I like the color." He cocked an eyebrow at her cheekily.
Ginny shot him a glare. "Oh, sod off, Malfoy," she grumbled, grabbing the swimsuit from him and deliberately throwing it back into the bottom drawer of her dresser.
"Ginnyyyyy, it's time to gooooo!" Fred's mock-whining voice called up the stairs.
"I'm almost ready," Ginny yelled.
"Women," she heard George sigh theatrically from below.
She turned to Draco. "You better go grab your things."
Draco swung his legs off of the desk. On his way out the door, he bent down and retrieved the green bathing suit from the drawer. He tossed it into Ginny's open trunk and winked at her. "Bring it, Weasley." And he walked out of the room.
Ginny rolled her eyes, threw one last shirt in the bag and zipped it up. A certain amount of shameless flirting had infused itself into the friendship along with the new levels of comfort. Ginny felt the tiniest barb of guilt every time she or Malfoy made a blatantly flirtatious comment, but she had to admit that she enjoyed the feeling of always being on her toes, the next comeback always on the tip of her tongue. She had the strangest feeling that she was engaging in the Slytherin style of flirting.
Ginny threw a last, cursory glance around her bedroom, then grabbed her trunk and headed downstairs.
Fifteen minutes later, Ginny, Draco, and the twins were brushing themselves off in Bill and Fleur's freshly decorated living room.
"How was ze Floo? Not too dizzying, I 'ope," Fleur said, pulling Ginny into a hug. Ginny noted that since the wedding, Fleur's English had improved drastically.
"It wasn't bad at all," she replied, smiling encouragingly. She hadn't particularly liked Fleur when she'd first encountered her at the Triwizard Tournament in Third Year; she had seemed so shallow and finnicky, but Ginny had begun to like her more and more after seeing her with Bill. And she had been so incredibly patient and loyal after his injury.
"Ginny, I'm glad you're all right. Mum told us about the Death Eaters," Bill said, coming over and giving Ginny a big hug.
"Oh, it's all right. That was weeks ago," Ginny said, trying to brush it off. To be honest, she didn't like to think about it.
"We are so glad you are going to be staying with uz," Fleur added. "Let uz show you your rooms and den we will have lunch, all right?"
"Here, Gin, lemme get your bag," Bill said, swinging Ginny's bag up and starting up the stairs after his wife. "Are you all right with that, Draco?" he added, turning back to glance at Malfoy. Ginny recognized that this was her brother's acknowledgement of Draco. Bill hadn't been there when the decision to allow Draco into the Weasley home had been made, but she was sure her parents and Charlie had filled him in.
"Yeah, I'm all set," Draco replied, following them up.
"I guess we're out in the cold, then, Fred," George said, shaking his head morosely.
"Yeah, no help with the bags for us, eh?" added Fred.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Let's go, you two," she muttered.
The cottage was very small from the outside, so Ginny suspected that one or two of the rooms had been added magically to accommodate them all.
"This iz for you, Draco," Fleur said, turning right at the top of the stairs and opening the first door on the hall.
Draco brought his bag inside. "Thank you very much," he said politely. Fleur smiled happily at him.
"And zis is for Fred and George," she said, showing them to the next door on that hall.
Fleur crossed back to the other side of the stairs. "And finally, for Ginny!" She opened the door to reveal Ginny's quarters for the week.
"Thanks, Fleur," Ginny said, throwing her bag onto the bed and then bouncing onto it as well.
"Gin, our bedroom's right next door if you need anything," Bill added.
"Why don't you get settled. Lunch will be ready in five minutes, okay?" Fleur said, and she headed back down the stairs.
"Sure thing," Ginny called after her. "Thanks for this, Bill," she said, as her brother came and sat down next to her on the bed.
"Aw, it's nothing," Bill said, winking at her. "S'not every day il' Ginnykins turns sixteen! Don't tell Fleur I told you, but she's baking you a big cake for tomorrow night."
"That's really nice of her…she doesn't have to do that," Ginny said quickly.
Bill waved a hand. "She insisted," he said. "I think she's trying to get you to like her."
"Oh, Bill!" Ginny exclaimed. "I do like her!"
Bill raised his eyebrows skeptically. Ginny rolled her eyes. Bill had been able to see right through her since the day she was born.
"All right, so I didn't like her at first. But only at first! I like her now, of course!"
"Well, that's my baby sister," Bill said affectionately, tapping her on the nose (Ginny never let anyone else tap her on the nose). "You can never dislike anyone once you get to know them."
Ginny immediately thought of Malfoy. Bill's thoughts seemed to run in the same direction.
"So, the Malfoy kid being around…are you all right with that? Is he being all right to you?"
"Merlin, Billy, it sounds like you're worried he's pushing me around on the playground or something," Ginny said, patting her brother reassuringly on the arm.
Bill chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, so you're grown up. You know what I mean, Gin. You know, Gred and Forge Floo'd me a while back worried about you…."
"Oh, great," Ginny retorted, rolling her eyes heavenward.
"Well they were worried the two of you were spending too much time together."
"I think they're fine with it now," Ginny said. "They were worried for a while and gave me a bit of a hard time about it, because Malfoy and I have been spending time together, but they've warmed up to him now. Malfoy's kind of a git, but at the end of the day I'm stuck with him, aren't I?" she finished.
Bill gave her one last piercing look, but seemed satisfied. "Well, good, I'm glad to hear it. I better go down and help Fleur get the table set."
"Look at you, all grown up," Ginny teased.
"Well Mum's certainly relieved," Bill laughed, heading out of the room.
Ginny took a moment to survey her week's residence – a metal-framed double bed, a wicker rocking chair, and a little table topped with a mirror filled up all the space in the small room. Ginny heaved her trunk to the foot of the bed, then headed down the hall to Malfoy's room.
"Do you want to go down to the beach later?" Ginny asked as she bounded onto the bed. "Hey! That's cool!" she commented, noticing the skylight window on the sloped ceiling above his bed.
"It's going to be bloody obnoxious in the mornings, though," he muttered from where he was rummaging in his trunk for something.
"Are you a wizard of not?" she teased. "Rustle up some curtains or something. You're seventeen."
"Merlin, woman, why do you have so much energy all of a sudden?" he said.
"Sea air or whatever," Ginny replied. "So? Beach?"
"All right," Draco said, "As long as you don't try to get me to swim."
"It's the ocean, and freezing! Why in the world would I try to make you swim?"
Draco scowled at her. "Because you're a slavedriver in the water."
Ginny grinned. "I do try."
After a light lunch, Ginny spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening with Draco on the beach. The twins had immediately brought Bill and Fleur up to their room and shut the door so that they could demonstrate the wonders of their latest inventions. Every once in a while Ginny and Draco heard Fleur's frightened shriek emanating from the house, which told her that the inventions were a success.
"Malfoy Manor next!" Ginny said after they had spent half an hour constructing a near-perfect replica of the Burrow out of sand.
"No, I'm not at liberty to reveal the blueprint of the manor," Draco said primly.
"Oh, sod it," Ginny said, mussing up their sand-Burrow with a swipe of her left foot. "I showed you mine, now you have to show me yours." She waggled her eyebrows at him.
Draco sighed. "All right." He smoothed out the sand before him and cleared his throat theatrically. Ginny laughed. "So here's the lane coming up the house…."
"Don't tell me, it's called Malfoy Lane."
"No!" Draco insisted. He met Ginny's raised eyebrows head-on.
"Well, what's it called then?" Ginny persisted.
"I'll have you know that it's called Malfoy Drive."
Ginny burst into laughter, but quickly stifled it at Draco's glare. "The Drive happens to have been constructed by my great-great-great-great-great grandfather, thanks very much."
"All right, all right, continue," Ginny said. "You know, the Burrow was constructed by my grandfather," she added teasingly.
"And I'm sure he was very proud of it," Draco said. "And here is the gate…and the wrought iron fence surrounding the grounds. Help me make that side," he added, positioning the sand in a make-shift high wall around a large rectangular area.
"Now, there's the entrance foyer, the dining hall, the small parlour, the large parlour…," he said, swiftly cordoning off each room with a swipe in the sand of his index finger, "the library, my father's private offices, the dueling hall, the trophy room, and the ballroom, formerly the indoor swimming pool," he said, grinning at a flabbergasted Ginny.
"This is all on the ground floor?"
"Yes," Draco said, "now the kitchens, wine cellar, and dungeons are underground, but I don't think we can build that elaborate a sandcastle, unfortunately."
"Wait, wait, wait," Ginny cut in. "You have dungeons in your house?"
Draco chuckled. "Well my great-great-great-great-great grandfather wasn't exactly the most gentle of individuals. Oh! The house elves and other servants have sleeping quarters underground as well."
"And upstairs?" Ginny said, "Don't tell me – a room made of diamonds."
"Unfortunately, no. Just the bedrooms."
"You have just the one bedroom?" Ginny muttered sarcastically. "That must be tough for you."
"You asked," Draco returned.
"Well, now I certainly see where your bloated sense of self-worth comes from," Ginny teased.
"Play nice, Weasley," Draco tutted, tossing a fistful of sand at her.
"Hey!" Ginny yelled, throwing sand right back. She grasped another handful, and Draco stood and darted away from the grains heaved in his direction.
"That's right, run away and hide in your bloody dueling hall, you rich git!" Ginny laughed, chasing him across the beach.
After dinner, the twins challenged Bill to a game of chess, admitting grumpily that they needed to hone their skills after a from-behind defeat by Ginny and Draco several weeks earlier. Ginny opened a pack of Pumpkin Pasties and sat back to watch the game unfold.
When night fell, everyone headed up to their respective bedrooms, with a stern word of warning from Bill to the happily victorious twins not to burn the cottage down with their latest inventions.
Ginny tossed and turned restlessly in bed for some time. There had still been no news from Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and everyone was beginning to think that it was useless to wait for an Owl at this point. Perhaps the Trio just deemed it too dangerous to even try. Ginny was trying to resign herself to the idea of no news until the whole thing was over…it could be years.
Ginny kneaded her pillow in frustration. It was no use. She shoved her pillow under one arm and got out of bed. The door to her room creaked once as she slowly inched it open. She winced and stood quiet for a moment before slipping out and pulling it softly closed behind her. The hall was dark outside, and Ginny had to move slowly in the unfamiliar hall. She tiptoed down the corridor. She didn't bother knocking on Draco's door anymore, she just twisted the doorknob slowly and let herself inside.
"It's me," Ginny whispered into the dark room, shutting the door behind her.
The room was dark and Draco was already in bed. "Couldn't sleep?" he said, raising himself up on his elbows. It was obvious from his alert voice that he hadn't been asleep either.
"Yeah," Ginny said. "Scoot over."
Draco sighed, but moved his pillow to one side of the bed. Ginny plumped her pillow up then slid under the covers. For the past few weeks, this had become a regular routine. Whenever one of them couldn't sleep, they would go over to the other's room to talk until tiredness set in. Sleeping in the same bed was another thing entirely, and a thing that Ginny tried not to analyze, but nothing happened (Ginny shook her head at the thought), and if they fell asleep talking, what was the harm in that?
"Hey, you put up curtains," Ginny said, looking up at the fabric that had materialized on either side of the skylight.
"Mmm, good idea, that," he replied, settling himself back down.
"But don't close them yet, it's pretty outside," Ginny said quickly. The sky above was heavy with stars.
"I know, I was looking."
"So it's your birthday tomorrow," Draco continued after a pause. "Why didn't you tell me before?"
"I didn't?" Ginny said, surprised, "I guess I just forgot to mention it."
"I didn't get you a gift, you know," Draco replied.
"It's okay, you can get me two next year."
Draco laughed. "Greedy, Weasley."
"Says the boy who lives in a bloody castle."
"Touche."
"Apparently Fleur's baking me a cake tomorrow night," Ginny said conversationally.
"Really? I didn't know the two of you were close."
Ginny groaned. "I didn't think we were," she muttered.
"Merlin! You hate her, don't you," Draco said, turning to look at her.
"I used to, I'll admit it," Ginny said quickly, "But in my defense, when she came to Hogwarts she was shallow and annoying as all hell."
Draco laughed aloud. "Don't try that tack with me, Weasley. Parkinson tried the pull the same thing. You hated her because she was sexy and all the boys couldn't keep their tongues in their mouths when she walked by. And you were jealous because Saint Potter was one of them!"
"That is not true, Malfoy!" Ginny cried defensively, turning and supporting herself on one elbow.
"That's why you're fine with her now," Draco continued, unfazed, "Because she's married to your brother, so she's off the market."
Ginny tossed her pillow at him, but he just laughed smugly. "Oh, you think you've got me all figured out, don't you, Malfoy," she grumbled. "Well for your information, Harry wasn't one of those boys." She flopped back down, hugging her pillow lengthwise. "He was still in his Cho Chang phase."
Draco looked at her curiously now. "Chang? The Ravenclaw?"
"Yep," Ginny confirmed. "His first kiss."
Draco whistled. "I remember her. Didn't know Potter had it in him," he mused.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Men."
"You mentioned Pansy before…," she added, remembering that time at the pond when Draco had said she might be the person he most cared about, "You never talk about her."
"Ah, Parkinson's just an old friend," he said nonchalantly.
"First girlfriend?" Ginny pressed, grinning and prodding him teasingly.
"I don't know if I'd call it that," he answered cryptically.
"First kiss?"
"Yes, but we were seven, so it hardly counts. We just grew up together, and we're friends, and sometimes we did a little experimenting…," he rolled his eyes at Ginny's look of mock-horror. "But it's never been romantic."
"Huh," Ginny said slowly. "Why didn't you ever get together?"
Draco sighed and turned his gaze back to the stars above, contemplating. "I think at first it was mostly to spite our parents. They were starting to drop hints about the familiies being allied and how a union ought to be arranged, and, well, it rubbed me the wrong way and Pansy wasn't thrilled about it either. And then, you know, in Fifth Year, she started dating Pucey, and now, you know, all of this happened…."
"So you missed your shot with her because your parents…approved of you two?" Ginny said.
"No, it's not like that. I don't look back on it now and regret not dating her," he said, "It's just funny how these things turn out, that's all."
"I see," Ginny said. "Well, maybe after the war…."
"Doubt it. I'm kind of a blood traitor now, aren't I? Pansy would never. And I wouldn't expect her to."
Ginny sighed. She would never understand the intricacies of Slytherin power games.
"Your turn to be interrogated," Draco said, turning back to face her. "So Potter. Your first boyfriend?"
Ginny laughed. "Nope. Michael Corner. You know, the Ravenclaw? And then there was Dean Thomas. And then Harry."
Draco laughed. "Maybe not such a prude after all," he commented. She shrugged.
"So…did you and Potter ever…? You know…," Draco waggled his eyebrows.
Ginny glared at him. "Harry's a real gentlemen, thanks very much."
"I'm sure," Draco laughed. They were silent for a moment. "But you loved him, when you were together?"
Ginny thought for a moment. "Yeah, I'd say so," she answered finally. "Did you ever love Pansy?"
"I guess so. In a way. It's hard to describe," Draco said.
And Ginny realized: there were two confusedly bruised hearts in the bed that night.
Author's Note: See? I told you I would post more regularly! And this is a long chapter too! Admittedly, not much happens…it's mostly Draco and Ginny becoming better friends, but I hope you liked it all the same. Fair warning: the next chapter is going to jump ahead a year…to Ginny's seventeenth birthday. I think that's how I'm going to cover the rest of the time until Harry returns. Snapshots on or around Ginny's birthdays. What do you think? That should get the story moving a little more quickly :)
Also, I have a question for all of you. I'm looking for new fanfiction to READ, so please review and let me know what your favorites are! Much love, mugglehugger