Ginger Chap 3
By Ice Queen (ice_queen_5@hotmail.com)
Category: Romance/humor
Keywords: Draco, Ginny, Weasley,
Rating: G
Spoilers: All four Books, but not really.
Summary: Draco keeps having these dreams, and they're throwing off his bad boy groove. But they aren't scary... Cept for him, that is. D/G
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N: All right, Harry has a much better part in this chapter, though still small, since frankly, I get sick of Harry-centric stories. For all those that find this chapter a lil' tame, well, I'll make it up next time, all right? And some of you might be wondering, why so Draco-centric? Well, for the last couple of fics I've been concentrating on Ginny, so I thought I'd give the blonde boy some attention this go round. Thank you all my loyal subj-*Cough* My loyal friends! May your day be as bright as you wish it to be^_^
That night Draco had another dream. But this time he wasn't merely the observer.
"Daddy! You're... short." A little strawberry blonde stared up at him, her eyes dancing as though she knew a secret. Her mirror image groaned, shoving his elbow into her stomach lightly.
"Shut it, Anton'a, he ain't through growin' yet." The male version stated. He then turned to the very confused looking blonde. "'Allo pops, you might not know us yet, but you're our dad. By Feorge, he sure looks like Erick, don't 'e?"
"Y'er right, 'e does. But that ain't what we're 'ere for, Anto'ny. We's here to get him and mum together! He told us all bout that, 'member? Right afore we went to sleep." The female version nodded, as though she were stating a well known fact.
"This is all a horrendously bad dream, isn't it?" Draco turned, sure that they were just figments of his imagination. "If this wasn't connected with those ridiculous dreams I've been having lately I would... Well, I rightly don't know what I would do but I can promise that it WILL NOT BE PRETTY!!"
"I think we've gone and made da mad." The female stated hesitantly, looking to her brother for support. "We didn't mean it when we called you short, we was just playin. Y'er a good foot taller than Erick. And you'll get taller!"
"Aye! You will!"
"That's nice to-What the hell am I talking about? Get out of my head you rugrats! There is no way in Heaven, Hell, or in between that I'm going to end up with a mudblood-loving snot nosed Gryffindor! Especially not a Weasley!!"
As one the twins began to bawl. He turned, sticking his nose in the air, completely unaffected. "You ain't our Pa! You're just a cold-blooded... Malfoy! I shoulda let Unka George make fun of yous! Mama deserves better than-"
"Stop it Anton'a, he didn't mean it, you know that!" The male wrapped an arm around his mirror's shoulder in a comforting manner. "He's j'st actin' like Erick when he wants somethin' 'e can't have." The girl hiccuped, nodding silently. Draco's mouth opened, but nothing came out.
As one the twins wiped away their tears, looking up at him with his own silver eyes. "Pa, we don't know why's you actin' so mean, but... We're gonna 'elp you anyway. Cuz if we don't somethin' tells us... we won't be 'round much longer. Or at all..." The room went dark, both small children disappearing as though they had never been there.
"I... I don't care, do you hear me? I DON'T CARE IF YOU DON'T... happen." He dropped, sinking his head into the palms of his hands. "I don't care..."
"The redheaded bastard was right... I am going insane." He sat up, the words forcibly torn from his lips as he stared at the darkened room. The sounds of Goyle and Crabbe snoring came to him, making reality thud even harder in his brain than he had thought possible. "I am going insane, and I'm surrounded by idiots. Lovely." **A/N: I had that word stolen from me by a Draco-wanna-be in Junior High. Of course that was before Draco even existed, but that's another matter entirely. It just seems like a... Draco catch-phrase of sarcasm^_^**
He turned over, burying his head under his pillow and forcing his eyes to stay open until the morning wake up call. After a while one of his eyes began to twitch in time with the snores. Twitch... Twitch... Twitch...
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"This isn't working, the little brat can't do anything for me and I don't have much time until... Until something bad happens, I know it! Anything that has to do with redheads is automatically bad news." There was a slight bit of light in the room that trailed Draco as he paced in the area in front of his bed. His hair was messed up from the numerous times he ran his hand through it and his feet were starting to get rug burn, not to mention the wear on the rug.
Crabbe and Goyle were no help, each smirking slightly in their dream, Crabbe mumbling something suspiciously like "'Llicent." every once in a while. Goyle merely saying "Chicken..." Typical behavior. He should have known Crabbe would shack up with the beast woman sooner or later, they had so much in common after all. And Goyle? Well it was only to be expected. Give him two of the hottest girls in the house and what else would the idiot dream about?
He smirked, glad to have been distracted for a moment at least. Of course that thought led him back to where he started and the pacing began all over again. Until a thought struck him between his silver eyes. "Bloody hell, we have a Quidditch practice today." But that wasn't the worst of it, you see, Draco was the captain of his team and he hadn't even come up with new plays yet. He almost smiled, thankful for something to keep him busy for the rest of the pre-dawn hours, and pulled out his notebook and a quill. It was time to get to work. Potter wouldn't beat him this year, not if he had to use every dirty trick in the book.
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Crabbe was in heaven. Every time he started to ask for something it was handed to him before he completed his thought. A slight smile, another helping of pancakes, and the worlds most perfect girl catering to his every whim. There was nothing he wouldn't do for this female. He would follow her to the ends of the earth... as long as she brought the food of course.
*A/N: Icy sorry, but in a sick, demented way she thinks the couple is quite adorable on it's own.*
He never even thought of Draco as she stood up to leave. He just grabbed her bags from her and followed. Had he been a cartoon character there would have been little red hearts fluttering around the six foot six tall, three hundred pound Beater. But Millicient didn't mind, in fact she was having the same problem.
Draco watched them go, torn between disgust and laughter, but gave into neither. Although Crabbe wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, he was still a loyal pet. He deserved happiness where it found him.
"Goyle, come. We have much to do." The annoying voice called out, making his other goon jump like a puppy called to heel. Pansy and Blaise smirked at him, shoving their bags into the walking wall's waiting hands. Draco was left alone.
"Perhaps I was a mite hasty with their punishment." Draco stated to himself. He shrugged, motioning the team to head for the pitch. He would just have to collect the beaters after they had rid themselves of their female problems. Thankfully Millicient was on the team, having broken the no-female rule the first year she tried out, and would no doubt be bringing Crabbe along. Goyle might be a little more difficult to get a hold of. With that thought Draco sent a first year to collect him. He walked out of the dining room, trying not to gloat at the fact he hadn't glanced at the little weasel once during the meal.
The only problem was, right before leaving he couldn't help but look over in her... general direction, and find that she wasn't there. It seemed he wasn't as strong-willed as he had thought. It's easy to avoid looking at someone that wasn't even there. But where is she?
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"I can't face another hour of that Ferret-faced psycho smirking at me, not when he thinks I owe him my life. I'm just gonna haveta... Figure out another way to get breakfast. I guess it's a good thing Ma sent me this fudge. It's kinda old... but..." Ginny was talking to herself. In reality she was waiting for the time when the Slytherin Quidditch team usually headed for the pitch on Wednesday. Lousy Snape let their team skip every Wednesday morning in order to practice, when the Gryffindors had to practice at night.
She planned on sneaking down after their usual time and heading for Care For Magical Animals. Hagrid had a new set of magical creatures for the semester and she wanted a better look. Plus he had told her the third years were getting Nifflers next class period. They were perfect to get her mind off of... Ferrets.
She checked her watch, grinning when she noted the time. The team must be long gone by now, Draco's always been anal about his pitch time. Not that Harry isn't... Ginny grinned wryly, thinking of the long hours she had spent practicing, rain, snow, or sleet. She was a Chaser on the Gryffindor team this year. She had thought it would get her closer to Har-er... Her brother, of course. Ron was the Keeper this year, what with Dean and Seamus as Beaters and two seventh years as the other Chasers, they had a very good team.
Ginny shook her head, telling herself she was merely wasting time and that she had a Niffler to pet. She grinned, tossing her carry-all over her shoulder and practically skipping down the steps. Too bad her confidence was in vain.
"Are you trying to starve yourself, you little fool? Isn't it enough that your family doesn't have enough money to feed you at home??" She was roughly shoved against the wall, finding herself staring into a rather angry blonde's face.
"W-wha?"
"Don't give me that! WHY WEREN'T YOU AT BREAKFAST?" He shouted. Somewhere in the back of his mind Draco knew he was acting out of character, but he hadn't had any sleep for the last few months and... Well, he didn't want to follow that line of thought. "I never thought you were that superficial, Weasel." He dropped her, trying to regain some of his dignity. Malfoys were not to appear out of control... at any cost.
"S-SUPERFICIAL?! How dare you, y-you Ferret faced pretty boy! I wasn't trying to starve myself! I was avoiding YOU! Like I would want to sit there watching you gloat at the thought I owed you for saving my life! But here's a newsflash, Ferret, I was just about to save myself before you had your goon knock in that bloody door! I owe you nothing."
"Is that what this is all about?" Draco started to laugh, making Ginny stare up at him in confusion. "As though a Weasley could afford to pay back a Malfoy!! It is to laugh!"
A voice came from behind them, making both stare up in shock. "How much does she owe you?" Potter asked, stepping around the Hermione-impaired Ron Weasley. "How much does she owe you, Malfoy? Whatever it is I'll pay you back, just leave Ginny alone!"
Ginny flushed, moving so that Draco wasn't directly between her and Harry. "Harry... I-I..." Draco nearly growled, shoving her behind him again.
"Not even you could pay me back for this one, Scarhead. And the little Weasley was just telling me she doesn't need someone playing hero. Though she probably doesn't want to tell you the same thing..." The dream team stared in amazement as Draco gave one last glare at the redhead in question and stormed off.
Ginny drooped down silently on the stairs, looking at her shoes rather than facing the dream team. "He's right, you know. I have to learn to take care... of myself."
"But you're my LITTLE SISTER! No two faced bouncing Ferret ought to-"
"Shut it Ron, he... He saved my life, all right? He saved it, and now no matter how much I hate the git, I still owe him." She stood, storming out of the building and leaving a befuddled trio staring after her.
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Quidditch practice went remarkably well when one took into consideration the Captain's latest lapse of sanity, not to mention the over-sized Beaters and their newfound love lives. All in all, the love was spread much thicker than usual at the Slytherin's practice. Just as long as you didn't screw up.
Strangely enough, spoiled-boy Malfoy was a decent Captain, mean, but with a tendency to fix the mistake rather than berate it. Some said he had matured with age, those that knew him better recognized it as what it was. Cold-blooded determination to grab the snitch and shove it up Potter's-well, we won't go that far. Let's just say it wouldn't be pretty.
They straggled in around lunch, each member, except Malfoy, of course, looking as though they had been dragged across the pitch by their brooms rather than riding them. This didn't mean that Malfoy hadn't worked twice as hard, it just meant that even dirt was afraid of his wrath.
Draco smirked over at the Gryffindor team, thankful that with such a good practice he had a reason to smirk. He even noticed the little redhead was no longer staring up at Potter and his gang with adoration. He was almost tempted to say she was ignoring them, but that would have been too much to hope for.
Crabbe and Goyle had already hit the tables and were well into their second helping by the time he sat down. Needless to say the only time the two moved quickly was on the pitch and at the dinner table. Draco sat down and began to eat almost as much as his pets, yet with much more class. An entire morning of Quidditch was enough to make a body starved.
He was in as close to a good mood as a Malfoy could get, until he remembered a slight problem. He had another meeting with Ginny after this meal. No doubt her brother knew that as well. Draco glimpsed up at the male redhead, noting the almost intimidating glare directed at him. Yes, the weasel remembers quite well, perhaps even better than the female weasel does. He glanced over, noting the way she deliberately turned away from his direction. It seemed he was on the same list as the dream team in her book. What a terrifying thought.
Ginny was once again trying to forget her male problems by distracting herself with Megan's. It was rather entertaining, especially since Colin was sitting closer that day.
"So Megan, have any plans for the trip to Hogsmeade this weekend?" She would ask, noting the way Colin looked up, as though trying to appear casual.
"I-I thought we were going together." Megan replied, kicking Ginny under the table as a sign to lay off.
"Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean we can't see other people!" Ginny stated, trying to look as innocent as possible as Megan snorted pumpkin juice through her nose. She shot an inane smile over at the gaping Colin then calmly went back to eating her meal.
"I... will... get you... for that!" Megan hissed, glancing out of the corner of her eye at Colin then resuming her glare at Ginny.
"Payback's bloody 'ell, ain't it?" Ginny grinned, reminding Megan of the better than Harry comment from the other day. It almost made up for the fact that she had to deal with Malfoy for the next hour. But not quite.
Ginny stood, deciding to get it over and done with as soon as possible. She would go to the library and hope that egotistical prat forgot again. That is if there were such things as small miracles... Something she was sincerely beginning to doubt.
Draco spotted the small redhead leaving and stood to follow. "You're NOT going after that little poor girl, are you?" Pansy asked, though it sounded more like a threat to Draco. He smirked down at the pug nosed female, trying to hide the tick in his right eye.
"I would be careful, Pansy. It almost sounded as though you had something to do with my life. We wouldn't want to make Goyle jealous, now would we?" She squealed as the insinuation leaked slowly into her brain. Now the entire school would believe she and Goyle were dating, not that he was her lacky as they had assumed. Draco walked away, a grin tugging at the corners of his sneer.
Ron stood, about to follow, only to have both Snape and McGonagall give him the evil eye. It was enough to send the reckless redhead back to his seat with a resounding 'THUMP!"
Harry started playing with his food, a worried look on his face. Ginny was like a little sister to him, and though he knew she could take care of herself, he couldn't help but think... She might be in over her head.
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