Ginger Chap 4
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: Hiya everybody^_^ I'd just like to say that I read all my reviews on FF.net^_^ *Hint hint* And yes, the kids butcher the English language, but I'll try to keep it from sounding Cockney wmlaw^_^;; It's just they tend to butcher it worse when they're being smartalecs. I guess that makes it most of the time, huh?
Here's a secret for the loyal, for you this fic has barely just begun. I just hit the bottom of page 28 on my rough copy, and that's without any spaces. So look forward to a long ride mina-san!
Chap 4: Temporary Tattoos
Ginny grinned, poking at the little picture fluttering on her ankle. She had learned of the muggle thing called Temporary Tattoos from Hermione, and thought that if she could perfect a magic version Fred and George could sell it at WWW. So far the small snitch only fluttered if you poked it, but it was getting better.
"Is there a reason you're staring at your leg like an idiot? Or are you just stupid?" She glanced up to see Draco smirking over her like some old-fashion Feudal Magician. She glared, hastily dropping her robes down. "What was that?" He asked, having gotten a glimpse of gold. "It was moving." Draco started moving towards her, as though to pull her robes up again.
"What do you care, Malfoy?" Ginny asked caustically, pulling her legs under her in the overstuffed reading chair. "You wouldn't like it anyway, it's muggle related." He stared, still wanting to know, but trapped by his own superiority complex.
"It must not be very important if they allow a Weasley to have one." He dropped down in the seat next to her, glaring. She was really getting on his nerves.
"For your information, I made this one myself. And it could be the beginning of my job after I graduate. But what would you know about that? You'll never have to work for a living." She snarled.
Draco's right eye began twitching again. "I was… trying to be polite, Weasel. But obviously a low-class witch like yourself hasn't enough experience to recognize that."
"All right… you can see it. But if you say one more mean thing about my family, or me, I will leave!" She rolled her eyes at his self-satisfied smirk, turning so that her ankle was showing.
"That's a snitch…"
"Well duh, seems the ever-so intelligent Malfoy is good at stating the obvious." She poked it, making the wings flutter. For a second Ginny thought saw a real grin on his face, rather than a smirk. "I just can't get it to flutter without touching it." She stated, oblivious of her pout.
"Huh…" Draco thought for a moment then pulled out his wand, touching it to the snitch. "Repedio." The wings began to flutter all on their own, making Ginny laugh.
"Thanks! Fred and George are going to love…" She stopped, remembering whom she was talking to. "I mean, thanks."
"Ah… yeah. Anyway, you're supposed to be telling me about dreams?"
"Oh, right. Well, there isn't much legitimate information out there, especially if the dreams aren't directly related to real life. Most people think... well... It would be better if you looked it up for yourself." She shoved a pile of books into his hand, abruptly turning on the pretext of studying her tattoo.
"How are a bunch of books supposed to help me get rid of them?" Draco asked, tossing the books down without even a glance. "You're the 'experienced' one here! As if a muggle-loving daydreamer ever had a bad dream in her life." He muttered the last to himself, but Ginny heard.
She turned, a feral look on her usually innocent face. "I know what bad dreams are, Malfoy. More than an awful, soulless git like you will ever know! And if you think you're so much better than I am, you can bloody well deal with your own bad dreams!"
"They aren't really... bad." Ginny looked up in shock at his frustrated expression. "They're just... really annoying. And I... I... Guess I'm... So-So-"
"Is it really that hard to say?" She knew full well what the blonde was trying to say, but he deserved every moment of torture he got. "Here, why don't I give you a hand? You're so stupid that it hurts? A sodden little coward?" She grinned, watching the rage shoot through his usually cold eyes.
"I'M SORRY YOU ANNOYING LITTLE GIT!!" He shouted. Ginny laughed all the while the two of them were thrown out for causing a disturbance.
"You... BWAHAHAHAA!! Shoulda seen.... HAHAAHAA!! Your face!"
"Shuddup."
"No! Really!! I wish I had had a camera!"
"Shuddup."
"I swear you were as red as Ron gets when he's-"
"Shuddup. Before I take points away."
"Righto! Never thought I'd see the day a Malf-" He turned, shoving her against the wall and covering her mouth with his. "Mmph!" It seemed the most logical way of shutting her up at the time. After a few moments he stepped back, smirking slightly at her dreamy expression.
"You were saying, Weasley?"
"Huh?"
"Much better." With that he turned on his heel, whistling as he walked away.
Well... that was... interesting. She thought. She glanced down at her ankle with a grin. She had something to owl her big brothers about.
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I kissed... a Weasley. Not only did I kiss a Weasley, I kissed a Weasley that was laughing at me! That ties it, I, Draco Malfoy am irreversibly insane. Maybe I should owl my father, it would save me the trip to St. Mungos when he KILLS ME. Draco ran his slightly trembling hand through his hair thankful the reality hadn't set in until he was out of sight. The worse part of it all was she didn't seem... shocked in the least. Who has she been keeping company with?
Ooooh! Daddy's jealous!!
Shuddup.
Don't worry Daddy, Mommy loves you waay more than Uncle Potter.
Shu-UNCLE POTTER?!! No child of mine will call that scarface no-account- what the heck am I doing? Who cares who the weasel loves? I'm talking to invisible demon children that keep trying to set me up with the least likely witch in all of Hogwarts! Maybe I should visit the hospital wing. Get some drugs or something.
He stormed off, shoving all thoughts out of his head with difficulty. Perhaps he ought to just use a memory charm. Yeah, that might help. Right, maybe I ought to stab my wand into my eye while I'm at it. Damme but I've turned into a psycho git.
Perhaps we oughtn't have mentioned Uncle Potter, Anton'y.
Yeah...
Potter, that's probably why she chose a snitch in the first place! Because it reminds her of her PRECIOUS Potter. Pothead is more likely.
You're right, he is rather jealous, Anton'a. Guess it's cuz mum is so pretty and wot.
She is, isn't sh-I mean, Shuddup you stupid rugrats.
The sound of laughter echoing in his head made him jerk back to reality. Draco found himself staring at the hospital wing door, with the vague feeling he had been there for a rather inordinate amount of time.
"Are you just going to stand there, Mr. Malfoy? If so please feel free to clean the glass." Madam Pomfrey stated calmly, trying to hide a smile.
"I... I... Listen, do you have anything to get rid of voices? I mean, in a person's head. Cuz it's getting rather annoying and they won't let me sleep-" He was cut off by her concerned look.
"You're suffering from voices, Mr. Malfoy? Are they attempting to make you do something you might... rather not?"
"Well, duh! Of course they are! As though I would want to date that-" Draco stopped at the sight of the healers smile.
"Oh, those kind of voices. Now, dear, I suppose it wouldn't do you very good to tell you all people go through that particular problem. Perhaps you might try... sorting through your feelings. A journal or such might help lead to insight." She shooed him out the door. "Now if you don't mind, I have more... drastic situations to deal with. Please come tell me when you've come up with a solution. Young love is such a wonderful thing." She sighed with that last thought, (And shove) leaving Draco in the hallway, positively horrified.
"Young... LOVE?!"
*Quick break whilst the writer tries to stop laughing, man that was priceless!*
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"Did you hear? Draco Malfoy is... in love!"
"What, the prince of ice, himself? Unbelievable!"
"Poppy told me herself! Said he came in asking for a way to get voices out of his head, complained about thinking of someone all the time!"
"That would explain why he's fallen asleep in my class twice this week."
"Wouldn't need to explain why, if you ask me..."
"Shush! She might hear you!"
"Now, now, Professors. Perhaps you might put this conversation off until after we dine? We have been getting some rather... curious looks from our student body." Dumbledore was having a rather hard time restraining a smile, himself, but as always he had to provide the voice of reason. The clamor died down, leaving most of the teachers grinning over at the Slytherin table unconsciously.
"Hey, Draco? Why are they staring at you?"
"How should I know, Crabbe? The goofy old bats probably have nothing better to do for entertainment." Draco tugged at his tie, giving the Hospital Madam a well-placed glare. He knew why they were staring, but there was no way in Heaven, Hell or in between that he would tell. If only Madam Pomfrey had that particular problem.
The teachers couldn't seem to help themselves, though, and were soon looking around the hall trying to guess who the un-er... the Lucky object of affections was. So far there had been three statements along the line of "Please let it not be the Parkinson girl!" The thought of the two with children sent thoughts of Voldermort into the pale. The only teacher not into the whole 'Guess who' game was, not surprisingly, Professor Snape.
Unlike the others, Snape's eyes remained constant on his favorite student. He watched as Draco glanced up, almost unconsciously at another table.
"Good Lord! Not... Her!" The rest of the table turned, expectant looks on their faces. Dumbledore began to smile.
"I'm afraid so, Severus. Rather... fitting if one were to think about it." The eyes of the others bounced back and forth as though at a tennis match. "Yet, I believe we should have this conversation at another time." Snape nodded, focusing firmly on his meal. The rest of the teachers all appeared rather downcast, no one got something out of Snape that he didn't wish to reveal. No one other than Dumbledore, and it seemed he already knew the answer.
Slowly the conversation went back to normal, and Draco was (For the moment) left in peace once more. Ginny never even noticed. Lucky girl.
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The Gryffindor tower had a pair of unexpected visitors by the end of the day. It shouldn't have come as a surprise though, they had been summoned by a certain redhead.
"Oye!! Gin! We would've joined you at dinner, but, well George over there got distracted at the Three Broomsticks." Fred was lounging in one of the oversized couches in the common room, a very Weasley grin on his face.
"I wasn't the only one! You're the bloke with the idea to try out the new... well, you know!" George replied, looking like nothing less than the cat that ate the canary. "Now, lil sister, what's this 'bout a new product?"
"I was going to come by the store this weekend! I don't know why you two had to come up here."
"Aye, but we missed our only sister!" Fred stated, clapping his hands together. "Now fess up! You just missed our pretty faces and lied about a new product just to see them!"
Ron snorted, dropping down beside Fred with a curious look at Ginny.
"She never told me anything about a new product." He complained feeling vaguely left out. Fred ruffled his hair with a sympathetic grin.
"Prob'ly thought you would steal it."
She ignored them, pulling up her robes to their exaggerated wolf whistles and proudly showing off her tattoo. George gaped. "Blimey! Mum's gonna kill you!"
"It isn't permanent! It wears off in a few weeks. But I figure even little kids would like them! The muggle children do!"
The twins looked at each other in that silent, unnerving way they had of talking. George grinned first, mirrored exactly by his brother. "We'll do it!" The told her in tandem.
"Did you figure this all by yourself, Gin? Cuz even though it's not a gag, it's bloody cool!" Ron stated, already planning on having her make him one.
"Well... I um... had a little help keeping the wings fluttering..." She blushed, looking down in embarrassment. "Draco Malfoy..."
"Who? You need to speak up, so we can give credit you know." Fred stated.
"It was... Draco Malfoy. He made the wings work right." She stated, almost swearing that the three Weasley brothers were about to have mass heart attacks.
"I... suppose we'll have to... thank the annoying prat." George stated, pouting as if he had just admitted to fraternizing with the enemy. Fred nodded, his look not much better than his twins.
"But what were you doing with a Malfoy, in the first place?" He asked.
"I... the teachers... Dumbledore! Is making me work with him on this... problem." The two nodded, as though expecting no less than that from their little sister. "But, I was thinking it wouldn't have to be just snitches! There could be all sorts of things that move, like broomsticks, and dragons, and oh, there's too many to list!" Soon the entire Gryffindor tower was shouting suggestions, others were running to the kitchen for party supplies and the 'Malfoy incident' was long forgotten.
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When the Gryffindors walked down to breakfast the next morning all of them were sporting some manner of temporary tattoo, even Fred and George (Who had wound up sleeping on the couch) had one, Fred's saying 'Gred' across his forehead, every once in a while turning into a broomstick, and George was sporting a lovely, color changing, 'Feorge' across his own.
Arm sleeves were pulled up to show off prancing unicorns and fire breathing dragons, while Harry had a stately Hippogriff staring at people and flapping its wings slowly. Ron proudly sported a miniature red dragon that blew smoke rings spelling out his name. Ginny looked distinctly smug.
"What is this? A circus?" Draco stated with a snort. For some reason it didn't come out as sarcastic as he had planned.
"I... I dunno, I think they're kinda cool looking." Crabbe stated slowly.
"It's a good thing you aren't expected to think then, isn't it?" Pansy stated cattily from the other side of Goyle. Millicent glared at the other girl, patting Crabbe on the hand. Goyle merely grunted, his mouth full of food already. He couldn't care less what the stupid Gryffs were up to, as long as the food kept coming.
It looks as though the little Weasley got what she wanted, after all... Draco unconsciously grinned, until the sight of the twins heading straight towards him came into view. His scowl came in at full force.
"Malfoy." The one with 'Gred' on his forehead stated. "We'd like to..." He choked, as though physically unable to continue. The other clone stepped in with a pained look.
"We'd... like to... th-th-thank you for helping our little sister out." He shoved the words out as though they were something foul. "I guess... we... owe you." He continued, visibly shuddering at the thought.
Draco looked pained. The thought of everyone at the Slytherin table knowing he had helped a Weasley was enough to ruin his reputation for a lifetime. "It isn't you that owe me, it's the little weasel, and I won't let her forget it, either." He snarled, trying not to glance around at the accusing glares.
"You... You-" The Gred one grabbed his red faced brother, holding him back while he snarled his next words.
"You even look at our sister wrong, Malfoy, and you won't be able to bloody SEE for a month!" The two stormed back to their table, complaining about how they had known better before they started.
"Oh, right. That's gratitude for you." He tried to laugh it off, but when he looked up a pair of hurt brown eyes caught his, holding them for a moment, then looking away. He went silent, playing with his food as the rest of the table cracked jokes.
At the head table Snape shot a distinct 'I told you so!' look to Dumbledore. Dumbledore merely smiled, leaning back to enjoy the soap opera Hogwarts had always been.
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