Chapter Ten:
Draco and Ginny had searched what seemed like every flat in London! One was either too cramped, or didn't have good plumbing (or no plumbing at all!) Others were either too expensive, or they money had to be paid up front in cash. That's why when they found the right one they were overly happy. "A place of our own." Ginny said, squeezing Draco's hand. They had bought the flat and Ginny was walking with her arms outstretched through every room. It was hard for her to believe that all of it was hers...well, her's and Draco's. As soon as the flat was ready for them they moved in immediately. Friends gave them some furniture to start their own house. Hermione gave them a reclinging chair and a coffee table. Harry gave them a kitchen table, and Ginny's parents gave them the queen sized bed they had slept in while at their house. For a while it seemed that their life had fit into a nice little niche. Things were becoming routine, and Draco even found himself liking his job...just a little. They'd both wake up in the morning, Ginny would conjur some breakfast and Draco would go off to work to help the Muggle world from seeing the Wizarding world. While Draco was at work Ginny would keep the flat tidy, and she took great pride in it. She'd invite nearly everyone she knew to come and have tea with her and when Draco got home dinner would be ready. But soon the fates saw this perfect couple and their perfect life and decided that it was their time for trials. "Draco, how much did you spend this week?" Ginny asked, pouring over numbers at the kitchen table. "I don't know, 100 galleons?" Draco replied who was in the other room reading a book. "100 galleons?" Ginny yelled. "What the heck did you spend it on?" "Well, I have to eat lunch, and I bought a new robe because my old one had a hole, and my hair potions." Draco listed all the things he purchased. "Draco, we don't have enough money to buy all that." Ginny walked to where Draco was sitting. "Well, I'm sorry Ginny, but it's not like I'm making as much as I was at my old job." Draco closed his book and stared at Ginny. "I could make you lunches, Draco, and fix your robes and I think you can live without your hair potions." Ginny tried to sound sympathetic, but she couldn't believe he had spent all that in just one week. "What, you want people to think I wear ragged clothes with unkempt hair? Ginny, I need to look my best." "And we need to eat! And have a roof over our heads!" Ginny couldn't hold back her soothing voice, but began to yell. "I'm not going to sit here and listen to this." Draco stood up and began walking towards the door. "Where are you going?" Ginny began to sound worried. "To get a drink." Draco replied, then left.
~*~*~
Life just wasn't going as smoothly as it had been. Draco just couldn't give up his life style in the flicker of a wand. He'd been raised to care about his looks, not like the Weasley's where they could walk around in second hand robes. He headed straight to the Leaky Cauldron and began filling himself with liquid sympathy. Draco had drunken himself into a stupor and his vision was fuzzy. He sat at the bar with his head in his arms, trying to justify what he had done--what he was doing. But when he got down to the point, he knew he was wrong--that's when the fates decided temptation should enter the scene. "Why, if it isn't the Great Draco Malfoy." A very familiar femenine voice purred. Draco first registered that the voice was speaking to him, then that the voice was very close to his ear. He jerked his head up and stared at Bianca. "What are you doing here?" He asked, reaching for his empty glass. "More!" He yelled at the bar keep. "I'm here for the same reason you're here...to get away from life." Bianca took a drink of a dark liquid. "Remember that time in Paris? That old man trying to sell us his shoe?" Bianca began to laugh. "I still wonder what happened to him after you cursed him." "Listen, I'm not in the mood for reminescing, so please let me wallow in my dispair." Draco hiccoughed, then downed the drink he was handed. He felt a warm hand squeeze his shoulder. "Draco, you can't deny we were great together. Things just happen sometimes...but let's not hold that against each other." Bianca started running her fingers through his hair, and Draco found his emotions wrestling within him. Bianca leaned in towards him and started nibbling on his ear. "Draco?" A small voice startled them both. "Draco!" Draco turned around and stared into the firery eyes of Ginny. He looked from Ginny then to Bianca, who was smiling evily. For a moment he asked himself what he had ever seen in Bianca, and wondered why he hadn't loved Ginny his entire life. He stood and began walking towards Ginny, but she backed away as if he were carrying some contagious disease. "Don't touch me!" She hissed, then stormed out of the building. "Ginny!" Draco began running towards her but a rough hand pulled him back. "Let her go." Bianca whispered in his ear. "I'll make it up to you." Draco pushed Bianca's hand off of him, then glared at her. "You have a very beautiful mask, Bianca, but for a brief moment I saw what was underneath...and nothing else in this world repulses me more." Draco turned away before he could see her expression, then immediately apparated back at the flat. "Ginny?" He yelled, while running through every dark, empty room in their home. He ran to the fire and flung a blue powder into the fire he conjured, and suddenly the head of Arthur Weasley was staring up at him. "Arthur, please, I have to speak to Ginny." Draco pleaded, knowing full well she was there. Arthur paused, then exhaled deeply. "I don't know what you did, Draco, Ginny won't tell us." He paused again. "But whatever it was, it sent her over the edge. Maybe you should give her a few days." "But I need to speak to her now! I'll apparate immediately, and--" "Draco," Arthur's voice now held some authority. "Just leave her be for now. Let her sort out her feelings...I'm sure she'll come around." A small pop was heard and Arthur Weasley's head disappeared, leaving Draco feeling very lonely.
~*~*~
Draco couldn't get anything out of Arthur the next day at work. He tried to explain his situation and what had happened, but Arthur told him family problems should not be mixed up with work. After the day was through, Draco pleaded with Arthur to hear him out. He agreed, and they headed towards a small restaurant. "I didn't mean to do it." Draco began. "It's hard for someone to change who they are, and I'm not used to this lifestyle. We started arguing about money, and I blew up in her face--this whole thing was completely my fault!" Draco reassured Arthur. "I went to get a drink and an ex of mine was there. Ginny just walked in at the wrong time! I was going to push her away, if only Ginny would have waited a second longer...my reflexes aren't as good when I'm drunk." Draco began to laugh in spite of himself. Arthur rolled this story through his head before replying, "Ginny loves you, Draco, don't you know that?" Draco stared down at his hands. "She's never told me." "Have you ever told her?" Draco looked up at these words...had he? Of course...when she was asleep. "The Weasley's are very stubborn, Draco, and don't voice their feelings at the time they're feeling them. Maybe Ginny doesn't think you love her--" "But I do!" Draco said loudly. "Listen to me," Arthur tried calming him down before continuing. "Maybe Ginny doesn't think you love her, and that you love this other woman. She feels pretty rotten sharing some of her joys and happiness and sorrows with you, when you won't share your love." Draco thought about this a while and realized that Arthur was right. "Please, can I come home with you...to talk to her?" "I think you should let the Weasley fire die down a bit. She won't come out of her room..I'll let you know she's ready." Arthur smiled at Draco, then left Draco feeling a small ray of hope.
~*~*~
Ginny had cried herself to sleep the past two nights, and didnt' know what she was going to do. She was laying in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, watching the morning rays of sun dance across the wood. That's when a painful sensation grabbed at her middle. Ginny rushed to the bathroom and just barely made it in time to wretch into the toilette. She sat there, on the tile floor, feeling like her insides were going to explode. She began vommiting again, and that's when it hit her. "Oh no," She groaned. "My period is a month late and I'm vommiting." "Ginny?" Molly's sweet voice asked from the hallway. "I'll be right out, Mum." Ginny flushed the toilette then exited the bathroom.
Draco and Ginny had searched what seemed like every flat in London! One was either too cramped, or didn't have good plumbing (or no plumbing at all!) Others were either too expensive, or they money had to be paid up front in cash. That's why when they found the right one they were overly happy. "A place of our own." Ginny said, squeezing Draco's hand. They had bought the flat and Ginny was walking with her arms outstretched through every room. It was hard for her to believe that all of it was hers...well, her's and Draco's. As soon as the flat was ready for them they moved in immediately. Friends gave them some furniture to start their own house. Hermione gave them a reclinging chair and a coffee table. Harry gave them a kitchen table, and Ginny's parents gave them the queen sized bed they had slept in while at their house. For a while it seemed that their life had fit into a nice little niche. Things were becoming routine, and Draco even found himself liking his job...just a little. They'd both wake up in the morning, Ginny would conjur some breakfast and Draco would go off to work to help the Muggle world from seeing the Wizarding world. While Draco was at work Ginny would keep the flat tidy, and she took great pride in it. She'd invite nearly everyone she knew to come and have tea with her and when Draco got home dinner would be ready. But soon the fates saw this perfect couple and their perfect life and decided that it was their time for trials. "Draco, how much did you spend this week?" Ginny asked, pouring over numbers at the kitchen table. "I don't know, 100 galleons?" Draco replied who was in the other room reading a book. "100 galleons?" Ginny yelled. "What the heck did you spend it on?" "Well, I have to eat lunch, and I bought a new robe because my old one had a hole, and my hair potions." Draco listed all the things he purchased. "Draco, we don't have enough money to buy all that." Ginny walked to where Draco was sitting. "Well, I'm sorry Ginny, but it's not like I'm making as much as I was at my old job." Draco closed his book and stared at Ginny. "I could make you lunches, Draco, and fix your robes and I think you can live without your hair potions." Ginny tried to sound sympathetic, but she couldn't believe he had spent all that in just one week. "What, you want people to think I wear ragged clothes with unkempt hair? Ginny, I need to look my best." "And we need to eat! And have a roof over our heads!" Ginny couldn't hold back her soothing voice, but began to yell. "I'm not going to sit here and listen to this." Draco stood up and began walking towards the door. "Where are you going?" Ginny began to sound worried. "To get a drink." Draco replied, then left.
~*~*~
Life just wasn't going as smoothly as it had been. Draco just couldn't give up his life style in the flicker of a wand. He'd been raised to care about his looks, not like the Weasley's where they could walk around in second hand robes. He headed straight to the Leaky Cauldron and began filling himself with liquid sympathy. Draco had drunken himself into a stupor and his vision was fuzzy. He sat at the bar with his head in his arms, trying to justify what he had done--what he was doing. But when he got down to the point, he knew he was wrong--that's when the fates decided temptation should enter the scene. "Why, if it isn't the Great Draco Malfoy." A very familiar femenine voice purred. Draco first registered that the voice was speaking to him, then that the voice was very close to his ear. He jerked his head up and stared at Bianca. "What are you doing here?" He asked, reaching for his empty glass. "More!" He yelled at the bar keep. "I'm here for the same reason you're here...to get away from life." Bianca took a drink of a dark liquid. "Remember that time in Paris? That old man trying to sell us his shoe?" Bianca began to laugh. "I still wonder what happened to him after you cursed him." "Listen, I'm not in the mood for reminescing, so please let me wallow in my dispair." Draco hiccoughed, then downed the drink he was handed. He felt a warm hand squeeze his shoulder. "Draco, you can't deny we were great together. Things just happen sometimes...but let's not hold that against each other." Bianca started running her fingers through his hair, and Draco found his emotions wrestling within him. Bianca leaned in towards him and started nibbling on his ear. "Draco?" A small voice startled them both. "Draco!" Draco turned around and stared into the firery eyes of Ginny. He looked from Ginny then to Bianca, who was smiling evily. For a moment he asked himself what he had ever seen in Bianca, and wondered why he hadn't loved Ginny his entire life. He stood and began walking towards Ginny, but she backed away as if he were carrying some contagious disease. "Don't touch me!" She hissed, then stormed out of the building. "Ginny!" Draco began running towards her but a rough hand pulled him back. "Let her go." Bianca whispered in his ear. "I'll make it up to you." Draco pushed Bianca's hand off of him, then glared at her. "You have a very beautiful mask, Bianca, but for a brief moment I saw what was underneath...and nothing else in this world repulses me more." Draco turned away before he could see her expression, then immediately apparated back at the flat. "Ginny?" He yelled, while running through every dark, empty room in their home. He ran to the fire and flung a blue powder into the fire he conjured, and suddenly the head of Arthur Weasley was staring up at him. "Arthur, please, I have to speak to Ginny." Draco pleaded, knowing full well she was there. Arthur paused, then exhaled deeply. "I don't know what you did, Draco, Ginny won't tell us." He paused again. "But whatever it was, it sent her over the edge. Maybe you should give her a few days." "But I need to speak to her now! I'll apparate immediately, and--" "Draco," Arthur's voice now held some authority. "Just leave her be for now. Let her sort out her feelings...I'm sure she'll come around." A small pop was heard and Arthur Weasley's head disappeared, leaving Draco feeling very lonely.
~*~*~
Draco couldn't get anything out of Arthur the next day at work. He tried to explain his situation and what had happened, but Arthur told him family problems should not be mixed up with work. After the day was through, Draco pleaded with Arthur to hear him out. He agreed, and they headed towards a small restaurant. "I didn't mean to do it." Draco began. "It's hard for someone to change who they are, and I'm not used to this lifestyle. We started arguing about money, and I blew up in her face--this whole thing was completely my fault!" Draco reassured Arthur. "I went to get a drink and an ex of mine was there. Ginny just walked in at the wrong time! I was going to push her away, if only Ginny would have waited a second longer...my reflexes aren't as good when I'm drunk." Draco began to laugh in spite of himself. Arthur rolled this story through his head before replying, "Ginny loves you, Draco, don't you know that?" Draco stared down at his hands. "She's never told me." "Have you ever told her?" Draco looked up at these words...had he? Of course...when she was asleep. "The Weasley's are very stubborn, Draco, and don't voice their feelings at the time they're feeling them. Maybe Ginny doesn't think you love her--" "But I do!" Draco said loudly. "Listen to me," Arthur tried calming him down before continuing. "Maybe Ginny doesn't think you love her, and that you love this other woman. She feels pretty rotten sharing some of her joys and happiness and sorrows with you, when you won't share your love." Draco thought about this a while and realized that Arthur was right. "Please, can I come home with you...to talk to her?" "I think you should let the Weasley fire die down a bit. She won't come out of her room..I'll let you know she's ready." Arthur smiled at Draco, then left Draco feeling a small ray of hope.
~*~*~
Ginny had cried herself to sleep the past two nights, and didnt' know what she was going to do. She was laying in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, watching the morning rays of sun dance across the wood. That's when a painful sensation grabbed at her middle. Ginny rushed to the bathroom and just barely made it in time to wretch into the toilette. She sat there, on the tile floor, feeling like her insides were going to explode. She began vommiting again, and that's when it hit her. "Oh no," She groaned. "My period is a month late and I'm vommiting." "Ginny?" Molly's sweet voice asked from the hallway. "I'll be right out, Mum." Ginny flushed the toilette then exited the bathroom.
