Living the Legend
Chapter V: Oh Potter, You Rotter.
Marie McKinnon
The fire in the Gryffindor common room was still burning brightly when Dean and Ginny arrived, ruddy from the cold outside and brimming with excitement. It was much before curfew, only half past nine o'clock, and they decided not to go to bed yet.
"Excuse me for a moment while I change my shoes. These aren't mine and they don't fit properly," she explained with a little grimace.
Upstairs, she hastily removed her shoes, replacing them with slippers, which were completely devoid of rabbits or fuzzy fabric. Splashing water on her face, she was relieved to see her freckles again. It had been queer knowing they were hard to see. Before she could escape again, Lavender and Parvati came in, giggling, as usual.
"You looked like you were having fun," one of them said slyly. Ginny couldn't see them because she was wiping her face off with a fluffy hand towel from the bathroom.
With all the goop off of her face, she felt a bit more polite. "Pardon?"
"You and Dean seemed to have had a good time of it."
"Oh, yes, he's quite a good dancer," she replied, trying to make it past them and downstairs to the common room. No such luck. Sitting down, she sighed and asked grumpily "I did have fun, thank you for helping me get ready, may I please leave now?"
"We just thought you'd like to know about your brother," Parvati said, grinning in her we're-going-to-tell-the-whole-school manner.
"Which one? I have six brothers."
She rolled her eyes. "The only one at this school, you twit. Ron went to the dance with Hermione! It was adorable, they really look cute together."
It was Ginny's turn to roll her eyes. "I can't believe it took them that long. Ron's fancied Hermione for ages, and she's fancied him for ages as well. I may send an owl to Fred and George, however; they'll be delighted. They were starting to worry about his sanity."
Her fiendish grin was still in place when she returned to the common room. Dean had removed his sweater, not needing it by the fire, and unbuttoned the collar. He patted the empty space next to him on the couch, indicating that she was welcome to sit there, and smiled his perfect smile.
"Sorry, the gossip machines took me hostage for a few minutes. I would have been down sooner." She explained, returning the smile.
"The--which?"
"Parvati and Lavender. They wanted to talk about Ron and Hermione. Did he tell you he'd asked her?"
He nodded. "He was really excited, but everyone else was in the 'took-you-long-enough' phase, even Harry."
"Speaking of Harry," she said, "did you see him at Hogsmeade?" Hoping her face wasn't too pink, she let him scoot over closer to her. He was warm and soft, even without his sweater, and he draped his arm over her shoulders.
"Mmm-hmm," he murmured lazily, not wanting to do any strenuous thinking when he could relax comfortably, his girlfriend by his side and a nice fire warming them both. Not being unbelievably stupid, however, he could sense that Ginny was at least a little bit curious. "He was arguing with Malfoy. Looked really angry. Remind me to kill Malfoy, by the way, he was staring at you all night."
She felt like rolling her eyes and giving him a sarcastic "I'd noticed," but she didn't, praying that Harry had followed her orders. Dean was so different from Draco; he was warm in everything he did. His smiles were so warm they almost melted you, he spoke warmly and enthusiastically instead of sarcastically, his kisses sent extra warmth down to your toes, and sitting next to him was so warm and cozy that she almost fell asleep. There was no thrill, no ice-cold battle of wits that gave her the pleasure of competition and intelligence, and certainly no evil danger hanging over his head. It was nice, comforting, but it would get very boring, very quickly. For the time being she was content to burrow into his side, close her eyes, and let the heat seep into her bones.
"Ginny?" He whispered, nudging her in the ribs. Her pretty eyes opened sleepily, and she blinked several times before smiling at him and apologizing for having dozed off. "Do you know why Malfoy was staring at you?"
"Because he detests me and wishes I would wither and die?" She suggested, laughing.
Dean joined in, but became serious. "Possibly that, though I can't imagine how anyone could hate you. I think Malfoy's jealous, and he was a great prat to let you go. Well," he continued, leaning a little closer, "his loss is my gain, after all."
"Mm," she agreed, then yawned.
"Somebody needs to go to bed."
With a remark that sounded amazingly like "mmrph," she allowed herself to be given a hand up and walked to the girls' staircase. She turned to go to her dormitory when he asked reproachfully "Don't I get a goodnight kiss?" Turning around, she pecked him on the forehead, a benevolent smile on her face.
Before she was allowed to depart, he bent over and kissed her lazily beaming mouth thoroughly, pulling her slight figure closer to his soft heat. They stood there, illuminated by the firelight, eyes shut with pleasure and mouths locked together. She felt toasty warm and loved to her smallest toe. His soft lips were neither aggressive nor penetrating, just relishing her taste and the delicate hint of perfume she wore on her slender neck that had mingled with the sweetness of her mouth. He was reluctant to let her go, but he did, backing away with a lopsided grin.
He smiles almost too often to be true, she thought, but caught sight of a coppery head and gasped. "Is Ron--"
"He's busy romancing Hermione," Dean laughed quietly, watching Ron looking at his girlfriend, desperately attempting to say something and flushing a never-before-seen shade of scarlet.
"Goodnight, then."
"G'night."
*
Draco lay on his elegant four poster, unable to sleep. His mind was whirling over what that git Potter had confessed to, and how badly he had treated poor Ginny. Imagine, she had gone to speak to them, and suddenly, bam, Potter was on top of her. Almost before she could speak he was kissing her hard and she couldn't breathe. He'd knocked the wind out of her when he'd pounced, then didn't let her get it back. So as he himself had arrived, seeing Ginny being snogged senseless by that ignoramus, she was fighting, writhing, trying to avoid Potter and get her breath back. How stupid he'd been!
She had watched his expression as she'd entered the dance floor, seeing a mixture of loathing and amazement. With a wrench he'd seen that two curls dangled across her forehead. She'd been just as beautiful as before, but distant, out of his reach. He could wish and hope to hold her, but he wouldn't. You only get one chance, he thought with disgust, and I royally fouled mine up.
"Oh Potter, you rotter, just look what you've done," he sang under his breath, remembering the ditty Peeves had written during the attacks by the Monster of Slytherin. "You're killing off students, you think it's good fun."
Would she still be awake? Looking at the antique clock on the wall, he saw that it was only ten o'clock. ~Ginny?~ He probed into the darkness of her mind, hoping to get an answer that was neither scathing nor sarcastic.
~Whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?~ She asked, knowing very well that it had to be Draco. After all, how many students at Hogwarts had a mental link that allowed them to communicate through telepathy?
She was still Ginny, despite her recent misadventures in romance. ~Draco. Draco Malfoy.~
~You dolt, how many Dracos can there be?~ Adding on an inspiration, she sent ~So, 007, what's your mission now?~
~To apologize to the girl I love, but who's 007?~
He could almost feel her shrug. ~Some Muggle character. He's a British spy who always introduces himself as "Bond. James Bond." Hermione told me,~ she explained.
~Ah. Well, I talked to Potter this evening, and he had several interesting things to say. So do I. When you were dancing with Dean, it was just--horrible. Awful. Agonizing.~
~He's a very good dancer,~ she said, defending her boyfriend. ~It wasn't *that* bad.~ She was nearly laughing, positive that wasn't what he meant and trying to disorient him.
He raised his eyebrows for no one to see. ~I choose to ignore that. Potter said I was mistaken. He was grudging about it, but he told the truth. Unless you didn't throw yourself at him wearing a Tahitian bikini? I jest! I jest!~ He added quickly, not sure he would weather the outrage she would express after that statement. ~You were waiting for him to come in, but I suppose the rash imbecile thought someone on his bed had to be an intruder trying to murder him, so he pounced. He listened a little too hard to Moody, constant vigilance and all that. Once realisation hit, the opportunity was too good to pass up, so he kissed you. And kissed you. And snogged some for good measure. Right so far?~
~Quite, though if you want me to wear a Tahitian bikini, all you have to do is ask.~
Mental images of Ginny lounging by the lake in minuscule swimming costumes flashed through his mind, and he started to drool. What he said was different, however. ~I'll take you up on that. So you didn't do anything wrong, and I have to apologise for bellowing at you. I'm amazingly sorry. I'm on my knees, so you know, and I beg you to forgive me for being an idiot and believing what I saw out of context. I said I love you; that's forever, and it's been more than obvious lately. So will you come with me to Hogsmeade before Hallowe'en?~
~What would you say if I refused?~
~It doesn't bear repeating.~ His voice was wry.
She grinned. It hadn't been as obvious to her, but she'd been missing that rapier wit. ~I see. I'd better say yes, then, hadn't I?~
~You had, or something extremely awful will happen. I'll have Colin Creevey photograph you in your Tahitian bikini.~
~All right! You don't have to threaten me! I accept.~
~Did you know,~ he continued, ~that your older brother was wrapped around Granger at the dance and acting like a lovesick puppy? It was sweet, in some odd, twisted way.~ With that, he clicked out of the conversation and stared at the ceiling, able to feel his heart being resewn.
Feeling much lighter all of a sudden, he sang "Oh Potter, you rotter, just look what you've done, you're killing of students, you think it's good fun."
The fire in the Gryffindor common room was still burning brightly when Dean and Ginny arrived, ruddy from the cold outside and brimming with excitement. It was much before curfew, only half past nine o'clock, and they decided not to go to bed yet.
"Excuse me for a moment while I change my shoes. These aren't mine and they don't fit properly," she explained with a little grimace.
Upstairs, she hastily removed her shoes, replacing them with slippers, which were completely devoid of rabbits or fuzzy fabric. Splashing water on her face, she was relieved to see her freckles again. It had been queer knowing they were hard to see. Before she could escape again, Lavender and Parvati came in, giggling, as usual.
"You looked like you were having fun," one of them said slyly. Ginny couldn't see them because she was wiping her face off with a fluffy hand towel from the bathroom.
With all the goop off of her face, she felt a bit more polite. "Pardon?"
"You and Dean seemed to have had a good time of it."
"Oh, yes, he's quite a good dancer," she replied, trying to make it past them and downstairs to the common room. No such luck. Sitting down, she sighed and asked grumpily "I did have fun, thank you for helping me get ready, may I please leave now?"
"We just thought you'd like to know about your brother," Parvati said, grinning in her we're-going-to-tell-the-whole-school manner.
"Which one? I have six brothers."
She rolled her eyes. "The only one at this school, you twit. Ron went to the dance with Hermione! It was adorable, they really look cute together."
It was Ginny's turn to roll her eyes. "I can't believe it took them that long. Ron's fancied Hermione for ages, and she's fancied him for ages as well. I may send an owl to Fred and George, however; they'll be delighted. They were starting to worry about his sanity."
Her fiendish grin was still in place when she returned to the common room. Dean had removed his sweater, not needing it by the fire, and unbuttoned the collar. He patted the empty space next to him on the couch, indicating that she was welcome to sit there, and smiled his perfect smile.
"Sorry, the gossip machines took me hostage for a few minutes. I would have been down sooner." She explained, returning the smile.
"The--which?"
"Parvati and Lavender. They wanted to talk about Ron and Hermione. Did he tell you he'd asked her?"
He nodded. "He was really excited, but everyone else was in the 'took-you-long-enough' phase, even Harry."
"Speaking of Harry," she said, "did you see him at Hogsmeade?" Hoping her face wasn't too pink, she let him scoot over closer to her. He was warm and soft, even without his sweater, and he draped his arm over her shoulders.
"Mmm-hmm," he murmured lazily, not wanting to do any strenuous thinking when he could relax comfortably, his girlfriend by his side and a nice fire warming them both. Not being unbelievably stupid, however, he could sense that Ginny was at least a little bit curious. "He was arguing with Malfoy. Looked really angry. Remind me to kill Malfoy, by the way, he was staring at you all night."
She felt like rolling her eyes and giving him a sarcastic "I'd noticed," but she didn't, praying that Harry had followed her orders. Dean was so different from Draco; he was warm in everything he did. His smiles were so warm they almost melted you, he spoke warmly and enthusiastically instead of sarcastically, his kisses sent extra warmth down to your toes, and sitting next to him was so warm and cozy that she almost fell asleep. There was no thrill, no ice-cold battle of wits that gave her the pleasure of competition and intelligence, and certainly no evil danger hanging over his head. It was nice, comforting, but it would get very boring, very quickly. For the time being she was content to burrow into his side, close her eyes, and let the heat seep into her bones.
"Ginny?" He whispered, nudging her in the ribs. Her pretty eyes opened sleepily, and she blinked several times before smiling at him and apologizing for having dozed off. "Do you know why Malfoy was staring at you?"
"Because he detests me and wishes I would wither and die?" She suggested, laughing.
Dean joined in, but became serious. "Possibly that, though I can't imagine how anyone could hate you. I think Malfoy's jealous, and he was a great prat to let you go. Well," he continued, leaning a little closer, "his loss is my gain, after all."
"Mm," she agreed, then yawned.
"Somebody needs to go to bed."
With a remark that sounded amazingly like "mmrph," she allowed herself to be given a hand up and walked to the girls' staircase. She turned to go to her dormitory when he asked reproachfully "Don't I get a goodnight kiss?" Turning around, she pecked him on the forehead, a benevolent smile on her face.
Before she was allowed to depart, he bent over and kissed her lazily beaming mouth thoroughly, pulling her slight figure closer to his soft heat. They stood there, illuminated by the firelight, eyes shut with pleasure and mouths locked together. She felt toasty warm and loved to her smallest toe. His soft lips were neither aggressive nor penetrating, just relishing her taste and the delicate hint of perfume she wore on her slender neck that had mingled with the sweetness of her mouth. He was reluctant to let her go, but he did, backing away with a lopsided grin.
He smiles almost too often to be true, she thought, but caught sight of a coppery head and gasped. "Is Ron--"
"He's busy romancing Hermione," Dean laughed quietly, watching Ron looking at his girlfriend, desperately attempting to say something and flushing a never-before-seen shade of scarlet.
"Goodnight, then."
"G'night."
*
Draco lay on his elegant four poster, unable to sleep. His mind was whirling over what that git Potter had confessed to, and how badly he had treated poor Ginny. Imagine, she had gone to speak to them, and suddenly, bam, Potter was on top of her. Almost before she could speak he was kissing her hard and she couldn't breathe. He'd knocked the wind out of her when he'd pounced, then didn't let her get it back. So as he himself had arrived, seeing Ginny being snogged senseless by that ignoramus, she was fighting, writhing, trying to avoid Potter and get her breath back. How stupid he'd been!
She had watched his expression as she'd entered the dance floor, seeing a mixture of loathing and amazement. With a wrench he'd seen that two curls dangled across her forehead. She'd been just as beautiful as before, but distant, out of his reach. He could wish and hope to hold her, but he wouldn't. You only get one chance, he thought with disgust, and I royally fouled mine up.
"Oh Potter, you rotter, just look what you've done," he sang under his breath, remembering the ditty Peeves had written during the attacks by the Monster of Slytherin. "You're killing off students, you think it's good fun."
Would she still be awake? Looking at the antique clock on the wall, he saw that it was only ten o'clock. ~Ginny?~ He probed into the darkness of her mind, hoping to get an answer that was neither scathing nor sarcastic.
~Whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?~ She asked, knowing very well that it had to be Draco. After all, how many students at Hogwarts had a mental link that allowed them to communicate through telepathy?
She was still Ginny, despite her recent misadventures in romance. ~Draco. Draco Malfoy.~
~You dolt, how many Dracos can there be?~ Adding on an inspiration, she sent ~So, 007, what's your mission now?~
~To apologize to the girl I love, but who's 007?~
He could almost feel her shrug. ~Some Muggle character. He's a British spy who always introduces himself as "Bond. James Bond." Hermione told me,~ she explained.
~Ah. Well, I talked to Potter this evening, and he had several interesting things to say. So do I. When you were dancing with Dean, it was just--horrible. Awful. Agonizing.~
~He's a very good dancer,~ she said, defending her boyfriend. ~It wasn't *that* bad.~ She was nearly laughing, positive that wasn't what he meant and trying to disorient him.
He raised his eyebrows for no one to see. ~I choose to ignore that. Potter said I was mistaken. He was grudging about it, but he told the truth. Unless you didn't throw yourself at him wearing a Tahitian bikini? I jest! I jest!~ He added quickly, not sure he would weather the outrage she would express after that statement. ~You were waiting for him to come in, but I suppose the rash imbecile thought someone on his bed had to be an intruder trying to murder him, so he pounced. He listened a little too hard to Moody, constant vigilance and all that. Once realisation hit, the opportunity was too good to pass up, so he kissed you. And kissed you. And snogged some for good measure. Right so far?~
~Quite, though if you want me to wear a Tahitian bikini, all you have to do is ask.~
Mental images of Ginny lounging by the lake in minuscule swimming costumes flashed through his mind, and he started to drool. What he said was different, however. ~I'll take you up on that. So you didn't do anything wrong, and I have to apologise for bellowing at you. I'm amazingly sorry. I'm on my knees, so you know, and I beg you to forgive me for being an idiot and believing what I saw out of context. I said I love you; that's forever, and it's been more than obvious lately. So will you come with me to Hogsmeade before Hallowe'en?~
~What would you say if I refused?~
~It doesn't bear repeating.~ His voice was wry.
She grinned. It hadn't been as obvious to her, but she'd been missing that rapier wit. ~I see. I'd better say yes, then, hadn't I?~
~You had, or something extremely awful will happen. I'll have Colin Creevey photograph you in your Tahitian bikini.~
~All right! You don't have to threaten me! I accept.~
~Did you know,~ he continued, ~that your older brother was wrapped around Granger at the dance and acting like a lovesick puppy? It was sweet, in some odd, twisted way.~ With that, he clicked out of the conversation and stared at the ceiling, able to feel his heart being resewn.
Feeling much lighter all of a sudden, he sang "Oh Potter, you rotter, just look what you've done, you're killing of students, you think it's good fun."
