A/N: Short chapter. Sorry, the next one will be better. No, I wasn't watching Cruel Intentions while writing this .. swear .. eep! Okay, so I was. So if it reminds you of CI at all, that's why. I don't think I deliberately ripped anything off, although Draco's scene in the mirror is pretty close to one of Sebastian's. Forgive me, okay? Draco/Ginny fics remind me of CI. Thank you to all my reviewers, you are all angels.
This chapter's song: "Hey Man Nice Shot" by Filter.
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Two days later, Ginny and Draco were leaning in a nook nearby the Great Hall, conveniently located so that whoever exited the Hall would see them almost immediately.
"This is never going to work," Ginny fretted, "Never in a million years .. "
"Shut up," Draco said, crossly, "If you keep freaking out, no, it won't work. Just remember your part of the deal."
Ginny nodded and restlessly patted at her red hair. At Alex's behest, she'd left it down again today.
"Malfoy, are -"
He cut her off with a hissed 'shhh'. She looked up and saw Hermione, Ron, and Harry, their heads bent together as they discussed something. Ginny felt a pang of jealousy - she'd never been included in those quiet whispers. She forced herself not to care, something that was helped by the fact that Draco had snaked an arm around her waist.
"Just be natural," he murmured, leaning down slightly to whisper into her ear. She couldn't help but let a coy smile tug at her lips. His free hand came up to touch the side of her face, tracing the outline of her lips. A shiver trailed up her spine at the brief touch, but she decided it was only because she was ticklish there. Of course.
The trio walked past them, obviously staring. Ron looked apoplectic, but Hermione had a staying hand on his arm. They'd evidently elected Harry as their ambassador - (Since I have such a *crush* on him and all, Ginny thought bitterly) the raven-haired boy was walking over to them, blatant dislike in his eyes as he glared at Malfoy.
"Something going on?" Harry asked, shifting his gaze from Malfoy to Ginny. Ginny had always thought that Harry had a Malfoyish quality to him - he could channel pure ice almost as well as Draco at times. The only difference was that Malfoy had the viciousness to back it up.
"None of your business, Potter," Malfoy tightened his grip on Ginny's waist, turning so he could nibble lightly on her earlobe. That tickled more than anything else, and she giggled.
"M..Draco, stop," she cautioned, inwardly flinching at her almost-use of surnames, "Everything's just perfect, Harry. What could possibly be wrong?" There was a tremor of lashing out in her voice, just barely detectable underneath layers of gilded honey and saccharine. Harry stared.
She cocked an eyebrow at the Boy Who Lived, the one she'd fancied herself in love with for damn near six years, and found herself not caring. Well-aware of the siren's gleam in her eyes and the lilt to her voice when she spoke and laughed, she turned to face Draco and claim a brief, hungry kiss.
When she broke away, Harry was gone.
"That went better than I expected," Draco commented after a moment, "Although I didn't know kissing was part of the deal."
"Whatever works," she murmured breathily, arching her back slightly in a languid stretch. She could feel Draco's eyes on her. What had happened? She wondered absently. She'd never been able to do this before - or maybe she'd just never noticed when she had.
"Yeah."
She turned to look at him from under dark auburn lashes, a kitteny smile playing on her lips, "Don't worry. You'll get your half of the deal."
"That kiss was almost worth it," he said, rather wryly.
"Almost?" A note of teasing came into her voice.
"Don't tempt me, Red. You're playing with fire, here, you know that?"
She cocked an eyebrow at him and merely smiled, twirling a fingertip around her hair that was indeed reminiscent to flame.
"No," she disagreed, voice soft , "You are."
Standing on her tiptoes, she brushed a delicate kiss over his lips, turned, and strode away. The echo of her boots against the stone floor let her know he was still standing, and the heat in her frame indicated he was watching her.
Good, she thought. Let him watch her walk away from the world.
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Draco was having trouble sleeping. Trouble sleeping? More like he could sleep great, as long as he let himself dream of that - that - *vixen*. He'd had no idea she could act like that, and suspected that even she didn't know until that day.
He raked a hand through his light blonde hair, gazing into his mirror.
"Get it together," he growled out, "She's just a girl."
Girls were expendable, he recited to himself, girls were expendable, cheap, and replaceable. Easy.
But he knew no one could quite imitate the hazy gleam in Virginia Weasley's eyes or the curve of her lips when she smiled at him. Lucky she had such an atrociously sweet personality or he might actually consider dating her.
He shuddered at the thought. Virginia, despite her game today and the fact that had it been any other male in Hogwarts who had been there with her she would still be flat on her back, was only an innocent girl.
An innocent girl who was driving him abso-fucking-lutely insane. And he knew she was going through hell right now with her brothers - and for some reason, he felt the need to do something about it.
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"What the hell are you doing, Ginny?" Virginia looked up from her curled perch on a cushy armchair near the fire to see the angry face of, who else, Ron.
"Reading," she blinked, "Is that bad?"
"That's not what I mean," he growled out, "Do you think I'm an idiot?"
"Well, yes, actually."
"Virginia!" He was getting annoyed with her now, snatching her book out of her hands, much to her indignation.
"Give that back," she commanded, quietly.
"Not until you tell me what's going on." He looked down at her and it did bother her to see the confusion in his eyes. He looked betrayed.
"Harry thinks you hate him, you know," Ron continued, "And I don't know what to say to you. What were you doing with Malfoy in the hall today?"
She shrugged, "Talking."
"Harry says you kissed Malfoy. In front of him." She looked away to avoid seeing the hurt look in her brother's eyes, "I thought you liked Harry. Fancied him, even."
"I did," she retorted, anger building inside her. She met Ron's eyes, forcing her own to be completely cold, just like Draco's were when they first met, "When I was twelve."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means," she bit the words out slowly, making sure everyone in the Common area heard, "The Dream Team, the people who have ignored me for all these years, the Wonderkins - can all go fuck themselves, 'cause I don't care anymore, not about people who only notice me if I do something I want and even then it's in a negative way. I don't want to be that lovestruck puppydog pathetic girl anymore, I don't want to care about any of you. I'm sick of caring."
She drew a deep breath, and with that, she snatched her book from an open-mouthed Ron's hands and ran to her room, ignoring a horrified Ron's yells for her to get down there this instant. She dove onto her bed and buried her face in the pillow, sobbing freely, tears coursing down her cheeks and smudging the satiny pillowcase.
After a moment, she felt a comforting hand go to rub her shoulder gently and work out the tense muscles there.
"Go away, Alex," she said, muffled, into her pillow, "I just want to disappear."
"But then you couldn't finish our deal," a voice that was definitely not Alex told her, "And I can't have that, now can I?"
She sat up abruptly, wiping tears from her eyes, "Oh. It's you. How did you -"
He cut her off by placing a fingertip on her lips.
"Red, what do those people do to you?" He took in her sad eyes and slumped shoulders.
"Oh, Draco," she slid towards him and he wrapped his arms around her, a bit surprised, "I just want to get away from them. They only notice me when I go out of their little perfect-kids rules. It's like I'm too weird for them, like they .."
"Like they what?"
The look she gave him was the saddest one he'd ever seen. Normally he would've called it pathetic, but he didn't like those kids any more than she did.
"Like they know," she whispered miserably, "Like they know that I'm not supposed to be here in Gryffindor."
This chapter's song: "Hey Man Nice Shot" by Filter.
------
------
Two days later, Ginny and Draco were leaning in a nook nearby the Great Hall, conveniently located so that whoever exited the Hall would see them almost immediately.
"This is never going to work," Ginny fretted, "Never in a million years .. "
"Shut up," Draco said, crossly, "If you keep freaking out, no, it won't work. Just remember your part of the deal."
Ginny nodded and restlessly patted at her red hair. At Alex's behest, she'd left it down again today.
"Malfoy, are -"
He cut her off with a hissed 'shhh'. She looked up and saw Hermione, Ron, and Harry, their heads bent together as they discussed something. Ginny felt a pang of jealousy - she'd never been included in those quiet whispers. She forced herself not to care, something that was helped by the fact that Draco had snaked an arm around her waist.
"Just be natural," he murmured, leaning down slightly to whisper into her ear. She couldn't help but let a coy smile tug at her lips. His free hand came up to touch the side of her face, tracing the outline of her lips. A shiver trailed up her spine at the brief touch, but she decided it was only because she was ticklish there. Of course.
The trio walked past them, obviously staring. Ron looked apoplectic, but Hermione had a staying hand on his arm. They'd evidently elected Harry as their ambassador - (Since I have such a *crush* on him and all, Ginny thought bitterly) the raven-haired boy was walking over to them, blatant dislike in his eyes as he glared at Malfoy.
"Something going on?" Harry asked, shifting his gaze from Malfoy to Ginny. Ginny had always thought that Harry had a Malfoyish quality to him - he could channel pure ice almost as well as Draco at times. The only difference was that Malfoy had the viciousness to back it up.
"None of your business, Potter," Malfoy tightened his grip on Ginny's waist, turning so he could nibble lightly on her earlobe. That tickled more than anything else, and she giggled.
"M..Draco, stop," she cautioned, inwardly flinching at her almost-use of surnames, "Everything's just perfect, Harry. What could possibly be wrong?" There was a tremor of lashing out in her voice, just barely detectable underneath layers of gilded honey and saccharine. Harry stared.
She cocked an eyebrow at the Boy Who Lived, the one she'd fancied herself in love with for damn near six years, and found herself not caring. Well-aware of the siren's gleam in her eyes and the lilt to her voice when she spoke and laughed, she turned to face Draco and claim a brief, hungry kiss.
When she broke away, Harry was gone.
"That went better than I expected," Draco commented after a moment, "Although I didn't know kissing was part of the deal."
"Whatever works," she murmured breathily, arching her back slightly in a languid stretch. She could feel Draco's eyes on her. What had happened? She wondered absently. She'd never been able to do this before - or maybe she'd just never noticed when she had.
"Yeah."
She turned to look at him from under dark auburn lashes, a kitteny smile playing on her lips, "Don't worry. You'll get your half of the deal."
"That kiss was almost worth it," he said, rather wryly.
"Almost?" A note of teasing came into her voice.
"Don't tempt me, Red. You're playing with fire, here, you know that?"
She cocked an eyebrow at him and merely smiled, twirling a fingertip around her hair that was indeed reminiscent to flame.
"No," she disagreed, voice soft , "You are."
Standing on her tiptoes, she brushed a delicate kiss over his lips, turned, and strode away. The echo of her boots against the stone floor let her know he was still standing, and the heat in her frame indicated he was watching her.
Good, she thought. Let him watch her walk away from the world.
--------
Draco was having trouble sleeping. Trouble sleeping? More like he could sleep great, as long as he let himself dream of that - that - *vixen*. He'd had no idea she could act like that, and suspected that even she didn't know until that day.
He raked a hand through his light blonde hair, gazing into his mirror.
"Get it together," he growled out, "She's just a girl."
Girls were expendable, he recited to himself, girls were expendable, cheap, and replaceable. Easy.
But he knew no one could quite imitate the hazy gleam in Virginia Weasley's eyes or the curve of her lips when she smiled at him. Lucky she had such an atrociously sweet personality or he might actually consider dating her.
He shuddered at the thought. Virginia, despite her game today and the fact that had it been any other male in Hogwarts who had been there with her she would still be flat on her back, was only an innocent girl.
An innocent girl who was driving him abso-fucking-lutely insane. And he knew she was going through hell right now with her brothers - and for some reason, he felt the need to do something about it.
-----
"What the hell are you doing, Ginny?" Virginia looked up from her curled perch on a cushy armchair near the fire to see the angry face of, who else, Ron.
"Reading," she blinked, "Is that bad?"
"That's not what I mean," he growled out, "Do you think I'm an idiot?"
"Well, yes, actually."
"Virginia!" He was getting annoyed with her now, snatching her book out of her hands, much to her indignation.
"Give that back," she commanded, quietly.
"Not until you tell me what's going on." He looked down at her and it did bother her to see the confusion in his eyes. He looked betrayed.
"Harry thinks you hate him, you know," Ron continued, "And I don't know what to say to you. What were you doing with Malfoy in the hall today?"
She shrugged, "Talking."
"Harry says you kissed Malfoy. In front of him." She looked away to avoid seeing the hurt look in her brother's eyes, "I thought you liked Harry. Fancied him, even."
"I did," she retorted, anger building inside her. She met Ron's eyes, forcing her own to be completely cold, just like Draco's were when they first met, "When I was twelve."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means," she bit the words out slowly, making sure everyone in the Common area heard, "The Dream Team, the people who have ignored me for all these years, the Wonderkins - can all go fuck themselves, 'cause I don't care anymore, not about people who only notice me if I do something I want and even then it's in a negative way. I don't want to be that lovestruck puppydog pathetic girl anymore, I don't want to care about any of you. I'm sick of caring."
She drew a deep breath, and with that, she snatched her book from an open-mouthed Ron's hands and ran to her room, ignoring a horrified Ron's yells for her to get down there this instant. She dove onto her bed and buried her face in the pillow, sobbing freely, tears coursing down her cheeks and smudging the satiny pillowcase.
After a moment, she felt a comforting hand go to rub her shoulder gently and work out the tense muscles there.
"Go away, Alex," she said, muffled, into her pillow, "I just want to disappear."
"But then you couldn't finish our deal," a voice that was definitely not Alex told her, "And I can't have that, now can I?"
She sat up abruptly, wiping tears from her eyes, "Oh. It's you. How did you -"
He cut her off by placing a fingertip on her lips.
"Red, what do those people do to you?" He took in her sad eyes and slumped shoulders.
"Oh, Draco," she slid towards him and he wrapped his arms around her, a bit surprised, "I just want to get away from them. They only notice me when I go out of their little perfect-kids rules. It's like I'm too weird for them, like they .."
"Like they what?"
The look she gave him was the saddest one he'd ever seen. Normally he would've called it pathetic, but he didn't like those kids any more than she did.
"Like they know," she whispered miserably, "Like they know that I'm not supposed to be here in Gryffindor."