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Chapter 6: Playing with Fire
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As soon as Ginny closed the door after Hermione, she was in a flurry of movement. She could still hear music and laughter from the club. As it was four o'clock in the morning, she guessed the evening could be classified as a smashing success. She grabbed her bag from the counter and headed for Draco's office. She saw one of the bartenders in the hall and asked her if she had seen Draco lately. If she was going to break into his office she was going to make damn sure he wasn't in it. The girl told her that Draco was occupied by the new head of the internal affairs department. Ginny had to smile to herself; finally Percy was doing something useful. As a stickler to the rules, he would make a fine head of that department, and even better; he could probably keep Draco occupied for the next 20 minutes or so.
When she was alone in the hallway outside his office, she did a quick screening spell to check if he had any wards on the door. Being a slytherin she figured it to be very likely, and she was right. Of course, growing up with a brother who was the top curse-breaker for Gringotts had left its traces on the youngest Weasley, and in less than 20 seconds, she had dismantled the wards and opened the door.
The office was not like she had expected. Instead of the heavy dark-wood and house-color decoration, his office was surprisingly modern with lots of steel and glass. It should have been impersonal, but it wasn't. Sure, it was a bit cold and stiff, but it suited him. One wall was covered by big, tinted glass windows, overlooking the club. Ginny could not remember any windows, so she figured they were mirrored on the other side. As she looked out the windows, she could see Draco off in a corner talking to someone with an unmistakable Weasley hair color.
After confirming that Draco really would stay occupied for quite some time, Ginny made her way to his desk. She figured if he kept anything that connected him to Voldemort in his office; his desk would be the most likely place to start the search.
Ten minutes later, she had nothing. She had searched his desk and the filing cabinets, as well as the small safe hidden behind one of the bookshelves, and she had come up with nothing that would confirm his connection the Voldemort. She had, however, found a journal; Ginny put that in her bag and walked over to the windows to check on Draco.
He wasn't there, and a chill of fear coursed through Ginny as she could not spot the silvery head anywhere. She quickly gathered all the papers she had collected for later study and headed for the door.
Too late.
She could hear the sound of footsteps in the hallway. Ginny could feel her throat constrict as panic coursed trough her. She dropped the bag and shoved it under one of the sofas, and plopped down on top of it. As the door opened she could hear Draco cursing that someone had broken his wards.
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Draco was in a bad mood when he finally reached his office. So the opening of his newest club had been a success, but spending what felt like three hours talking to Percy 'stick up his arse' Weasley took all the fun out of the evening. His mood went from bad to worse upon discovering that someone had dismantled the wards protecting his office. However, when he entered the office, instead of finding thieves or ministry spies, (Oh, yes, Draco was quite aware that the ministry was watching him, unsure where his loyalty rested. Bloody idiots all of them), he found the lovely Miss Weston. She was sitting on one of the sofas overlooking the club, and as she turned around to face him, Draco couldn't quite hide his surprise.
"I have been waiting for you," she said in a seductive voice.
Well, actually, her voice was lower than normal because of fear, but Draco found it seductive.
"You have? Why?"
"Well, to celebrate, of course." Ginny explained, as if it was obvious.
"Celebrate?"
"Yes. You, me and a bottle of champagne. It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
Draco could not believe what he was hearing.
"Let me get this straight. You broke into my office, in the process breaking very potent wards, to celebrate?"
Ginny shrugged. "What can I say? I'm impulsive."
"She's impulsive" Draco muttered to himself while rolling his eyes.
"Excuse me while I suspend my disbelief." Each word out of his mouth was laced with irony. "But I thought you were a muggle?"
At that moment, Ginny, felt immensely grateful for the hours she had spent reading the background the ministry had provided her with.
"No, I'm a full fledged witch, Draco."
"But why are you posing as a muggle, then?"
"Money."
"Money?"
"Sure, a muggle record artist makes a lot more money than someone who only focuses on the wizard community."
Draco nodded - what she said made sense, as wizards would always remain a minority.
"Okay, but that doesn't explain why you came to my office."
"I told you, to celebrate."
Draco smirked as he moved with catlike grace towards the sofa where Gina was seated.
"But why would you want to celebrate with me? I thought you didn't even like me?"
Ginny could feel her nails almost breaking the skin of her sweaty palms. Oh god oh god. the mantra kept repeating in her head, she had to make him believe her. And soon, because for some reason Draco's closeness was doing funny things to Ginny's heartbeat.
"Err. I was nervous?"
Somehow her answer sounded more like a question.
"Nervous?"
"Uhm yes, I was attracted to you."
Some distant part of Ginny's mind was turning all the warning lights right about now, but Ginny knew that she could not back out now, not without jeopardizing the ministry's agenda.
"Really?"
To say that Draco was shocked would be an understatement. When he entered his office, he was prepared for a lot of things, but a proclamation of desire from Gina Weston was not one of them.
"Yes, and it has been a very long time since I have felt that way, so that's why I was nervous," Ginny elaborated, feeling quite pleased with her last minute excuse.
Draco didn't believe the redhead for a second. However, she was proving quite entertaining, and somehow his previously bad mood was suddenly gone as he thought of all the possibilities Gina's admission of attraction opened up to him.
'Well', he thought, 'she has made her bed, now she can lay in it. With me.' The last thought made a small smile play in the corner of his mouth.
The lovely Miss Weston could keep her secrets for now. Because Draco Malfoy would find it quite intriguing to untangle the mysteries surrounding her.
"Let's go", he said and extended his hand towards her.
"Where are we going?"
"To celebrate."
As he led her trough the door and headed for the back entrance Ginny couldn't help but thinking that admitting an attraction to Draco Malfoy had been a sure way of getting more trouble than she could handle.
Chapter 6: Playing with Fire
--------------------------
As soon as Ginny closed the door after Hermione, she was in a flurry of movement. She could still hear music and laughter from the club. As it was four o'clock in the morning, she guessed the evening could be classified as a smashing success. She grabbed her bag from the counter and headed for Draco's office. She saw one of the bartenders in the hall and asked her if she had seen Draco lately. If she was going to break into his office she was going to make damn sure he wasn't in it. The girl told her that Draco was occupied by the new head of the internal affairs department. Ginny had to smile to herself; finally Percy was doing something useful. As a stickler to the rules, he would make a fine head of that department, and even better; he could probably keep Draco occupied for the next 20 minutes or so.
When she was alone in the hallway outside his office, she did a quick screening spell to check if he had any wards on the door. Being a slytherin she figured it to be very likely, and she was right. Of course, growing up with a brother who was the top curse-breaker for Gringotts had left its traces on the youngest Weasley, and in less than 20 seconds, she had dismantled the wards and opened the door.
The office was not like she had expected. Instead of the heavy dark-wood and house-color decoration, his office was surprisingly modern with lots of steel and glass. It should have been impersonal, but it wasn't. Sure, it was a bit cold and stiff, but it suited him. One wall was covered by big, tinted glass windows, overlooking the club. Ginny could not remember any windows, so she figured they were mirrored on the other side. As she looked out the windows, she could see Draco off in a corner talking to someone with an unmistakable Weasley hair color.
After confirming that Draco really would stay occupied for quite some time, Ginny made her way to his desk. She figured if he kept anything that connected him to Voldemort in his office; his desk would be the most likely place to start the search.
Ten minutes later, she had nothing. She had searched his desk and the filing cabinets, as well as the small safe hidden behind one of the bookshelves, and she had come up with nothing that would confirm his connection the Voldemort. She had, however, found a journal; Ginny put that in her bag and walked over to the windows to check on Draco.
He wasn't there, and a chill of fear coursed through Ginny as she could not spot the silvery head anywhere. She quickly gathered all the papers she had collected for later study and headed for the door.
Too late.
She could hear the sound of footsteps in the hallway. Ginny could feel her throat constrict as panic coursed trough her. She dropped the bag and shoved it under one of the sofas, and plopped down on top of it. As the door opened she could hear Draco cursing that someone had broken his wards.
--------------------------
Draco was in a bad mood when he finally reached his office. So the opening of his newest club had been a success, but spending what felt like three hours talking to Percy 'stick up his arse' Weasley took all the fun out of the evening. His mood went from bad to worse upon discovering that someone had dismantled the wards protecting his office. However, when he entered the office, instead of finding thieves or ministry spies, (Oh, yes, Draco was quite aware that the ministry was watching him, unsure where his loyalty rested. Bloody idiots all of them), he found the lovely Miss Weston. She was sitting on one of the sofas overlooking the club, and as she turned around to face him, Draco couldn't quite hide his surprise.
"I have been waiting for you," she said in a seductive voice.
Well, actually, her voice was lower than normal because of fear, but Draco found it seductive.
"You have? Why?"
"Well, to celebrate, of course." Ginny explained, as if it was obvious.
"Celebrate?"
"Yes. You, me and a bottle of champagne. It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
Draco could not believe what he was hearing.
"Let me get this straight. You broke into my office, in the process breaking very potent wards, to celebrate?"
Ginny shrugged. "What can I say? I'm impulsive."
"She's impulsive" Draco muttered to himself while rolling his eyes.
"Excuse me while I suspend my disbelief." Each word out of his mouth was laced with irony. "But I thought you were a muggle?"
At that moment, Ginny, felt immensely grateful for the hours she had spent reading the background the ministry had provided her with.
"No, I'm a full fledged witch, Draco."
"But why are you posing as a muggle, then?"
"Money."
"Money?"
"Sure, a muggle record artist makes a lot more money than someone who only focuses on the wizard community."
Draco nodded - what she said made sense, as wizards would always remain a minority.
"Okay, but that doesn't explain why you came to my office."
"I told you, to celebrate."
Draco smirked as he moved with catlike grace towards the sofa where Gina was seated.
"But why would you want to celebrate with me? I thought you didn't even like me?"
Ginny could feel her nails almost breaking the skin of her sweaty palms. Oh god oh god. the mantra kept repeating in her head, she had to make him believe her. And soon, because for some reason Draco's closeness was doing funny things to Ginny's heartbeat.
"Err. I was nervous?"
Somehow her answer sounded more like a question.
"Nervous?"
"Uhm yes, I was attracted to you."
Some distant part of Ginny's mind was turning all the warning lights right about now, but Ginny knew that she could not back out now, not without jeopardizing the ministry's agenda.
"Really?"
To say that Draco was shocked would be an understatement. When he entered his office, he was prepared for a lot of things, but a proclamation of desire from Gina Weston was not one of them.
"Yes, and it has been a very long time since I have felt that way, so that's why I was nervous," Ginny elaborated, feeling quite pleased with her last minute excuse.
Draco didn't believe the redhead for a second. However, she was proving quite entertaining, and somehow his previously bad mood was suddenly gone as he thought of all the possibilities Gina's admission of attraction opened up to him.
'Well', he thought, 'she has made her bed, now she can lay in it. With me.' The last thought made a small smile play in the corner of his mouth.
The lovely Miss Weston could keep her secrets for now. Because Draco Malfoy would find it quite intriguing to untangle the mysteries surrounding her.
"Let's go", he said and extended his hand towards her.
"Where are we going?"
"To celebrate."
As he led her trough the door and headed for the back entrance Ginny couldn't help but thinking that admitting an attraction to Draco Malfoy had been a sure way of getting more trouble than she could handle.