A/N: *looks sadly at readers* I'm very sorry to inform you that I am currently on groundation from my computer, and that is why I haven't posted as often as I usually do. In fact my computer was taken away and is now sitting in the dining room looking completely out of place while I have a black hole in my room. I WILL finish this story. Fear not my faithful readers.
If any of you are wondering what I might have done to get something so drastic done to myself the answer is that I've been having some rough times. I haven't been myself, not thinking straight and have done some things that I really regret, my friends know what happened and I'm sorry I told you, I just didn't know who to tell. My problems shouldn't be your burden. But that wasn't exactly what got my computer taken away. I was having trouble keeping up on my independent study course and one night my dad just got really mad at me and took my computer. Now is one of my precious few minutes that I've been allowed to get on the internet.
So I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I will post the next one as soon as I can.
Disclaimer: I'm also very sorry to inform you all that I do not own Draco Malfoy, or any other characters in this story that you've seen in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books. In fact, I don't own anything except the plot, Raven, Mr. Murray, Miss Wells, and Hopkins…maybe a few more necessary original characters, but that's all.
Chapter Seven
Ginny woke up a little earlier than usual that morning despite having stayed up so late with Draco. When she had gotten up the first thing she did, like every morning, was run across the hall and check on Raven.
She pushed Raven's door open quietly and peered in, and was surprised at what she saw. Her mouth literally dropped open. Was she dreaming? Draco was sitting cross-legged, hair mussed; only wearing his pajama bottoms, in front of Raven's dollhouse with her. He was holding onto the same blond haired doll that Raven had been playing with the night before. Raven was on her haunches next to Draco clutching the red haired doll. Ginny's stomach did a dive, she felt nervous about the distinct features of the dolls that were oh-so familiar.
She cleared her throat to make herself known. Draco looked up at her sleepy-eyed; he clearly hadn't been awake for too long. Raven looked up at her and beamed, wide-awake. Ginny smiled at her, then looked over at Draco and arched an eyebrow. Before he could say anything in response Raven ran over to Ginny and threw herself at her. Ginny picked Raven up and gave her a warm hug, and kissed her forehead.
"Morning Dinny!" Raven greeted, squirming out of Ginny's arms. "Drakey is playing dolls with me." She said happily, bouncing back to her seat next to the dollhouse.
Ginny snorted and looked over to Draco who was glaring at her. "I can't help it if this little twerp came bouncing into my room this morning!" He said grinning.
Raven wrinkled her face at him. "I did not! You came in here and woke ME up." Draco smiled at her, "Did I?"
"Yes," Raven insisted. "So you are a twerp."
Draco feigned being hurt, "Me? A twerp? Raven…I'm so…upset that you would say that about me." He looked over at the little girl with big, sad, grey eyes.
Even a four-year-old girl had to surrender to those eyes. Raven smiled at him, and then hugged him around his neck. "I'm sorry Drakey."
"Apology accepted," came Draco's muffled reply. Ginny grinned at them, and sighed.
"I'm going to be leaving after breakfast," she said moving from the doorway, towards them.
Raven looked at her woefully, "Leaving?" she breathed. "You're leaving me and Drakey?" Her eyes shined with unshed tears.
Ginny rushed to her side, and hugged her. "No silly, not like that. Today is my day off. I'm going to go out and do some other things. Draco is going to take care of you today."
Raven glanced over at Draco uncertainly, and Draco wiggled his eyebrows at her. Raven giggled and buried her face into Ginny's neck, which caused her to erupt with giggles.
When Ginny looked back at Draco his eyes were gleaming, filled with mischief. "Oh looky here, it seems as though Miss Weasley is extremely ticklish." He smirked at her rakishly.
Ginny's eyes widened, "I-I'm not ticklish," she stuttered out.
Draco grinned, "And you're such a bad liar."
Raven peered at Draco curiously, "Are you ticklish?"
Draco scoffed, "Me? Ticklish? Yeah, right." He folded his arms over his chest.
The corner of Ginny's lip curled up, "Now who's the bad liar?"
"What?" Draco said innocently. "I'm not lying."
Ginny glanced over at Raven, "Well…there's only one way to find out…" and both girls pounced on him, tickling him furiously. He was, without a doubt, very ticklish. They had him begging for mercy, tears were streaming down his cheeks before they stopped. Raven hadn't been much help, she was laughing more than Draco. Ginny had gotten him good though, and now his sides ached.
He just lay there on the floor silently trying to calm himself. He had never been tickled like that, ever. He sat up slowly, and deliberately; then looked over at Ginny, a devilish glint in his eyes. Ginny was giggling with Raven and didn't notice as he stealthily made his way toward them. When Ginny noticed, it was too late. He grabbed her waist and threw her onto the bed and attacked her sides, moving his fingers deftly, causing her to shake with laughter.
Raven was sitting on the floor watching, her tongue caught in-between her teeth, her eyes shining gleefully.
"Ah! Draco! Stop!" She shrieked between giggles. "I'll do ANYTHING!" She said between gasps of breath and giggles. "Please!" Ginny wailed, trying to stop laughing.
Draco looked down at her, stopping for a moment. He quirked and eyebrow, "Anything?" Then proceeded to continue tickling her.
"Anything!" She said through her squeals and giggles. Then he stopped and caught her eye. She closed hers', and when she opened them again; she was staring straight into his vibrant grey eyes.
He smirked, and leaned down closer, putting his mouth near her ear, "Would you…" he trailed off, and Ginny gulped. "Cook us breakfast?" He pulled his head up and looked at her.
She opened her mouth and had to stop herself from glaring at him. "Cook breakfast?" She repeated dubiously. Draco stepped back from the edge of the bed where he had been leaning over Ginny.
He raked his fingers through his already, mussed hair. "Well, yes. Miss Wells is off today also."
"I guess I could," Ginny said, eyeing him suspiciously. Draco waggled his fingers at her threateningly; her eyebrows shot up. "Actually, I could most definitely do it."
Draco grinned, "That's more like it." Raven snuck up behind Draco and pushed the back of his knees. "What the-" and he fell forward into Ginny who was still lying back on the bed.
Ginny groaned, "Ouch."
Draco winced, "Ouch is right." He opened his eyes and looked down at Ginny's lips, which were only a few centimeters away from his own. He licked his lips. Her mouth parted slightly. He leaned forward and hesitated then abruptly stood back up and cleared his throat. "I guess we should let you go and make breakfast." He glanced over at Raven who was suddenly very pouty.
"What's a matter with you? If I recall correctly, you are the one who did the pushing." Draco said a bit angrily.
Raven stuck out her tongue and flounced onto her bed.
***
Ginny was standing at the stove cooking some bacon and pancakes. Raven was bouncing around the kitchen singing her "My Little Unicorn" song. Draco walked into the kitchen sniffing with his eyes closed
"What are you cooking?" He asked standing behind Ginny and peering over her shoulder.
"Bacon and pancakes," Ginny said moving away from the stove to stir the batter. Draco looked at the sizzling bacon, then to Ginny, and then to a plate of steaming bacon. Ginny came back to the stove and had poured some batter in a buttered pan.
Draco looked over her shoulder and pointed to the plate of bacon, "Can I have some?"
Ginny looked back at him and smiled, "No way! I'm not done yet.
Draco frowned, "Come on, just one piece."
"No, n-o." She said flipping a perfectly golden brown pancake over.
"Do you cook at home?" He asked trying to distract her so he could grab a piece of the bacon. Ginny looked the other way and turned over the bacon so it wouldn't burn.
"Yes, mom doesn't like to cook as much anymore," Draco reached out and grabbed a piece of bacon as Ginny turned back around. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him, "You put that bacon back right now!" Draco widened his eyes and put the bacon back on the plate.
"Geesh," he said going to talk to Raven. Ginny grinned; that was way too easy.
Raven started telling Draco about an episode of "My Little Unicorn" and started acting it out for him. He sat at a small table, smiling as he watched her. Ginny sighed happily and turned back to the stove to finish cooking breakfast.
She finished and set a plate holding a stack of pancakes, a plate with bacon and some butter and syrup on the table; she poured a glass of milk for everyone. Ginny fixed Raven's plate for her and Draco grabbed three pancakes and four pieces of bacon and put one in his mouth watching Ginny, who was giggling. "What?" He asked with his mouth full.
Ginny shook her head, "nothing…nothing," and sat down to fix her own plate.
"So…" Draco started, "What are you going to do today?"
"Well," Ginny said after swallowing a bit of pancake. "I think my friends and I are going to go see a muggle movie and some other things like that." Draco wrinkled his nose.
"Muggle movie?" He asked taking a big sip of his milk.
"They're fun," Ginny said giving him a look.
"Whatever," and said and proceeded to stuff himself.
"Mmm," Raven said licking her lips that were smothered with syrup. "This is yummy Dinny. Better than that eggs bedidick."
Draco snorted, "Eggs Benedict." He corrected.
Raven rolled her eyes, "Same thing."
Draco took another sip of his milk, "Miss Wells is an okay cook."
"Yeah, but she makes stuff that I can't say." Raven said getting syrup in her hair.
Ginny got up and went to the sink; she got a wet rag and cleaned the syrup from Raven's hair. Raven wrinkled her nose at her, "Dinny! Stop that."
"I'm done," Ginny said impassively putting the rag back. She also put her plate in the sink. "I'm going to go get ready now, so you guys are basically on your own today."
Raven knitted her eyebrows together, "I have to spend all day with him."
"Excuse me, I'm right here," Draco said annoyed.
Raven glanced at him, "So?"
"So don't talk about me like I'm not here!"
"Stop it you two," Ginny said grinning. "Yes Raven, you will be spending all day with him."
Raven looked over at Draco mulling him over, "Ok."
"Bye. Have fun today." Ginny said leaving the room. Then she poked her head back through, "Don't forget to put your dishes in the sink."
"Yes, mother," Draco said mockingly.
* * * * *
Ginny apparated into her living room at home and saw her mother sitting in her rocking chair knitting. She looked up at Ginny and beamed, "Oh Ginny, you're home!" She dropped her knitting to the floor and rushed to Ginny and wrapped her up in a big bone-crushing mother hug.
"Mother," Ginny wheezed. "Let go." Molly let go of her daughter and stepped back to look at her. "You act like I've been gone for years."
"It seems like you have. It gets so lonely around here." Her mother said hustling Ginny into the kitchen. "Are you hungry? Do you need anything to eat? Some tea?"
"No mum, I've just had breakfast." Ginny said sitting down at their scrubbed table. "I don't know how long I'll be here; I'm supposed to be going out with some friends today."
Mrs. Weasley looked at Ginny a bit sadly, "Will you see me before you go back?"
"I don't think so, we'll probably be out late. I'll come back a visit another day." Ginny said smiling.
"Whom are you going out with?"
"Colin, Maddie and Bryan," Ginny said popping her knuckles.
"Don't do that honey. Those your school friends?" Mrs. Weasley asked, sitting at the table too.
"Yes, Maddie and Bryan are going out now...and I think they're trying to set me up with Colin. Or at least Maddie is, she wants me to go with Colin…but he's just my friend." Ginny said looking over at her mother who was eyeing her suspiciously. "He IS just my FRIEND! He is a boy who is my friend! There is a definite SPACE between the words." She felt like a teenager again.
"Okay, okay, I believe you." Her mother said putting her hands up defensively.
Ginny rolled her eyes at her mother.
"How's your job been?"
Ginny sighed and smiled, "It's been great."
"Having fun with the little girl?"
"Oh, yes, she's cute, you just can't help but love her," Ginny said thinking of the tickling that went on earlier that morning.
"That's good, I'm glad you're having fun."
Ginny looked over at the kitchen clock and saw that all of her brother's hands were resting at 'home', where they were probably spending the day with their families. Even Harry had gotten a hand, but his said traveling. Ginny looked back over to her mother, "I'm going to go get ready to meet my friends, I'm supposed to apparate over to Maddie's house in an hour."
Her mom nodded, "Okay." Ginny got up from the table and climbed the stairs to her room. The first thing she did was to fling herself onto her bed, and smelled her sheets. Her mother hadn't changed them; they were still exactly the same way that she had left them. Her whole room was exactly how she left it. Ginny smiled and rummaged through her make-up drawer for some that she hadn't taken to Draco's house. She applied some then yawned tiredly, she drifted back over to her bed and lay down...and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.
* * * * *
"So Drakey, what are we going to do?" Raven asked swinging her feet from her perch on the couch. Both she and Draco were in one of Draco's libraries and he was reading a book. Raven was starting to fidget.
Draco looked up at her and shrugged, "I don't know."
"I'm bored," she said getting up and skipping around the room.
"Nice to meet you Bored, I'm Draco," he said looking back down at his book.
"That wasn't very nice," Raven said slapping the book from his hand.
Draco narrowed his eyes at her, "That wasn't either."
"Teach me to play quidditch," Raven said smiling again.
Draco rolled his eyes, "After what you just did? I don't think so."
"Please Drakey! I'm so bored!" Raven said sitting down right in front of him, crossing her arms over her chest. She stuck her lower lip out and lowered her eyebrows. "Can you at least teach me how to fly?"
"I guess I could--," Draco was cut off by a woman with pale hair like his apparating into the room.
She smiled at him and sat down on the couch. "Hello Draco. Having fun with Raven?"
Draco scowled at her, "I guess you could say that."
Raven jumped off the floor and beamed, "Auntie Narcissi! Auntie Narcissi!" She ran over to Narcissa, jumped into her lap and hugged her tightly around her middle.
Narcissa laughed and hugged Raven back, "Hey beautiful, it's nice to see you again."
Raven released her and stepped back, "I'm having so much fun! Especially with Dinny!"
"Dinny?" Narcissa asked curiously.
"Yeah, Dinny she's Drakey's girlfriend." Raven said sticking her tongue out at Draco.
"Her name is Ginny and she's not my girlfriend." A faint blush was appearing on his cheeks.
Narcissa grinned at her abashed son, "Are you sure she isn't your girlfriend? Why haven't you told me about her? I am your mother."
"I didn't tell you because she isn't my girlfriend. She's Raven's governess." Draco said rolling his eyes and picking his book back up.
"I'm sure," Narcissa stated mildly.
Draco glared at her, "I'm serious! That's all she is THE GOVERNESS! THE NANNY!" He felt like a teenager again.
* * * * *
Ginny woke up and looked at the clock on her beside table. She had three minutes to get to Maddie's house. She jumped out of bed and pulled on her shoes. She waved her wand and disapparated, appearing in Maddie's living room seconds later.
Maddie, Bryan and Colin were all sitting on couches waiting for her. She gave them all a sheepish grin. "Sorry I'm late."
Colin glanced at a clock, "Actually you're right on time. We were just early." He smiled at her.
Ginny smiled back and looked over at Maddie who had her head resting on Bryan's shoulder. "So where are we going?"
Maddie set her brown eyes on Ginny, "The carnival."
"The carnival? Isn't that a muggle thing?" Ginny asked taking a seat in an armchair.
"Most things that we do are muggle things." Bryan said looking at her curiously. Ginny blushed. "Besides, it'll be fun...we always have fun."
Ginny nodded, "Of course we do."
Colin got out of his seat, "Come on then, let's go."
Maddie picked up the crushed soda can from the table. "I got a portkey, it will transport us to Green Hills...or something like that."
"Something like that?" Said Colin with raised eyebrows.
"We're not going to be lost, we'll be near the carnival's gate, I just can't remember the name of the place, that's all."
"Everybody ready?" Said Maddie. They nodded their heads and touched the portkey.
They all walked on the carnival grounds, Maddie holding Bryan's hand and Ginny walking awkwardly next to Colin. Maddie saw a roller coaster and pointed to it excitedly, "I didn't know they had these at carnivals! Let's go! Come on!" She said dropping Bryan's hand and running towards it. Bryan followed after her chuckling and Colin and Ginny gave each other confused looks, but followed them just the same.
They stood in line and when they finally got on the rides Maddie was paired with Bryan, as usual, and Ginny with Colin. Ginny looked over at Colin nervously, "I don't really like roller coasters."
Colin raised his eyebrows, "You don't? Why not? They're a good thrill." And with that the roller coaster started up the steep rise, clicking forebodingly the whole way up. Ginny gripped the lap bar, and stared down at her feet. Colin laughed, "Come on Ginny, it'll be loads of fun. I bet after we get off you're going to be begging for another go."
Ginny looked over at him and smiled weakly, "Maybe." Then the roller coaster plunged into a dive and Ginny let out a blood-curdling scream
Colin reached over and grabbed one of her hands and she stopped, some how his grasp was oddly reassuring. He smiled at her and she didn't scream again, she just shut her eyes tight and enjoyed the excitement of the ride.
When they got off Ginny's hair was wind-blown, her cheeks flushed, and she was grinning madly. "Oh my gosh, that was the best ride that I've ever been on." They all looked at her knowingly. "Can we do it again?"
Colin put his hand on her shoulder, "Actually I'm hungry. Do you mind if we grab a bit to eat before we take another go?"
"Not at all," Ginny said jovially. "What about you guys?" She said looking over at Maddie and Bryan.
Maddie looked over at Bryan, "I don't mind, I'm quite hungry myself." Right on cue, her stomach growled.
Bryan grinned at her, "I don't mind either."
Colin took Ginny's hand, "Let's go then."
Ginny looked at him curiously, but didn't let go of his hand. It had been a long time since she had had a boyfriend. Colin had been one of her best friends at Hogwarts and she knew that he was very sweet. She just didn't know if she liked him that way.
* * * * *
After Narcissa had left, Draco took Raven outside to his private quidditch pitch and was trying to teach her how to ride a broom.
"Like this?" Raven asked sitting on the broom sideways.
"No, it's not a horse, put one leg on either side." He said demonstrating.
"But I'll slide off."
"Not if you hold on." Raven climbed onto the broom like she was supposed to. "Now push off the ground a little."
Raven pushed and rocketed off, shouting gleefully as she went, "Weee!!!!"
"Oh gods," Draco muttered under his breath and took off after her. Raven slid off her broom and started free falling. With Draco's ex-seeker skills he dove after her and caught her in mid air.
Raven looked at him wide eyed and clutched at his robes, "My hero!" she cooed, causing Draco to smile.
* * * * *
"So, I heard from your mum that you have a job," Maddie said pleasantly. They had all sat down in a restaurant just outside of the carnival and had already placed their orders.
Ginny looked over at her, "Yes I do."
"Well, what are you doing?" Bryan prompted.
"I'm an au paire…a governess for a little girl." Ginny said smiling.
Maddie wrinkled her nose, "Taking care of a little kid all day? That doesn't sound like fun. Who's your boss?"
Ginny looked over at Maddie, slightly peeved. "Draco Malfoy."
Colin's eyes almost popped out, "Malfoy has a daughter?"
Ginny giggled, "No. Raven is his cousin; he has to watch her this summer."
"Then why isn't he? Why are you doing it?" Maddie asked.
"Because he has to work."
"How can you work for that slimy git?" Colin asked still amazed.
"He's not a slimy git," Ginny said lowering her eyebrows. "He's…nice, you just have to get to know him."
"Ooo, Ickle-Ginny-Kins has a crushy-wushy," Maddie said smirking at Ginny teasingly.
Ginny blushed, "I do not!"
"Then why are you defending him?" Bryan asked slyly.
"I'm not defending him!" Ginny said angrily. "Excuse me," and she got up and made her way towards the women's bathrooms.
Maddie looked at her, her eyes widening in surprise. "Oh my gosh, she really does like him."
Colin looked jealous. "She said she didn't."
"I'm going to go see her," Maddie said getting out of her seat and following Ginny into the bathroom.
Once she was gone Bryan said, "That's what she wants us to think."
"She doesn't! She can't like him!" Colin said staring down at the table. "She can't."
"Oh Ginny!" Maddie called stepping into the bathroom. She saw Ginny standing at the sinks with her hands resting on the edge of the counter, staring down at a faucet.
"I don't like him," she said, mostly sounding like she was trying to reassure herself. "I don't." She looked up into the mirror and stared at Maddie. "I don't."
Maddie looked at her a bit perturbed, "Okay. You don't like him, I was just kidding you." However, Maddie didn't look convinced one bit. Ginny looked so determined in saying it, that there was no way that she couldn't like him. No way. "Let's go back out to the table; I'm sure our food is there."
Ginny sighed, "Okay." And she let Maddie lead her back out to the table.
Colin and Bryan were sitting at the table having a hushed conversation that stopped abruptly as soon as they saw Maddie and Ginny. They took their seats again, their food was already there, and they started to eat. The conversation started up again, but no one mentioned Ginny's job, or Draco Malfoy.
* * * * *
They were back in Draco's library; Draco was too scared to take Raven out flying again. He didn't want anything to happen to her, not that he doubted his abilities to protect her; he just didn't want to take any chances. Raven was sitting on the couch again and Draco in his chair behind his big polished oak desk.
"Drakey," Raven started. "Can you read me a book?"
"Like what?"
"Dinny brought a lot of books," Raven said jumping off of the couch.
"Where are they?"
"In her room." Draco looked at her hesitantly.
"We can't go in there."
"Why not? We're just getting books," she said looking at him oddly.
"It's her room," he stressed.
"It's your house," Raven said stubbornly. "And we can pretend that we're spies!"
"What?"
"We can sneak in the hallways, and…ooo! It'll be fun! Come on Drakey!" Raven pleaded, lying on the floor and grabbing his trouser leg. "Puh-lees?" She begged, clutching his leg as he stood up.
"Okay, we'll do it." He said taking a step, and Raven with him. He took another, and another, and Raven still held onto his leg, giggling madly. He drug her across the floor to the door and peered down at her menacingly. "Get off my leg."
Raven grinned at him, "You got to say please."
Draco looked down at her grudgingly, "Please?"
"Okay," Raven said bouncing off of the floor and grabbing his hand. "Let's go."
Raven pushed the door open quietly and popped her head out, scanning the halls for any sign of life. Draco looked at her oddly. "Raven? What are you doing?"
Raven turned back to glare at him, she put her finger to her lips, "We're spies," she hissed quietly. Draco made an 'o' shape with his lips and followed her silently through the door. Draco shut the door softly behind him and had to use every ounce of self-control not to burst out laughing. Raven had her back pressed up against the wall, flattening herself to it. She had her eyebrows lowered and was staring intently at the opposite end of the hall. Then she looked back over at Draco, "Get against the wall!" She barked. Draco got up against the wall.
* * * * *
Bryan sat back and patted his full stomach, and grinned over at Maddie, "I'm stuffed; they sure do give you huge servings here."
Maddie quirked and eyebrow at him, "If I remember correctly you asked for a larger serving."
Bryan rolled his eyes, "It's not like I knew that it was going to be that big."
"Um, guys? Do you think that we could go? Instead of arguing?" Ginny asked gently, not wanting to hurt their feelings. They both glanced at each other and shrugged.
"Yeah, I guess," said Maddie, who slid out of her seat and then offered a hand to Bryan. Colin was sitting on the end of his and Ginny's booth slid out and then to turned to offer a hand. Ginny smiled graciously and took it, and he held on to it, not letting go as they left the restaurant.
"Where to now?" Colin asked.
They all glanced around, "I think that another roller coaster ride would be out of the question, as my stomach won't hold its food if we do," Bryan remarked looking over at the roller coaster that had just taken a large dip. Maddie glanced over at it as well and wrinkled her nose, obviously having the same thoughts as Bryan.
"We could go to the fun house," Ginny suggested, pointing out a purple tent.
"Sure," Colin said squeezing her hand as they all started walking toward the fun house.
* * * * *
v "Shh!" Raven hissed clapping her small hand over Draco's mouth. "Don't talk," she whispered.
Draco raised his eyebrows at the audacity of this little girl but complied. They were now in front of Draco's door, almost to Ginny's. Draco had only been talking because he was going to asked Raven how she thought she could hide against the dark wooden walls in a pale green robe. Raven of course, was oblivious to the color of her robe; she was concentrated on pressing herself against the wall as close as she could.
They slunk slowly towards Ginny's door; Raven reached out and gripped the knob carefully, and turned it as slowly as possible to ensure that it wouldn't make a sound. She pushed it open and darted inside, Draco grinned and followed her. As soon as he got inside Raven shut the door behind them and locked the door.
Raven grinned and clapped her hands together, "Yeah! We made it."
Draco looked over at her and smiled, he couldn't help it, Raven just looked so proud of herself. "Yes, now do you know where her books are?"
Raven's face dimmed a bit, "No…but we could look."
"Oh, I don't know about going through her things…" Draco trailed off, hoping that Raven would get his point. She didn't.
"Aw come on Drakey, don't be such a fraidy cat," she jumped on Ginny's bed and rolled over to the other side and looked underneath. "Nope," came her muffled voice, "nothing under her bed… 'cept some dust bunnies. Drakey, you look in the closet for her bag."
Draco sighed loudly. "Do I have to?" He whined.
"Yes!" Raven demanded shrilly, opening some drawers and sifting through them. Draco opened her closet door reluctantly.
Then shut it after glancing in it, "Nope, no bag."
Raven looked up at him angrily, "You didn't even look! Go look!" she demanded.
Draco opened the door again and looked through the closet for Ginny's bag, he found it in the back, and in it were five children's books. Draco let out a sigh and turned to look back, but Raven wasn't there. Draco dropped the bag and looked around, he whipped his head through the door and it was open.
He raced out into the hall, and saw her standing at the end of the hall, "Na-na-na-boo-boo, you can't catch me!" She giggled and then took off running.
Draco's eyes flashed and he followed after her.
* * * * *
Maddie sighed and looked up at the darkening sky; Ginny too looked up with her and wished that her day wasn't over. Besides the incident in the restaurant she'd had a very good day. Obviously Maddie and Bryan meant to set her up with Colin because they kept encouraging them to go off and do things by themselves.
"I'm hungry, isn't it dinner time?" Bryan asked.
Maddie rolled her eyes, "You're always hungry."
"So? I can't help it," Bryan protested.
"Let's go get something to eat then."
Ginny looked back at the Ferris Wheel lit up with colorful lights. "You know what guys; I think I'd like to ride that before dinner."
Maddie and Bryan exchanged a glance and then looked to Colin. Colin took the hint, "Oh, uh, Maddie you guys just go ahead, I'll go with Ginny on the Ferris Wheel, and we'll just catch a bite later." He looked over at Ginny, "Is that okay?"
Ginny nodded, smiling slightly, "It's fine."
"Alright then," said Maddie, "We'll see you soon! Have fun!" Maddie gave Ginny a hug and Bryan shook her hand awkwardly, causing everyone to laugh until he gave in and just hugged her.
"Bye!" Ginny called, as they left. "Let's go to the Ferris Wheel!" Ginny grabbed Colin's hand and drug him over to the short line. "Oh this is going to be so much fun; I've been on one of these before!"
Colin chuckled, "me too. They are kind of fun." Ginny smiled at him as they sat down on the bench. They slowly started going up, Ginny clutched his hand tighter as they went up higher. "Do you like your job?" Colin asked.
"Uh…" Ginny paused. "Most of the time."
"What does that mean?"
"Well, sometimes Malfoy can be a git, but most of the time he's okay." Ginny said looking at him curiously. "Why?"
"Just wondering. What about the little girl? It is a girl right?" Colin asked, hoping to Merlin that it was a girl.
Ginny beamed at him, "She's just wonderful, so cute and…well, she's very outgoing. We get along good, and even Dr-Malfoy seems to love her, but he won't admit it."
Colin made a face, "I don't think he's capable of loving someone."
Ginny made sad eyes at him, "I wouldn't say that, he's human too, even if a bit of a cold one." Colin didn't say anything. "Really, he's a good guy; it just takes a while for him to come out."
Colin's eyes almost shot out of their sockets, "He's gay?"
Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes, "He is not gay, I meant his good side, though it doesn't come out often…" she mumbled something under her breath about men.
"Oh," Colin seemed slightly disappointed. "Do you like him or something?"
Ginny looked stricken, "No, no I don't."
Colin gave her a sly grin, "Right…."
"I don't!" Ginny persisted.
"Okay, okay," Colin said holding his hands up, but the teasing look still in his eyes. "I believe you."
Ginny snorted, "I'm sure you do."
"Don't you want me to believe you?" Colin asked confused.
Ginny gave him a look that he couldn't decipher, "Yes."
"Alright…" and the Ferris Wheel stopped and they got off. "Where do you want to eat dinner?"
"Uhm, maybe we should go somewhere else, the food is more expensive here," Ginny suggested.
Colin perked up, "Sure, how about that Italian place near the Leaky Cauldron?" Ginny nodded.
* * * * *
"I'm going to get you!" Draco said running up behind Raven, who squealed and started giggling when he picked her up by the waist.
v "Oh no!" She wailed in-between giggles, "The EVIL Drakey's got me!"
"BWAHAHAHAHA," Draco laughed evilly. Raven started giggling again, and Draco held her on his hip.
"Drakey," she said lowering her eyebrows and putting a hand on her stomach. "I'm hungry."
Draco glanced at his watch and saw that it was 5:30, there was no way that he was going to cook dinner, that was impossible. He sighed, "Do you know how to cook?"
Raven frowned at him, "I'm only this many!" She said holding up four fingers. "What do you think?"
"Have you ever had Chinese take out?" Draco asked walking down the hall to the nearest library.
"No…I don't think so," said Raven.
"Well it's very good, let's go see if we can order from the fireplace." Draco kicked open and door and set Raven down on a couch and threw some powder into a fire and said, "Lee's Wok," and a head appeared in the fireplace.
"Yes sir, how may I help you?" Said a man with a Cantonese accent.
"Could we order some fried rice, sweet and sour chicken and some…" Draco paused to think for a moment, "Beef and broccoli?"
The man bowed his head, "Yes sir, your total is fifteen galleons and two sickles. It should be there shortly sir."
"Thanks," Draco said taking Raven by the hand and walked with her to the front door. Two seconds after they got there the doorbell rang. Draco opened it, paid the delivery boy and took the food. "Thanks," he said. The boy bowed and rushed down the stairs, pulling a portkey out of his pocket.
v Raven stuck her nose out into the air and sniffed, "That smells good," she commented.
Draco nodded, "It's pretty good." And they went to the dining room to eat.
* * * * *
Colin and Ginny had just finished ordering and were sitting at the table quietly. "So Colin how's work?" Ginny asked, taking a bite of her breadstick.
Colin glanced up from where he had been staring at his water glass and smiled, "Oh its fine, loads of fun."
"You take pictures for both the Daily Prophet and the Quidditch Journal, right?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow, and looking at him curiously.
Colin beamed at her, "And the Witch Weekly," he added proudly.
Ginny looked amazed, "Wow, that's a lot of pictures to shoot. Do you ever get tired of it?"
"No…it's a lot of fun. I love photography; I've been doing it for as long as I can remember."
Ginny let out a quiet giggle, "I remember when you were running around Hogwarts trying to get pictures of Harry."
Colin blushed, "That was a long time ago," Ginny grinned at his embarrassment.
"I used to chase after him too," she admitted shyly, "Only not in the same way as you."
Colin chuckled, "I remember that."
"We've known each other for a long time haven't we?" Said Ginny.
Colin nodded, "Since first year." Then the waiter appeared with their orders. Ginny took one look at her plate and felt her stomach tighten…it was huge. Colin looked at his ravenously; he was hungry.
Ginny picked up her fork and twirled it in her pasta carefully, not really sure how to go about eating from such a big plate. Colin looked at her strangely, "Is it alright?" he asked curiously.
Ginny nodded, "Its fine," and as if to prove herself she took a big bite and smiled.
v Colin laughed, "You have sauce on your nose."
Ginny's eyes widened, "Oh my…I do?"
"Yeah…just here," Colin reached over the table and wiped the sauce off of her nose, she looked up into his eyes and their eyes locked. Ginny wondered if he was going to kiss her.
The waiter came and asked them if everything was alright, and Colin sat back in his seat nervously. "No…" Ginny said softly, "Everything's fine."
They resumed their dinner and continued with small talk, each trying to forget the awkward moment that had just passed. Ginny couldn't help but wonder if maybe she had wanted Colin to kiss her. It wasn't like she already had a boyfriend or anything.
* * * * *
Raven grinned up at Draco with all sorts of sauces smeared on the edges of her mouth. "Drakey," she said solemnly. "That was very good."
Draco gave her a lopsided grin, "I'm glad you liked it. Want a fortune cookie?"
"Fortune cookie?" Raven asked, confused.
"Yeah, you break open the cookie and there's a little piece of paper inside that has your fortune," he explained taking one out of the wrapper for her and handing it to her. "Go ahead, open it."
Raven cracked the cookie in half, getting crumbs all over the table, and pulled out the piece of paper anxiously. She peered at it and then handed it to Draco, "I can't read," she said frustrated.
Draco smiled at her, and looked down at it, instantly his eyebrows knitted together. Raven looked at him, "What's it say Drakey?"
He glanced at her, "'Value your match box,'" he read directly off the paper.
Raven looked at the paper he handed back to her curiously, "What does that mean?"
Draco shrugged, "I'm not sure…is it talking about muggle matches?"
Raven looked at him like he was crazy, "How am I supposed to know?" She looked pointedly to the unopened fortune cookie in front of him, "Open yours."
Draco picked his up and raised an eyebrow at her, and opened it; he broke it carefully and pulled out the piece of paper. He blinked, "'Your mind deceives you,'" he read quietly. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Dunno," Raven said through a mouthful of cookie. Draco shrugged and shoved half of his fortune cookie in his mouth. Raven giggled and crumbs flew out of her mouth, which made her laugh even harder. When she had calmed down she said, "I wanna play dollies."
Draco pulled a face, "Dolls?"
"YES!" Raven shouted, bouncing up and down in her chair.
"Can't you play by yourself?"
Raven frowned at him and crossed her arms over her chest, "No, you have to play with me."
"Are you sure you want me to?" Draco asked, trying to get out of playing dolls.
She stuck her nose up in the air, "Yes."
"Do I even have a choice?" asked Draco, smiling.
Raven snorted, "Of course not." She jumped out of her chair and pulled Draco out of his and she tugged him by the hand up to her room. "Drakey's gonna play dollies with me! Drakey's gonna play dollies with me! Drakey's gonna play dollies with me!" She said in a singsong voice, skipping down the hallways. A pale-faced Draco followed.
* * * * *
Colin paid for their dinner and they walked out of the restaurant. "Do you want me to apparate home with you?" he asked.
Ginny nodded slowly, "Sure that would be nice." They both apparated to Draco's front door and stood there awkwardly. Ginny felt so much like the muggle girl, in muggle movies, who'd just come home from her first date. Which was silly considering that she had been friends with Colin for such a long time. She let her arms hang limply at her sides, not really knowing what to do, and looked over at Colin expectantly. But he wasn't much help; he was staring at his shoes.
Colin wanted to kiss her, but he also didn't want to ruin their friendship. What if she didn't want to kiss him? What would he do then? What if he repulsed her? So he looked to his shoes…maybe they would have the answer.
Ginny getting a little frustrated, and not wanting to seem rude by just going in side, stepped closer to him, letting him know it was okay to kiss her. That was all that Colin needed apparently, just a little reassurance. He bent his head slightly, to accommodate the space between their lips, and pressed his to hers softly in a kiss that was a little more than friendly. Ginny didn't feel any of the tingling warmth that she had felt when her lips had barely brushed Draco's, but still, Colin's kiss was a pleasant one.
She broke apart slowly and looked at him, he smiled at her slightly, and she returned it. "So…" she breathed.
Colin bit the inside of his lip, "Do you want to go out on a date? A real one?" he asked nervously.
Ginny grinned at him, "Sure."
"Great," he bent down to give her another quick kiss and disapparated promptly.
Ginny stood on the front doorstep looking slightly dazed. Did this mean that she had a boyfriend? Did she really like Colin like that? She sighed heavily and went inside.
"Raven! Draco!" she called out into the quiet house. Nobody answered, she frowned and started up the huge stairway and went to the library that they always used. They weren't in there, so she checked all the other libraries, and they weren't in those either.
She walked quietly up to Raven's room and pushed the door open slowly. Inside Draco was half lying, half sitting next to Raven who was sleeping. He had a pink book open in his lap and he was slumped on his elbow, fast asleep. Ginny grinned and wondered if she should wake him up. He looked so angelic and sweet when he was sleeping…so unlike when he was awake. His pale blond hair fell over into his closed eyes and his mouth was unmarred by his customary smirk.
Raven was a totally different story. She had her arm flung out and hanging over the side of the bed. Her hair looked like it had mice living in it, and she had a brown sauce all over her mouth. The corner of her mouth was upturned in an unconscious smile, and one of her hands was clenching and unclenching slowly.
Ginny shut the door and started back towards her room; she opened the door, walked in and took off her shoes, set down her handbag and flopped onto her bed.
There was a quiet knock on the door. "Come in."
Draco stepped into the doorway, his eyes droopy from tiredness, "How do you manage her all day?"
Ginny smiled at him, "It's my special secret."
"Did you have fun?" he asked hesitantly.
Ginny blinked, "Yes…."
"Oh," he turned and started to leave.
"Wait!" Ginny called impulsively. He looked back at her, "I didn't mean to say it that way. Please stay."
Draco smirked, "Stay? What for?"
"Uh…" Ginny paused and looked around her room, then narrowed her eyes, "Why is my closet open? And my bag on the floor?"
Draco's smirk faltered, "Well…you see…it's a long story."
Ginny sat up and crossed her arms, "I have awhile."
Draco rolled his eyes, and Ginny patted the space beside her on the bed for him to sit down. He walked over to her slowly, and sat down. His weight caused her to slide toward him; she put out her hand to stop herself from going any further. "Tell me."
"Well…Raven and I were in the library, and I was reading. Then she said that she wanted me to read her a book, but she didn't want to read any of my books. She wanted to come and get some of the books that you brought." Ginny nodded, "But she didn't want to just come up here and get them, she wanted to pretend that we were spies. So we 'snuck' up here and she made me look in the closet for your bag." Ginny snorted. "And when I turned around to tell her that I found them, she was gone. So I put the bag down and went after her. She decided that she'd rather play hide and seek than find books. While chasing her around the house, I forgot about the bag." Draco concluded, and then looked over at her.
Ginny was smiling, "Raven's a handful isn't she?"
Draco widened his eyes, "More like seven handfuls."
"You love her though, don't you?"
Draco paused, "I-yes, I do."
Ginny grinned, "That's good." Draco shrugged, and Ginny turned worried. "What did you guys have for dinner? Did you feed her? You didn't forget to eat did you?"
Draco rolled his eyes, "We ate."
She narrowed her eyes, "What did you eat?"
"Chinese takeout, Raven liked it."
"Did you clean her up?"
Draco groaned, "A guy can only remember to do so many things…and that was one that I forgot."
"It's okay. I was worried that you might have forgotten to feed her," Ginny sighed. "I know how my brother's are when they're babysitting for Ron's son Robert, especially George and Fred. They'll go a whole day without eating if their busy enough. When one of us girls comes home, they suddenly realize that their hungry and expect us to cook them something."
"I'm not that irresponsible," said Draco.
Ginny shrugged, "You never know with guys."
"I'm not a Weasley."
"That's obvious."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Draco asked glaring slightly.
"You don't act like a Weasley, and you surely don't look like a Weasley." She explained. Draco was quiet. "What?"
"Nothing," he said in a voice that made her think there was more than nothing.
"What is it?"
"I said nothing."
Ginny sighed and looked at him. His eyes were sort of dazed and she would have given a galleon just to know what he was thinking. "You can tell me," she said softly, touching one of his hands.
He jerked and his eyes cleared, "No, I can't."
She frowned, "Why not?"
"Because."
"Because is not an answer, it's an excuse."
"So?"
"So, give me a better one," Ginny persisted.
"I don't have to," Draco said glaring at the door.
"It would be nice if you would," she said quietly.
"It doesn't matter," he said turning to look at her.
"I want to know!" Ginny almost shouted, "Why don't you just tell-"
His mouth covered hers; cutting off 'me', for a split second she was too stunned to react. Then she put her hand to his chest and tried to push him away, but he looped an arm around her back and cradled the back of her head with his other hand to hold her still for the kiss.
It was the boldest kiss that she had ever received, and his lips fitted to hers perfectly. It took her breath away, and Draco paused for air.
"Draco! What do you think-"
He resealed her lips, and this kiss was more persuasive. He didn't want to hear her being angry with him; he just wanted to taste the sweetness of her lips on his. Draco's lips caressed hers softly, and the rigidity of her body went away. She relaxed in his arms, and stopped pushing against his chest; she moved her hand to his shoulder and leaned into the kiss.
He broke away one more time for a quick breath of air, "Draco…"she said softly. "There's no point…don't do-"
His third kiss was even more gentle and powerful all at the same time. She melted completely, and returned his kiss. Her mouth softened and her lips parted slightly, Draco took full advantage of it and slipped his tongue out and traced the opening of her mouth. Ginny felt fire where his tongue had touched her, what he was doing to her senses was addictive, and she knew that she wanted more.
He pulled back slowly and looked at her lips, which were moist and swollen. He took a few short ragged breaths and lifted his eyes to meet her dazed and confused ones. He got off of her bed, and walked out the door, not wanting to answer any questions.
Ginny sat on her bed, and lifted her hands to her lips. Two different men had kissed her that night. One she had known forever and was entirely comfortable with, his kiss had done nothing to her. The other man, her family hated and she had once despised herself. Now she realized that she didn't really know him, but his kisses made the solid ground melt beneath her feet.
She sighed and lay back down…and thought that she heard faint laughter.
A/N: TA-DA! There's your chapter. I hope you all liked it; I know that it's taken a while for it to get out…but it's a long chapter…like 25 pages or something. Thanks to Natalie for beta-ing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you to everyone who reviewed!!!!! Thank you, thank you!!!!! PLEASE REVIEW! PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!
If any of you are wondering what I might have done to get something so drastic done to myself the answer is that I've been having some rough times. I haven't been myself, not thinking straight and have done some things that I really regret, my friends know what happened and I'm sorry I told you, I just didn't know who to tell. My problems shouldn't be your burden. But that wasn't exactly what got my computer taken away. I was having trouble keeping up on my independent study course and one night my dad just got really mad at me and took my computer. Now is one of my precious few minutes that I've been allowed to get on the internet.
So I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I will post the next one as soon as I can.
Disclaimer: I'm also very sorry to inform you all that I do not own Draco Malfoy, or any other characters in this story that you've seen in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books. In fact, I don't own anything except the plot, Raven, Mr. Murray, Miss Wells, and Hopkins…maybe a few more necessary original characters, but that's all.
Chapter Seven
Ginny woke up a little earlier than usual that morning despite having stayed up so late with Draco. When she had gotten up the first thing she did, like every morning, was run across the hall and check on Raven.
She pushed Raven's door open quietly and peered in, and was surprised at what she saw. Her mouth literally dropped open. Was she dreaming? Draco was sitting cross-legged, hair mussed; only wearing his pajama bottoms, in front of Raven's dollhouse with her. He was holding onto the same blond haired doll that Raven had been playing with the night before. Raven was on her haunches next to Draco clutching the red haired doll. Ginny's stomach did a dive, she felt nervous about the distinct features of the dolls that were oh-so familiar.
She cleared her throat to make herself known. Draco looked up at her sleepy-eyed; he clearly hadn't been awake for too long. Raven looked up at her and beamed, wide-awake. Ginny smiled at her, then looked over at Draco and arched an eyebrow. Before he could say anything in response Raven ran over to Ginny and threw herself at her. Ginny picked Raven up and gave her a warm hug, and kissed her forehead.
"Morning Dinny!" Raven greeted, squirming out of Ginny's arms. "Drakey is playing dolls with me." She said happily, bouncing back to her seat next to the dollhouse.
Ginny snorted and looked over to Draco who was glaring at her. "I can't help it if this little twerp came bouncing into my room this morning!" He said grinning.
Raven wrinkled her face at him. "I did not! You came in here and woke ME up." Draco smiled at her, "Did I?"
"Yes," Raven insisted. "So you are a twerp."
Draco feigned being hurt, "Me? A twerp? Raven…I'm so…upset that you would say that about me." He looked over at the little girl with big, sad, grey eyes.
Even a four-year-old girl had to surrender to those eyes. Raven smiled at him, and then hugged him around his neck. "I'm sorry Drakey."
"Apology accepted," came Draco's muffled reply. Ginny grinned at them, and sighed.
"I'm going to be leaving after breakfast," she said moving from the doorway, towards them.
Raven looked at her woefully, "Leaving?" she breathed. "You're leaving me and Drakey?" Her eyes shined with unshed tears.
Ginny rushed to her side, and hugged her. "No silly, not like that. Today is my day off. I'm going to go out and do some other things. Draco is going to take care of you today."
Raven glanced over at Draco uncertainly, and Draco wiggled his eyebrows at her. Raven giggled and buried her face into Ginny's neck, which caused her to erupt with giggles.
When Ginny looked back at Draco his eyes were gleaming, filled with mischief. "Oh looky here, it seems as though Miss Weasley is extremely ticklish." He smirked at her rakishly.
Ginny's eyes widened, "I-I'm not ticklish," she stuttered out.
Draco grinned, "And you're such a bad liar."
Raven peered at Draco curiously, "Are you ticklish?"
Draco scoffed, "Me? Ticklish? Yeah, right." He folded his arms over his chest.
The corner of Ginny's lip curled up, "Now who's the bad liar?"
"What?" Draco said innocently. "I'm not lying."
Ginny glanced over at Raven, "Well…there's only one way to find out…" and both girls pounced on him, tickling him furiously. He was, without a doubt, very ticklish. They had him begging for mercy, tears were streaming down his cheeks before they stopped. Raven hadn't been much help, she was laughing more than Draco. Ginny had gotten him good though, and now his sides ached.
He just lay there on the floor silently trying to calm himself. He had never been tickled like that, ever. He sat up slowly, and deliberately; then looked over at Ginny, a devilish glint in his eyes. Ginny was giggling with Raven and didn't notice as he stealthily made his way toward them. When Ginny noticed, it was too late. He grabbed her waist and threw her onto the bed and attacked her sides, moving his fingers deftly, causing her to shake with laughter.
Raven was sitting on the floor watching, her tongue caught in-between her teeth, her eyes shining gleefully.
"Ah! Draco! Stop!" She shrieked between giggles. "I'll do ANYTHING!" She said between gasps of breath and giggles. "Please!" Ginny wailed, trying to stop laughing.
Draco looked down at her, stopping for a moment. He quirked and eyebrow, "Anything?" Then proceeded to continue tickling her.
"Anything!" She said through her squeals and giggles. Then he stopped and caught her eye. She closed hers', and when she opened them again; she was staring straight into his vibrant grey eyes.
He smirked, and leaned down closer, putting his mouth near her ear, "Would you…" he trailed off, and Ginny gulped. "Cook us breakfast?" He pulled his head up and looked at her.
She opened her mouth and had to stop herself from glaring at him. "Cook breakfast?" She repeated dubiously. Draco stepped back from the edge of the bed where he had been leaning over Ginny.
He raked his fingers through his already, mussed hair. "Well, yes. Miss Wells is off today also."
"I guess I could," Ginny said, eyeing him suspiciously. Draco waggled his fingers at her threateningly; her eyebrows shot up. "Actually, I could most definitely do it."
Draco grinned, "That's more like it." Raven snuck up behind Draco and pushed the back of his knees. "What the-" and he fell forward into Ginny who was still lying back on the bed.
Ginny groaned, "Ouch."
Draco winced, "Ouch is right." He opened his eyes and looked down at Ginny's lips, which were only a few centimeters away from his own. He licked his lips. Her mouth parted slightly. He leaned forward and hesitated then abruptly stood back up and cleared his throat. "I guess we should let you go and make breakfast." He glanced over at Raven who was suddenly very pouty.
"What's a matter with you? If I recall correctly, you are the one who did the pushing." Draco said a bit angrily.
Raven stuck out her tongue and flounced onto her bed.
***
Ginny was standing at the stove cooking some bacon and pancakes. Raven was bouncing around the kitchen singing her "My Little Unicorn" song. Draco walked into the kitchen sniffing with his eyes closed
"What are you cooking?" He asked standing behind Ginny and peering over her shoulder.
"Bacon and pancakes," Ginny said moving away from the stove to stir the batter. Draco looked at the sizzling bacon, then to Ginny, and then to a plate of steaming bacon. Ginny came back to the stove and had poured some batter in a buttered pan.
Draco looked over her shoulder and pointed to the plate of bacon, "Can I have some?"
Ginny looked back at him and smiled, "No way! I'm not done yet.
Draco frowned, "Come on, just one piece."
"No, n-o." She said flipping a perfectly golden brown pancake over.
"Do you cook at home?" He asked trying to distract her so he could grab a piece of the bacon. Ginny looked the other way and turned over the bacon so it wouldn't burn.
"Yes, mom doesn't like to cook as much anymore," Draco reached out and grabbed a piece of bacon as Ginny turned back around. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him, "You put that bacon back right now!" Draco widened his eyes and put the bacon back on the plate.
"Geesh," he said going to talk to Raven. Ginny grinned; that was way too easy.
Raven started telling Draco about an episode of "My Little Unicorn" and started acting it out for him. He sat at a small table, smiling as he watched her. Ginny sighed happily and turned back to the stove to finish cooking breakfast.
She finished and set a plate holding a stack of pancakes, a plate with bacon and some butter and syrup on the table; she poured a glass of milk for everyone. Ginny fixed Raven's plate for her and Draco grabbed three pancakes and four pieces of bacon and put one in his mouth watching Ginny, who was giggling. "What?" He asked with his mouth full.
Ginny shook her head, "nothing…nothing," and sat down to fix her own plate.
"So…" Draco started, "What are you going to do today?"
"Well," Ginny said after swallowing a bit of pancake. "I think my friends and I are going to go see a muggle movie and some other things like that." Draco wrinkled his nose.
"Muggle movie?" He asked taking a big sip of his milk.
"They're fun," Ginny said giving him a look.
"Whatever," and said and proceeded to stuff himself.
"Mmm," Raven said licking her lips that were smothered with syrup. "This is yummy Dinny. Better than that eggs bedidick."
Draco snorted, "Eggs Benedict." He corrected.
Raven rolled her eyes, "Same thing."
Draco took another sip of his milk, "Miss Wells is an okay cook."
"Yeah, but she makes stuff that I can't say." Raven said getting syrup in her hair.
Ginny got up and went to the sink; she got a wet rag and cleaned the syrup from Raven's hair. Raven wrinkled her nose at her, "Dinny! Stop that."
"I'm done," Ginny said impassively putting the rag back. She also put her plate in the sink. "I'm going to go get ready now, so you guys are basically on your own today."
Raven knitted her eyebrows together, "I have to spend all day with him."
"Excuse me, I'm right here," Draco said annoyed.
Raven glanced at him, "So?"
"So don't talk about me like I'm not here!"
"Stop it you two," Ginny said grinning. "Yes Raven, you will be spending all day with him."
Raven looked over at Draco mulling him over, "Ok."
"Bye. Have fun today." Ginny said leaving the room. Then she poked her head back through, "Don't forget to put your dishes in the sink."
"Yes, mother," Draco said mockingly.
* * * * *
Ginny apparated into her living room at home and saw her mother sitting in her rocking chair knitting. She looked up at Ginny and beamed, "Oh Ginny, you're home!" She dropped her knitting to the floor and rushed to Ginny and wrapped her up in a big bone-crushing mother hug.
"Mother," Ginny wheezed. "Let go." Molly let go of her daughter and stepped back to look at her. "You act like I've been gone for years."
"It seems like you have. It gets so lonely around here." Her mother said hustling Ginny into the kitchen. "Are you hungry? Do you need anything to eat? Some tea?"
"No mum, I've just had breakfast." Ginny said sitting down at their scrubbed table. "I don't know how long I'll be here; I'm supposed to be going out with some friends today."
Mrs. Weasley looked at Ginny a bit sadly, "Will you see me before you go back?"
"I don't think so, we'll probably be out late. I'll come back a visit another day." Ginny said smiling.
"Whom are you going out with?"
"Colin, Maddie and Bryan," Ginny said popping her knuckles.
"Don't do that honey. Those your school friends?" Mrs. Weasley asked, sitting at the table too.
"Yes, Maddie and Bryan are going out now...and I think they're trying to set me up with Colin. Or at least Maddie is, she wants me to go with Colin…but he's just my friend." Ginny said looking over at her mother who was eyeing her suspiciously. "He IS just my FRIEND! He is a boy who is my friend! There is a definite SPACE between the words." She felt like a teenager again.
"Okay, okay, I believe you." Her mother said putting her hands up defensively.
Ginny rolled her eyes at her mother.
"How's your job been?"
Ginny sighed and smiled, "It's been great."
"Having fun with the little girl?"
"Oh, yes, she's cute, you just can't help but love her," Ginny said thinking of the tickling that went on earlier that morning.
"That's good, I'm glad you're having fun."
Ginny looked over at the kitchen clock and saw that all of her brother's hands were resting at 'home', where they were probably spending the day with their families. Even Harry had gotten a hand, but his said traveling. Ginny looked back over to her mother, "I'm going to go get ready to meet my friends, I'm supposed to apparate over to Maddie's house in an hour."
Her mom nodded, "Okay." Ginny got up from the table and climbed the stairs to her room. The first thing she did was to fling herself onto her bed, and smelled her sheets. Her mother hadn't changed them; they were still exactly the same way that she had left them. Her whole room was exactly how she left it. Ginny smiled and rummaged through her make-up drawer for some that she hadn't taken to Draco's house. She applied some then yawned tiredly, she drifted back over to her bed and lay down...and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.
* * * * *
"So Drakey, what are we going to do?" Raven asked swinging her feet from her perch on the couch. Both she and Draco were in one of Draco's libraries and he was reading a book. Raven was starting to fidget.
Draco looked up at her and shrugged, "I don't know."
"I'm bored," she said getting up and skipping around the room.
"Nice to meet you Bored, I'm Draco," he said looking back down at his book.
"That wasn't very nice," Raven said slapping the book from his hand.
Draco narrowed his eyes at her, "That wasn't either."
"Teach me to play quidditch," Raven said smiling again.
Draco rolled his eyes, "After what you just did? I don't think so."
"Please Drakey! I'm so bored!" Raven said sitting down right in front of him, crossing her arms over her chest. She stuck her lower lip out and lowered her eyebrows. "Can you at least teach me how to fly?"
"I guess I could--," Draco was cut off by a woman with pale hair like his apparating into the room.
She smiled at him and sat down on the couch. "Hello Draco. Having fun with Raven?"
Draco scowled at her, "I guess you could say that."
Raven jumped off the floor and beamed, "Auntie Narcissi! Auntie Narcissi!" She ran over to Narcissa, jumped into her lap and hugged her tightly around her middle.
Narcissa laughed and hugged Raven back, "Hey beautiful, it's nice to see you again."
Raven released her and stepped back, "I'm having so much fun! Especially with Dinny!"
"Dinny?" Narcissa asked curiously.
"Yeah, Dinny she's Drakey's girlfriend." Raven said sticking her tongue out at Draco.
"Her name is Ginny and she's not my girlfriend." A faint blush was appearing on his cheeks.
Narcissa grinned at her abashed son, "Are you sure she isn't your girlfriend? Why haven't you told me about her? I am your mother."
"I didn't tell you because she isn't my girlfriend. She's Raven's governess." Draco said rolling his eyes and picking his book back up.
"I'm sure," Narcissa stated mildly.
Draco glared at her, "I'm serious! That's all she is THE GOVERNESS! THE NANNY!" He felt like a teenager again.
* * * * *
Ginny woke up and looked at the clock on her beside table. She had three minutes to get to Maddie's house. She jumped out of bed and pulled on her shoes. She waved her wand and disapparated, appearing in Maddie's living room seconds later.
Maddie, Bryan and Colin were all sitting on couches waiting for her. She gave them all a sheepish grin. "Sorry I'm late."
Colin glanced at a clock, "Actually you're right on time. We were just early." He smiled at her.
Ginny smiled back and looked over at Maddie who had her head resting on Bryan's shoulder. "So where are we going?"
Maddie set her brown eyes on Ginny, "The carnival."
"The carnival? Isn't that a muggle thing?" Ginny asked taking a seat in an armchair.
"Most things that we do are muggle things." Bryan said looking at her curiously. Ginny blushed. "Besides, it'll be fun...we always have fun."
Ginny nodded, "Of course we do."
Colin got out of his seat, "Come on then, let's go."
Maddie picked up the crushed soda can from the table. "I got a portkey, it will transport us to Green Hills...or something like that."
"Something like that?" Said Colin with raised eyebrows.
"We're not going to be lost, we'll be near the carnival's gate, I just can't remember the name of the place, that's all."
"Everybody ready?" Said Maddie. They nodded their heads and touched the portkey.
They all walked on the carnival grounds, Maddie holding Bryan's hand and Ginny walking awkwardly next to Colin. Maddie saw a roller coaster and pointed to it excitedly, "I didn't know they had these at carnivals! Let's go! Come on!" She said dropping Bryan's hand and running towards it. Bryan followed after her chuckling and Colin and Ginny gave each other confused looks, but followed them just the same.
They stood in line and when they finally got on the rides Maddie was paired with Bryan, as usual, and Ginny with Colin. Ginny looked over at Colin nervously, "I don't really like roller coasters."
Colin raised his eyebrows, "You don't? Why not? They're a good thrill." And with that the roller coaster started up the steep rise, clicking forebodingly the whole way up. Ginny gripped the lap bar, and stared down at her feet. Colin laughed, "Come on Ginny, it'll be loads of fun. I bet after we get off you're going to be begging for another go."
Ginny looked over at him and smiled weakly, "Maybe." Then the roller coaster plunged into a dive and Ginny let out a blood-curdling scream
Colin reached over and grabbed one of her hands and she stopped, some how his grasp was oddly reassuring. He smiled at her and she didn't scream again, she just shut her eyes tight and enjoyed the excitement of the ride.
When they got off Ginny's hair was wind-blown, her cheeks flushed, and she was grinning madly. "Oh my gosh, that was the best ride that I've ever been on." They all looked at her knowingly. "Can we do it again?"
Colin put his hand on her shoulder, "Actually I'm hungry. Do you mind if we grab a bit to eat before we take another go?"
"Not at all," Ginny said jovially. "What about you guys?" She said looking over at Maddie and Bryan.
Maddie looked over at Bryan, "I don't mind, I'm quite hungry myself." Right on cue, her stomach growled.
Bryan grinned at her, "I don't mind either."
Colin took Ginny's hand, "Let's go then."
Ginny looked at him curiously, but didn't let go of his hand. It had been a long time since she had had a boyfriend. Colin had been one of her best friends at Hogwarts and she knew that he was very sweet. She just didn't know if she liked him that way.
* * * * *
After Narcissa had left, Draco took Raven outside to his private quidditch pitch and was trying to teach her how to ride a broom.
"Like this?" Raven asked sitting on the broom sideways.
"No, it's not a horse, put one leg on either side." He said demonstrating.
"But I'll slide off."
"Not if you hold on." Raven climbed onto the broom like she was supposed to. "Now push off the ground a little."
Raven pushed and rocketed off, shouting gleefully as she went, "Weee!!!!"
"Oh gods," Draco muttered under his breath and took off after her. Raven slid off her broom and started free falling. With Draco's ex-seeker skills he dove after her and caught her in mid air.
Raven looked at him wide eyed and clutched at his robes, "My hero!" she cooed, causing Draco to smile.
* * * * *
"So, I heard from your mum that you have a job," Maddie said pleasantly. They had all sat down in a restaurant just outside of the carnival and had already placed their orders.
Ginny looked over at her, "Yes I do."
"Well, what are you doing?" Bryan prompted.
"I'm an au paire…a governess for a little girl." Ginny said smiling.
Maddie wrinkled her nose, "Taking care of a little kid all day? That doesn't sound like fun. Who's your boss?"
Ginny looked over at Maddie, slightly peeved. "Draco Malfoy."
Colin's eyes almost popped out, "Malfoy has a daughter?"
Ginny giggled, "No. Raven is his cousin; he has to watch her this summer."
"Then why isn't he? Why are you doing it?" Maddie asked.
"Because he has to work."
"How can you work for that slimy git?" Colin asked still amazed.
"He's not a slimy git," Ginny said lowering her eyebrows. "He's…nice, you just have to get to know him."
"Ooo, Ickle-Ginny-Kins has a crushy-wushy," Maddie said smirking at Ginny teasingly.
Ginny blushed, "I do not!"
"Then why are you defending him?" Bryan asked slyly.
"I'm not defending him!" Ginny said angrily. "Excuse me," and she got up and made her way towards the women's bathrooms.
Maddie looked at her, her eyes widening in surprise. "Oh my gosh, she really does like him."
Colin looked jealous. "She said she didn't."
"I'm going to go see her," Maddie said getting out of her seat and following Ginny into the bathroom.
Once she was gone Bryan said, "That's what she wants us to think."
"She doesn't! She can't like him!" Colin said staring down at the table. "She can't."
"Oh Ginny!" Maddie called stepping into the bathroom. She saw Ginny standing at the sinks with her hands resting on the edge of the counter, staring down at a faucet.
"I don't like him," she said, mostly sounding like she was trying to reassure herself. "I don't." She looked up into the mirror and stared at Maddie. "I don't."
Maddie looked at her a bit perturbed, "Okay. You don't like him, I was just kidding you." However, Maddie didn't look convinced one bit. Ginny looked so determined in saying it, that there was no way that she couldn't like him. No way. "Let's go back out to the table; I'm sure our food is there."
Ginny sighed, "Okay." And she let Maddie lead her back out to the table.
Colin and Bryan were sitting at the table having a hushed conversation that stopped abruptly as soon as they saw Maddie and Ginny. They took their seats again, their food was already there, and they started to eat. The conversation started up again, but no one mentioned Ginny's job, or Draco Malfoy.
* * * * *
They were back in Draco's library; Draco was too scared to take Raven out flying again. He didn't want anything to happen to her, not that he doubted his abilities to protect her; he just didn't want to take any chances. Raven was sitting on the couch again and Draco in his chair behind his big polished oak desk.
"Drakey," Raven started. "Can you read me a book?"
"Like what?"
"Dinny brought a lot of books," Raven said jumping off of the couch.
"Where are they?"
"In her room." Draco looked at her hesitantly.
"We can't go in there."
"Why not? We're just getting books," she said looking at him oddly.
"It's her room," he stressed.
"It's your house," Raven said stubbornly. "And we can pretend that we're spies!"
"What?"
"We can sneak in the hallways, and…ooo! It'll be fun! Come on Drakey!" Raven pleaded, lying on the floor and grabbing his trouser leg. "Puh-lees?" She begged, clutching his leg as he stood up.
"Okay, we'll do it." He said taking a step, and Raven with him. He took another, and another, and Raven still held onto his leg, giggling madly. He drug her across the floor to the door and peered down at her menacingly. "Get off my leg."
Raven grinned at him, "You got to say please."
Draco looked down at her grudgingly, "Please?"
"Okay," Raven said bouncing off of the floor and grabbing his hand. "Let's go."
Raven pushed the door open quietly and popped her head out, scanning the halls for any sign of life. Draco looked at her oddly. "Raven? What are you doing?"
Raven turned back to glare at him, she put her finger to her lips, "We're spies," she hissed quietly. Draco made an 'o' shape with his lips and followed her silently through the door. Draco shut the door softly behind him and had to use every ounce of self-control not to burst out laughing. Raven had her back pressed up against the wall, flattening herself to it. She had her eyebrows lowered and was staring intently at the opposite end of the hall. Then she looked back over at Draco, "Get against the wall!" She barked. Draco got up against the wall.
* * * * *
Bryan sat back and patted his full stomach, and grinned over at Maddie, "I'm stuffed; they sure do give you huge servings here."
Maddie quirked and eyebrow at him, "If I remember correctly you asked for a larger serving."
Bryan rolled his eyes, "It's not like I knew that it was going to be that big."
"Um, guys? Do you think that we could go? Instead of arguing?" Ginny asked gently, not wanting to hurt their feelings. They both glanced at each other and shrugged.
"Yeah, I guess," said Maddie, who slid out of her seat and then offered a hand to Bryan. Colin was sitting on the end of his and Ginny's booth slid out and then to turned to offer a hand. Ginny smiled graciously and took it, and he held on to it, not letting go as they left the restaurant.
"Where to now?" Colin asked.
They all glanced around, "I think that another roller coaster ride would be out of the question, as my stomach won't hold its food if we do," Bryan remarked looking over at the roller coaster that had just taken a large dip. Maddie glanced over at it as well and wrinkled her nose, obviously having the same thoughts as Bryan.
"We could go to the fun house," Ginny suggested, pointing out a purple tent.
"Sure," Colin said squeezing her hand as they all started walking toward the fun house.
* * * * *
v "Shh!" Raven hissed clapping her small hand over Draco's mouth. "Don't talk," she whispered.
Draco raised his eyebrows at the audacity of this little girl but complied. They were now in front of Draco's door, almost to Ginny's. Draco had only been talking because he was going to asked Raven how she thought she could hide against the dark wooden walls in a pale green robe. Raven of course, was oblivious to the color of her robe; she was concentrated on pressing herself against the wall as close as she could.
They slunk slowly towards Ginny's door; Raven reached out and gripped the knob carefully, and turned it as slowly as possible to ensure that it wouldn't make a sound. She pushed it open and darted inside, Draco grinned and followed her. As soon as he got inside Raven shut the door behind them and locked the door.
Raven grinned and clapped her hands together, "Yeah! We made it."
Draco looked over at her and smiled, he couldn't help it, Raven just looked so proud of herself. "Yes, now do you know where her books are?"
Raven's face dimmed a bit, "No…but we could look."
"Oh, I don't know about going through her things…" Draco trailed off, hoping that Raven would get his point. She didn't.
"Aw come on Drakey, don't be such a fraidy cat," she jumped on Ginny's bed and rolled over to the other side and looked underneath. "Nope," came her muffled voice, "nothing under her bed… 'cept some dust bunnies. Drakey, you look in the closet for her bag."
Draco sighed loudly. "Do I have to?" He whined.
"Yes!" Raven demanded shrilly, opening some drawers and sifting through them. Draco opened her closet door reluctantly.
Then shut it after glancing in it, "Nope, no bag."
Raven looked up at him angrily, "You didn't even look! Go look!" she demanded.
Draco opened the door again and looked through the closet for Ginny's bag, he found it in the back, and in it were five children's books. Draco let out a sigh and turned to look back, but Raven wasn't there. Draco dropped the bag and looked around, he whipped his head through the door and it was open.
He raced out into the hall, and saw her standing at the end of the hall, "Na-na-na-boo-boo, you can't catch me!" She giggled and then took off running.
Draco's eyes flashed and he followed after her.
* * * * *
Maddie sighed and looked up at the darkening sky; Ginny too looked up with her and wished that her day wasn't over. Besides the incident in the restaurant she'd had a very good day. Obviously Maddie and Bryan meant to set her up with Colin because they kept encouraging them to go off and do things by themselves.
"I'm hungry, isn't it dinner time?" Bryan asked.
Maddie rolled her eyes, "You're always hungry."
"So? I can't help it," Bryan protested.
"Let's go get something to eat then."
Ginny looked back at the Ferris Wheel lit up with colorful lights. "You know what guys; I think I'd like to ride that before dinner."
Maddie and Bryan exchanged a glance and then looked to Colin. Colin took the hint, "Oh, uh, Maddie you guys just go ahead, I'll go with Ginny on the Ferris Wheel, and we'll just catch a bite later." He looked over at Ginny, "Is that okay?"
Ginny nodded, smiling slightly, "It's fine."
"Alright then," said Maddie, "We'll see you soon! Have fun!" Maddie gave Ginny a hug and Bryan shook her hand awkwardly, causing everyone to laugh until he gave in and just hugged her.
"Bye!" Ginny called, as they left. "Let's go to the Ferris Wheel!" Ginny grabbed Colin's hand and drug him over to the short line. "Oh this is going to be so much fun; I've been on one of these before!"
Colin chuckled, "me too. They are kind of fun." Ginny smiled at him as they sat down on the bench. They slowly started going up, Ginny clutched his hand tighter as they went up higher. "Do you like your job?" Colin asked.
"Uh…" Ginny paused. "Most of the time."
"What does that mean?"
"Well, sometimes Malfoy can be a git, but most of the time he's okay." Ginny said looking at him curiously. "Why?"
"Just wondering. What about the little girl? It is a girl right?" Colin asked, hoping to Merlin that it was a girl.
Ginny beamed at him, "She's just wonderful, so cute and…well, she's very outgoing. We get along good, and even Dr-Malfoy seems to love her, but he won't admit it."
Colin made a face, "I don't think he's capable of loving someone."
Ginny made sad eyes at him, "I wouldn't say that, he's human too, even if a bit of a cold one." Colin didn't say anything. "Really, he's a good guy; it just takes a while for him to come out."
Colin's eyes almost shot out of their sockets, "He's gay?"
Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes, "He is not gay, I meant his good side, though it doesn't come out often…" she mumbled something under her breath about men.
"Oh," Colin seemed slightly disappointed. "Do you like him or something?"
Ginny looked stricken, "No, no I don't."
Colin gave her a sly grin, "Right…."
"I don't!" Ginny persisted.
"Okay, okay," Colin said holding his hands up, but the teasing look still in his eyes. "I believe you."
Ginny snorted, "I'm sure you do."
"Don't you want me to believe you?" Colin asked confused.
Ginny gave him a look that he couldn't decipher, "Yes."
"Alright…" and the Ferris Wheel stopped and they got off. "Where do you want to eat dinner?"
"Uhm, maybe we should go somewhere else, the food is more expensive here," Ginny suggested.
Colin perked up, "Sure, how about that Italian place near the Leaky Cauldron?" Ginny nodded.
* * * * *
"I'm going to get you!" Draco said running up behind Raven, who squealed and started giggling when he picked her up by the waist.
v "Oh no!" She wailed in-between giggles, "The EVIL Drakey's got me!"
"BWAHAHAHAHA," Draco laughed evilly. Raven started giggling again, and Draco held her on his hip.
"Drakey," she said lowering her eyebrows and putting a hand on her stomach. "I'm hungry."
Draco glanced at his watch and saw that it was 5:30, there was no way that he was going to cook dinner, that was impossible. He sighed, "Do you know how to cook?"
Raven frowned at him, "I'm only this many!" She said holding up four fingers. "What do you think?"
"Have you ever had Chinese take out?" Draco asked walking down the hall to the nearest library.
"No…I don't think so," said Raven.
"Well it's very good, let's go see if we can order from the fireplace." Draco kicked open and door and set Raven down on a couch and threw some powder into a fire and said, "Lee's Wok," and a head appeared in the fireplace.
"Yes sir, how may I help you?" Said a man with a Cantonese accent.
"Could we order some fried rice, sweet and sour chicken and some…" Draco paused to think for a moment, "Beef and broccoli?"
The man bowed his head, "Yes sir, your total is fifteen galleons and two sickles. It should be there shortly sir."
"Thanks," Draco said taking Raven by the hand and walked with her to the front door. Two seconds after they got there the doorbell rang. Draco opened it, paid the delivery boy and took the food. "Thanks," he said. The boy bowed and rushed down the stairs, pulling a portkey out of his pocket.
v Raven stuck her nose out into the air and sniffed, "That smells good," she commented.
Draco nodded, "It's pretty good." And they went to the dining room to eat.
* * * * *
Colin and Ginny had just finished ordering and were sitting at the table quietly. "So Colin how's work?" Ginny asked, taking a bite of her breadstick.
Colin glanced up from where he had been staring at his water glass and smiled, "Oh its fine, loads of fun."
"You take pictures for both the Daily Prophet and the Quidditch Journal, right?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow, and looking at him curiously.
Colin beamed at her, "And the Witch Weekly," he added proudly.
Ginny looked amazed, "Wow, that's a lot of pictures to shoot. Do you ever get tired of it?"
"No…it's a lot of fun. I love photography; I've been doing it for as long as I can remember."
Ginny let out a quiet giggle, "I remember when you were running around Hogwarts trying to get pictures of Harry."
Colin blushed, "That was a long time ago," Ginny grinned at his embarrassment.
"I used to chase after him too," she admitted shyly, "Only not in the same way as you."
Colin chuckled, "I remember that."
"We've known each other for a long time haven't we?" Said Ginny.
Colin nodded, "Since first year." Then the waiter appeared with their orders. Ginny took one look at her plate and felt her stomach tighten…it was huge. Colin looked at his ravenously; he was hungry.
Ginny picked up her fork and twirled it in her pasta carefully, not really sure how to go about eating from such a big plate. Colin looked at her strangely, "Is it alright?" he asked curiously.
Ginny nodded, "Its fine," and as if to prove herself she took a big bite and smiled.
v Colin laughed, "You have sauce on your nose."
Ginny's eyes widened, "Oh my…I do?"
"Yeah…just here," Colin reached over the table and wiped the sauce off of her nose, she looked up into his eyes and their eyes locked. Ginny wondered if he was going to kiss her.
The waiter came and asked them if everything was alright, and Colin sat back in his seat nervously. "No…" Ginny said softly, "Everything's fine."
They resumed their dinner and continued with small talk, each trying to forget the awkward moment that had just passed. Ginny couldn't help but wonder if maybe she had wanted Colin to kiss her. It wasn't like she already had a boyfriend or anything.
* * * * *
Raven grinned up at Draco with all sorts of sauces smeared on the edges of her mouth. "Drakey," she said solemnly. "That was very good."
Draco gave her a lopsided grin, "I'm glad you liked it. Want a fortune cookie?"
"Fortune cookie?" Raven asked, confused.
"Yeah, you break open the cookie and there's a little piece of paper inside that has your fortune," he explained taking one out of the wrapper for her and handing it to her. "Go ahead, open it."
Raven cracked the cookie in half, getting crumbs all over the table, and pulled out the piece of paper anxiously. She peered at it and then handed it to Draco, "I can't read," she said frustrated.
Draco smiled at her, and looked down at it, instantly his eyebrows knitted together. Raven looked at him, "What's it say Drakey?"
He glanced at her, "'Value your match box,'" he read directly off the paper.
Raven looked at the paper he handed back to her curiously, "What does that mean?"
Draco shrugged, "I'm not sure…is it talking about muggle matches?"
Raven looked at him like he was crazy, "How am I supposed to know?" She looked pointedly to the unopened fortune cookie in front of him, "Open yours."
Draco picked his up and raised an eyebrow at her, and opened it; he broke it carefully and pulled out the piece of paper. He blinked, "'Your mind deceives you,'" he read quietly. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Dunno," Raven said through a mouthful of cookie. Draco shrugged and shoved half of his fortune cookie in his mouth. Raven giggled and crumbs flew out of her mouth, which made her laugh even harder. When she had calmed down she said, "I wanna play dollies."
Draco pulled a face, "Dolls?"
"YES!" Raven shouted, bouncing up and down in her chair.
"Can't you play by yourself?"
Raven frowned at him and crossed her arms over her chest, "No, you have to play with me."
"Are you sure you want me to?" Draco asked, trying to get out of playing dolls.
She stuck her nose up in the air, "Yes."
"Do I even have a choice?" asked Draco, smiling.
Raven snorted, "Of course not." She jumped out of her chair and pulled Draco out of his and she tugged him by the hand up to her room. "Drakey's gonna play dollies with me! Drakey's gonna play dollies with me! Drakey's gonna play dollies with me!" She said in a singsong voice, skipping down the hallways. A pale-faced Draco followed.
* * * * *
Colin paid for their dinner and they walked out of the restaurant. "Do you want me to apparate home with you?" he asked.
Ginny nodded slowly, "Sure that would be nice." They both apparated to Draco's front door and stood there awkwardly. Ginny felt so much like the muggle girl, in muggle movies, who'd just come home from her first date. Which was silly considering that she had been friends with Colin for such a long time. She let her arms hang limply at her sides, not really knowing what to do, and looked over at Colin expectantly. But he wasn't much help; he was staring at his shoes.
Colin wanted to kiss her, but he also didn't want to ruin their friendship. What if she didn't want to kiss him? What would he do then? What if he repulsed her? So he looked to his shoes…maybe they would have the answer.
Ginny getting a little frustrated, and not wanting to seem rude by just going in side, stepped closer to him, letting him know it was okay to kiss her. That was all that Colin needed apparently, just a little reassurance. He bent his head slightly, to accommodate the space between their lips, and pressed his to hers softly in a kiss that was a little more than friendly. Ginny didn't feel any of the tingling warmth that she had felt when her lips had barely brushed Draco's, but still, Colin's kiss was a pleasant one.
She broke apart slowly and looked at him, he smiled at her slightly, and she returned it. "So…" she breathed.
Colin bit the inside of his lip, "Do you want to go out on a date? A real one?" he asked nervously.
Ginny grinned at him, "Sure."
"Great," he bent down to give her another quick kiss and disapparated promptly.
Ginny stood on the front doorstep looking slightly dazed. Did this mean that she had a boyfriend? Did she really like Colin like that? She sighed heavily and went inside.
"Raven! Draco!" she called out into the quiet house. Nobody answered, she frowned and started up the huge stairway and went to the library that they always used. They weren't in there, so she checked all the other libraries, and they weren't in those either.
She walked quietly up to Raven's room and pushed the door open slowly. Inside Draco was half lying, half sitting next to Raven who was sleeping. He had a pink book open in his lap and he was slumped on his elbow, fast asleep. Ginny grinned and wondered if she should wake him up. He looked so angelic and sweet when he was sleeping…so unlike when he was awake. His pale blond hair fell over into his closed eyes and his mouth was unmarred by his customary smirk.
Raven was a totally different story. She had her arm flung out and hanging over the side of the bed. Her hair looked like it had mice living in it, and she had a brown sauce all over her mouth. The corner of her mouth was upturned in an unconscious smile, and one of her hands was clenching and unclenching slowly.
Ginny shut the door and started back towards her room; she opened the door, walked in and took off her shoes, set down her handbag and flopped onto her bed.
There was a quiet knock on the door. "Come in."
Draco stepped into the doorway, his eyes droopy from tiredness, "How do you manage her all day?"
Ginny smiled at him, "It's my special secret."
"Did you have fun?" he asked hesitantly.
Ginny blinked, "Yes…."
"Oh," he turned and started to leave.
"Wait!" Ginny called impulsively. He looked back at her, "I didn't mean to say it that way. Please stay."
Draco smirked, "Stay? What for?"
"Uh…" Ginny paused and looked around her room, then narrowed her eyes, "Why is my closet open? And my bag on the floor?"
Draco's smirk faltered, "Well…you see…it's a long story."
Ginny sat up and crossed her arms, "I have awhile."
Draco rolled his eyes, and Ginny patted the space beside her on the bed for him to sit down. He walked over to her slowly, and sat down. His weight caused her to slide toward him; she put out her hand to stop herself from going any further. "Tell me."
"Well…Raven and I were in the library, and I was reading. Then she said that she wanted me to read her a book, but she didn't want to read any of my books. She wanted to come and get some of the books that you brought." Ginny nodded, "But she didn't want to just come up here and get them, she wanted to pretend that we were spies. So we 'snuck' up here and she made me look in the closet for your bag." Ginny snorted. "And when I turned around to tell her that I found them, she was gone. So I put the bag down and went after her. She decided that she'd rather play hide and seek than find books. While chasing her around the house, I forgot about the bag." Draco concluded, and then looked over at her.
Ginny was smiling, "Raven's a handful isn't she?"
Draco widened his eyes, "More like seven handfuls."
"You love her though, don't you?"
Draco paused, "I-yes, I do."
Ginny grinned, "That's good." Draco shrugged, and Ginny turned worried. "What did you guys have for dinner? Did you feed her? You didn't forget to eat did you?"
Draco rolled his eyes, "We ate."
She narrowed her eyes, "What did you eat?"
"Chinese takeout, Raven liked it."
"Did you clean her up?"
Draco groaned, "A guy can only remember to do so many things…and that was one that I forgot."
"It's okay. I was worried that you might have forgotten to feed her," Ginny sighed. "I know how my brother's are when they're babysitting for Ron's son Robert, especially George and Fred. They'll go a whole day without eating if their busy enough. When one of us girls comes home, they suddenly realize that their hungry and expect us to cook them something."
"I'm not that irresponsible," said Draco.
Ginny shrugged, "You never know with guys."
"I'm not a Weasley."
"That's obvious."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Draco asked glaring slightly.
"You don't act like a Weasley, and you surely don't look like a Weasley." She explained. Draco was quiet. "What?"
"Nothing," he said in a voice that made her think there was more than nothing.
"What is it?"
"I said nothing."
Ginny sighed and looked at him. His eyes were sort of dazed and she would have given a galleon just to know what he was thinking. "You can tell me," she said softly, touching one of his hands.
He jerked and his eyes cleared, "No, I can't."
She frowned, "Why not?"
"Because."
"Because is not an answer, it's an excuse."
"So?"
"So, give me a better one," Ginny persisted.
"I don't have to," Draco said glaring at the door.
"It would be nice if you would," she said quietly.
"It doesn't matter," he said turning to look at her.
"I want to know!" Ginny almost shouted, "Why don't you just tell-"
His mouth covered hers; cutting off 'me', for a split second she was too stunned to react. Then she put her hand to his chest and tried to push him away, but he looped an arm around her back and cradled the back of her head with his other hand to hold her still for the kiss.
It was the boldest kiss that she had ever received, and his lips fitted to hers perfectly. It took her breath away, and Draco paused for air.
"Draco! What do you think-"
He resealed her lips, and this kiss was more persuasive. He didn't want to hear her being angry with him; he just wanted to taste the sweetness of her lips on his. Draco's lips caressed hers softly, and the rigidity of her body went away. She relaxed in his arms, and stopped pushing against his chest; she moved her hand to his shoulder and leaned into the kiss.
He broke away one more time for a quick breath of air, "Draco…"she said softly. "There's no point…don't do-"
His third kiss was even more gentle and powerful all at the same time. She melted completely, and returned his kiss. Her mouth softened and her lips parted slightly, Draco took full advantage of it and slipped his tongue out and traced the opening of her mouth. Ginny felt fire where his tongue had touched her, what he was doing to her senses was addictive, and she knew that she wanted more.
He pulled back slowly and looked at her lips, which were moist and swollen. He took a few short ragged breaths and lifted his eyes to meet her dazed and confused ones. He got off of her bed, and walked out the door, not wanting to answer any questions.
Ginny sat on her bed, and lifted her hands to her lips. Two different men had kissed her that night. One she had known forever and was entirely comfortable with, his kiss had done nothing to her. The other man, her family hated and she had once despised herself. Now she realized that she didn't really know him, but his kisses made the solid ground melt beneath her feet.
She sighed and lay back down…and thought that she heard faint laughter.
A/N: TA-DA! There's your chapter. I hope you all liked it; I know that it's taken a while for it to get out…but it's a long chapter…like 25 pages or something. Thanks to Natalie for beta-ing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you to everyone who reviewed!!!!! Thank you, thank you!!!!! PLEASE REVIEW! PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!