A/N: I know, I know, I'm terrible because I haven't been updating
regularly. But it really doesn't go much for motivation when people don't
even bother to give me a lousy review. I got one. One review. Wot kind of
authoress do you take me for? I feed on your opinions!!! How am I supposed
to know if my story's a load of crud, if you don't tell me??! Grrr. Anyway.
Not mad. Honest, I'm not. Lol. Anyway, on to the chappie. It's not my
favourite chappie, I can tell ya that. But the last scene, I think, is
pretty good. I'm working on another D/G at the moment, so expect to see
that on fanfiction soon. REVIEW this time, please? You don't even have to
read it. Just give me a sodding review. Lol.
Disclaimer: It's mine, all mine!!! muhahahaha! *Glances around her tiny white cell* Are you listening to me? It's mine! *laughs insanely* No, really, it's J.K.'s *rolls her eyes*
Chapter 6
"Now, I thought I had made myself clear when I told you not to even think about Ginny Weasley."
Lucius didn't even bother to deny the fact that he had hired Archie Reynolds. "I was just teaching her a small lesson. One which has seemed to instill itself nicely in her mind. From what I've heard, she wants nothing to do with you. This is a plus for you also, you will be able to concentrate on the more meaningful people and things in your life. Your mother and I have many duties to hand over to you, once you have reached the right age."
Draco snorted. "I'm sorry, when was it that I said that you're going to get away with that you did to Ginny? I thought that you had more sense than that, Lucius." Draco shook the hair from his forehead and regarded his father. "You made a big mistake. And you're going to have to pay for it." He shrugged, as though he regretted having to harm his father.
"Oh, please, Draco. I can't believe that the heir of Malfoy is a ninny in love with a weasel! You're pathetic. You have brought shame and disgrace to our family. Besides, I was only scaring her a bit. She's not as innocent as she looks. She wanted him to take her. Your girlfriend is a little whore. She deserved every cut, punch and slap she got."
Draco remained calm, only his slightly shivering black robe showing any sign that he was about to explode. He waited impatiently for his father to dig himself into a deeper grave.
"I would have done it all myself, had I not found the very thought of touching the girl distasteful and repulsive. You have sunk low, son." Lucius raised an eyebrow and sneered.
Draco shook his head. "This time, Lucius, you have gone too far. You worship a dead man and pretend that you're powerful, when you are nothing but a small man with nothing better to do with his time, slowly but surely losing his mind."
Lucius' face turned red with anger and he took a step forward. "Don't be stupid. You're my son, but I am sorry to say, you have learned nothing in all your years. You are still as stupid as you ever were, you still don't see how gullible and easy you are," he snorted. "You have done the one thing that can prove your utter stupidity; fall in love with a lowly, good- for-nothing Weasel. You make me sick!" he spat.
Draco stood there, thinking about what his father said, allowing it to run through him like whiskey, burning his insides. Colour rose in his pale cheeks as he pulled his wand from his robes. Lucius, seeing this, retrieved his wand from his large desk. They stood in the semi-circular room, two men swathed in black robes of a fine quality and cut, their eyes sharing the same cold, calculating, emotionless, yet murderous look. Draco waited for his father to make the first move. Lucius, eager to be rid of the disgrace that his son had become, stepped forward quickly.
"Imaterin!" he shouted, an evil gleam in his eyes.
Draco stepped backward as poisonous snakes, scorpions, cockroaches and other creatures swarmed from his father, towards him. He drew his fine eyebrows together, trying ignoring the feel of the creatures crawling up his legs.
"Wingardium leviosa!" he said, and watched as his father flew into the air. Draco waited for him to reach near the ceiling, then released him, so that he dropped with a sickening series of crunches, cries and thuds. "Finite incantatem," he whispered and the creatures disappeared.
He walked slowly to where his father lay on the cold, stone floor, blood creating dark burgundy streaks through his fine, white hair. Lucius groaned and clutched at his left arm, his face screwed up in agony. Draco crouched down and looked, expressionless at his father.
"Tell me, father if you had the chance, would you do it again?"
Lucius opened his eyes and looked up at his son. Despite the pain throughout his body, he managed to sneer. "Of course, son. Crucio." He said quietly, while pointing his wand at his son.
Draco, caught unawares, stumbled backwards and onto his back, writhing from the sharp pain. Lucius smiled at the sight and closed his eyes, surrendering to his own pain. Draco almost didn't realise when the hot, burning knives of pain stopped hacking at his body. He lay on his back, panting softly, sweat streaming down his neck. When he had caught his breath, he looked over, to see his father lying on the floor, his body twitching spasmically.
"I hope you follow the path of your hired assassin and rot in hell. Or better yet, I hope that you remain in this pain forever, never able to end it. You deserve all of it and more." Draco stood, ignoring the lingering pain, and went to the doorway. "Good evening, Lucius." he left the house without looking back.
********
Ginny looked around her room, not really seeing anything. "What happened to my life?" she whispered to no one in particular. A sob tore from her throat. "I hate you, Draco Malfoy!"
You don't mean that. You can't mean that. You love him so much. Deep down, you know that none of this is his fault. For God's sake, you went into this relationship knowing full well what could happen.
"He never cared about me. These years were just a terrible waste. He claims to love me, yet doesn't care enough to marry me, to bind himself to me to-" she laughed bitterly, "-to protect me."
Oh please. He did protect you. Stop being so ungrateful. Imagine what could have happened had he not come when he did.
"I know, I know. But he should have been with me that day. If we were still together, I never would have gone. I would have let him protect me. After all, he's a perfectly good Torrie himself."
But he hadn't been there. Because he doesn't know the meaning of the word COMMITMENT.
Ginny stood and grabbed up her grey cloak that was thrown carelessly over the back of the settee. She moved to the door and pulled it open, pulling on the cloak at the same time. She turned to the wall and took up a small red pouch of floo powder and turned to go out the door.
She wasn't prepared to see the man's form standing in front of her and screamed, fumbling to push the door shut. Her mind was racing, her heart pounding, thinking about Lucius Malfoy coming to get her.
"Hey, hey, hey! Ginny! It's me! Ginny, calm down!" the man caught the door before it closed and pushed it back open quickly. He stepped around to see Ginny lodged in the corner, shaking, tears streaming down her face in fright and relief. Draco's face creased with concern and he pulled her to him. She wrapped her arms tightly around his back and he held her close, pushing the door closed. He murmured softly in her ear, trying to put a stop to the small sobs wracking her body. He took her hand and led her to the settee, sitting down beside her.
"Gin... It's okay. It's just me." He said, wiping her tears from her cheeks with the pad of his thumb.
Ginny looked up at Draco, slowly calming down. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and took in the man before her. He was dressed in black jeans and a dark blue shirt. His black cloak was thrown over the back of the settee, where hers had previously been. His grey eyes were full of concern, his near-white hair falling haphazardly over his collar and forehead.
She turned in the settee and faced the window. "What are you doing here?"
Draco drew back a little, unprepared for the cold tone of her voice. "I, ehm, came by to see you."
"You shouldn't have come," she retorted quickly. "Scared me half to death."
"I'm sorry. But I had to see you. Ginny, I need you to come home with me. Things just aren't the same and I need you."
Ginny's face remained expressionless. "It's always about you, isn't it?"
"No, it's not 'always about me'. Ginny, we belong together and you know you want me back just as much as I want you!"
"So?! What does that mean? Nothing! You want me to be your mistress and I'm sorry, but that's not what I want from this relationship! And then, how am I supposed to be with you, when your family is out to get me?! No, Draco, this can't work, so just stay away from me!" her brown eyes flashed angrily and she started to get up.
"Virginia Weasley, you are going to listen to me if I have to tie you up and gag you!" Both of them swallowed hard at that reference, but he continued. "Now, shut up and hear what I have to say."
Ginny opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it. They sat there in silence for a while before he began.
"Ginny, I never wanted any of this to happen. You mean the world to me and I would never want anything bad to happen to you. We both knew the threat my father posed to our relationship, but we went ahead anyway." Draco turned in the settee and took Ginny cold, small hands in his. "Ginny, no one's going to hurt you. I've made sure of that. None of my father's minion's will ever touch you again. And neither will my father. He died three days ago." He saw the pure relief and shock cross her features and went on quickly. "As for us... Ginny, you know the 'family' that I came from. Narcissa and Lucius were never ones to give love or even show affection. Our relationship, you, pulled a fast one on my emotions and made me wonder about what could be. And I wanted to be sure that this is what I wanted, that this was all real. I didn't want to make the decision to be with you and then realise that I was just like him. Okay, I'm cynical, sarcastic, crude, devious and rude a lot of the time, but that's beside the point. When all this happened, I realised that I needed to take action before something happened and I lost you forever, that I need you in my life."
Ginny's deep brown eyes searched his warm grey ones. "Draco, you were right, and I don't want to force you into something you're not emotionally ready-"
"Gin, I love you. More than the flowers love the sun. You're a part of me and I don't know how to go on without you. Gin, please say you'll marry me. I know that a lot of things have happened and you must be-"
"Yes."
Draco's head snapped up and he looked at her, eyebrows raised. "Yes?"
"Yes." She affirmed, grinning like the cheshire cat from some movie who's name has no relevance in this story. She reached forward and brushed the silvery hair from his forehead. "I'll marry you Draco Malfoy. Because I know you're sorry and you'll do everything in your power to be with me and protect me from here on out."
Draco narrowed his eyes in mock-suspicion. "Not because you love me?"
Ginny cocked her head, pretending to think. "Well... Yeh, that too." She grinned at him and he laughed, pulling her into his arms. She pressed a kiss to his lips and buried her fingers in his hair. She pulled back and looked at him. "You really need a haircut."
He rolled his eyes and snorted. "We just make a dramatic scene and she wants to give me hair tips. Typical."
Another A/N: I know, I know, I could've killed Lucius better than that. *sighs* It's alright. I have plenty of upcoming stories to practice on, lol. But, like I said, I have trouble with the whole idea of killing ( the wizard way. REVIEW! p.s. Thanks to all of you who've bothered to review my previous chappies. Your comments mean SO much to me, and I love to read wot you lot have to say * grins like the Cheshire cat* lol
Disclaimer: It's mine, all mine!!! muhahahaha! *Glances around her tiny white cell* Are you listening to me? It's mine! *laughs insanely* No, really, it's J.K.'s *rolls her eyes*
Chapter 6
"Now, I thought I had made myself clear when I told you not to even think about Ginny Weasley."
Lucius didn't even bother to deny the fact that he had hired Archie Reynolds. "I was just teaching her a small lesson. One which has seemed to instill itself nicely in her mind. From what I've heard, she wants nothing to do with you. This is a plus for you also, you will be able to concentrate on the more meaningful people and things in your life. Your mother and I have many duties to hand over to you, once you have reached the right age."
Draco snorted. "I'm sorry, when was it that I said that you're going to get away with that you did to Ginny? I thought that you had more sense than that, Lucius." Draco shook the hair from his forehead and regarded his father. "You made a big mistake. And you're going to have to pay for it." He shrugged, as though he regretted having to harm his father.
"Oh, please, Draco. I can't believe that the heir of Malfoy is a ninny in love with a weasel! You're pathetic. You have brought shame and disgrace to our family. Besides, I was only scaring her a bit. She's not as innocent as she looks. She wanted him to take her. Your girlfriend is a little whore. She deserved every cut, punch and slap she got."
Draco remained calm, only his slightly shivering black robe showing any sign that he was about to explode. He waited impatiently for his father to dig himself into a deeper grave.
"I would have done it all myself, had I not found the very thought of touching the girl distasteful and repulsive. You have sunk low, son." Lucius raised an eyebrow and sneered.
Draco shook his head. "This time, Lucius, you have gone too far. You worship a dead man and pretend that you're powerful, when you are nothing but a small man with nothing better to do with his time, slowly but surely losing his mind."
Lucius' face turned red with anger and he took a step forward. "Don't be stupid. You're my son, but I am sorry to say, you have learned nothing in all your years. You are still as stupid as you ever were, you still don't see how gullible and easy you are," he snorted. "You have done the one thing that can prove your utter stupidity; fall in love with a lowly, good- for-nothing Weasel. You make me sick!" he spat.
Draco stood there, thinking about what his father said, allowing it to run through him like whiskey, burning his insides. Colour rose in his pale cheeks as he pulled his wand from his robes. Lucius, seeing this, retrieved his wand from his large desk. They stood in the semi-circular room, two men swathed in black robes of a fine quality and cut, their eyes sharing the same cold, calculating, emotionless, yet murderous look. Draco waited for his father to make the first move. Lucius, eager to be rid of the disgrace that his son had become, stepped forward quickly.
"Imaterin!" he shouted, an evil gleam in his eyes.
Draco stepped backward as poisonous snakes, scorpions, cockroaches and other creatures swarmed from his father, towards him. He drew his fine eyebrows together, trying ignoring the feel of the creatures crawling up his legs.
"Wingardium leviosa!" he said, and watched as his father flew into the air. Draco waited for him to reach near the ceiling, then released him, so that he dropped with a sickening series of crunches, cries and thuds. "Finite incantatem," he whispered and the creatures disappeared.
He walked slowly to where his father lay on the cold, stone floor, blood creating dark burgundy streaks through his fine, white hair. Lucius groaned and clutched at his left arm, his face screwed up in agony. Draco crouched down and looked, expressionless at his father.
"Tell me, father if you had the chance, would you do it again?"
Lucius opened his eyes and looked up at his son. Despite the pain throughout his body, he managed to sneer. "Of course, son. Crucio." He said quietly, while pointing his wand at his son.
Draco, caught unawares, stumbled backwards and onto his back, writhing from the sharp pain. Lucius smiled at the sight and closed his eyes, surrendering to his own pain. Draco almost didn't realise when the hot, burning knives of pain stopped hacking at his body. He lay on his back, panting softly, sweat streaming down his neck. When he had caught his breath, he looked over, to see his father lying on the floor, his body twitching spasmically.
"I hope you follow the path of your hired assassin and rot in hell. Or better yet, I hope that you remain in this pain forever, never able to end it. You deserve all of it and more." Draco stood, ignoring the lingering pain, and went to the doorway. "Good evening, Lucius." he left the house without looking back.
********
Ginny looked around her room, not really seeing anything. "What happened to my life?" she whispered to no one in particular. A sob tore from her throat. "I hate you, Draco Malfoy!"
You don't mean that. You can't mean that. You love him so much. Deep down, you know that none of this is his fault. For God's sake, you went into this relationship knowing full well what could happen.
"He never cared about me. These years were just a terrible waste. He claims to love me, yet doesn't care enough to marry me, to bind himself to me to-" she laughed bitterly, "-to protect me."
Oh please. He did protect you. Stop being so ungrateful. Imagine what could have happened had he not come when he did.
"I know, I know. But he should have been with me that day. If we were still together, I never would have gone. I would have let him protect me. After all, he's a perfectly good Torrie himself."
But he hadn't been there. Because he doesn't know the meaning of the word COMMITMENT.
Ginny stood and grabbed up her grey cloak that was thrown carelessly over the back of the settee. She moved to the door and pulled it open, pulling on the cloak at the same time. She turned to the wall and took up a small red pouch of floo powder and turned to go out the door.
She wasn't prepared to see the man's form standing in front of her and screamed, fumbling to push the door shut. Her mind was racing, her heart pounding, thinking about Lucius Malfoy coming to get her.
"Hey, hey, hey! Ginny! It's me! Ginny, calm down!" the man caught the door before it closed and pushed it back open quickly. He stepped around to see Ginny lodged in the corner, shaking, tears streaming down her face in fright and relief. Draco's face creased with concern and he pulled her to him. She wrapped her arms tightly around his back and he held her close, pushing the door closed. He murmured softly in her ear, trying to put a stop to the small sobs wracking her body. He took her hand and led her to the settee, sitting down beside her.
"Gin... It's okay. It's just me." He said, wiping her tears from her cheeks with the pad of his thumb.
Ginny looked up at Draco, slowly calming down. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and took in the man before her. He was dressed in black jeans and a dark blue shirt. His black cloak was thrown over the back of the settee, where hers had previously been. His grey eyes were full of concern, his near-white hair falling haphazardly over his collar and forehead.
She turned in the settee and faced the window. "What are you doing here?"
Draco drew back a little, unprepared for the cold tone of her voice. "I, ehm, came by to see you."
"You shouldn't have come," she retorted quickly. "Scared me half to death."
"I'm sorry. But I had to see you. Ginny, I need you to come home with me. Things just aren't the same and I need you."
Ginny's face remained expressionless. "It's always about you, isn't it?"
"No, it's not 'always about me'. Ginny, we belong together and you know you want me back just as much as I want you!"
"So?! What does that mean? Nothing! You want me to be your mistress and I'm sorry, but that's not what I want from this relationship! And then, how am I supposed to be with you, when your family is out to get me?! No, Draco, this can't work, so just stay away from me!" her brown eyes flashed angrily and she started to get up.
"Virginia Weasley, you are going to listen to me if I have to tie you up and gag you!" Both of them swallowed hard at that reference, but he continued. "Now, shut up and hear what I have to say."
Ginny opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it. They sat there in silence for a while before he began.
"Ginny, I never wanted any of this to happen. You mean the world to me and I would never want anything bad to happen to you. We both knew the threat my father posed to our relationship, but we went ahead anyway." Draco turned in the settee and took Ginny cold, small hands in his. "Ginny, no one's going to hurt you. I've made sure of that. None of my father's minion's will ever touch you again. And neither will my father. He died three days ago." He saw the pure relief and shock cross her features and went on quickly. "As for us... Ginny, you know the 'family' that I came from. Narcissa and Lucius were never ones to give love or even show affection. Our relationship, you, pulled a fast one on my emotions and made me wonder about what could be. And I wanted to be sure that this is what I wanted, that this was all real. I didn't want to make the decision to be with you and then realise that I was just like him. Okay, I'm cynical, sarcastic, crude, devious and rude a lot of the time, but that's beside the point. When all this happened, I realised that I needed to take action before something happened and I lost you forever, that I need you in my life."
Ginny's deep brown eyes searched his warm grey ones. "Draco, you were right, and I don't want to force you into something you're not emotionally ready-"
"Gin, I love you. More than the flowers love the sun. You're a part of me and I don't know how to go on without you. Gin, please say you'll marry me. I know that a lot of things have happened and you must be-"
"Yes."
Draco's head snapped up and he looked at her, eyebrows raised. "Yes?"
"Yes." She affirmed, grinning like the cheshire cat from some movie who's name has no relevance in this story. She reached forward and brushed the silvery hair from his forehead. "I'll marry you Draco Malfoy. Because I know you're sorry and you'll do everything in your power to be with me and protect me from here on out."
Draco narrowed his eyes in mock-suspicion. "Not because you love me?"
Ginny cocked her head, pretending to think. "Well... Yeh, that too." She grinned at him and he laughed, pulling her into his arms. She pressed a kiss to his lips and buried her fingers in his hair. She pulled back and looked at him. "You really need a haircut."
He rolled his eyes and snorted. "We just make a dramatic scene and she wants to give me hair tips. Typical."
Another A/N: I know, I know, I could've killed Lucius better than that. *sighs* It's alright. I have plenty of upcoming stories to practice on, lol. But, like I said, I have trouble with the whole idea of killing ( the wizard way. REVIEW! p.s. Thanks to all of you who've bothered to review my previous chappies. Your comments mean SO much to me, and I love to read wot you lot have to say * grins like the Cheshire cat* lol