The Seductress

Part IX

Red is For Sin

Ginny had gone to sleep soon after that, she was in a state of almost collapsing. Her forehead was aching, and she was feeling oddly dizzy. She didn't want to stay awake; her eyes were dying to close. As they did, she had a sudden vision of full darkness before something else replaced the picture. It was a woman. But not just any woman. She looked just like her. The woman had red, straight hair, and was wearing a long, flowing dress, which caressed the air each way. She was smiling sadly up to the sky, as she was sitting on the grass. Then suddenly, she heard a male voice speak.

"Virginia, please..."

"Don't, don't, okay?"

"I promise I won't let her get away with this, I promise..."

"She kissed you! She kissed you, and she made me see it, she made me see it, after hours just after our bare lips collided, she kissed you!" Virginia's voice was outraged, and there was a crack in her words.

"Virginia," the male voice spoke calmly. "Yes, we kissed. And yes, she kissed me after. But I felt nothing, nothing at all! Don't you understand?"

"Why should I understand? Why, why tell me why now!" Virginia challenged, her creamy white shoulders shaking.

"Because I love you, and only you."

Virginia looked up at him with woeful eyes. "Prove it."

He gave her a small smile, and she returned it, her smile quivering at her lips. He reached out his hand, and she reluctantly took it, massaging her palm within his. She shivered, perhaps because of the cold, and he edged his face gently toward hers, kissing the hem of her jaw, and going forward to her sweet, tender lips. The pressure was building inside of her, and her hands swayed across to his hips, clutching him tightly. It was pouring rain now, soft raindrops dripping against the ground, bringing the aura of the smell of fresh, green grass. Her clothes were getting wet, and her hair was drenched as he pulled away from her with difficulty. "Let's go," he whispered, tugging at the sleeve of her long dress. She followed, dazed.

"No, please..."

"I love you."

She bit her lip. She reached up to touch her hair, and realized it was bare. She picked the ribbon off of the grass and tied it around her hair again, and gave him a small grin, following him.

~

February 12th. Two more days until Valentine's Day. The days grew restlessly by as Draco saw Ginny's change in personality seep into Hogwarts. She was growing more popular, as she circled around boys and whispered suggestively in their ears. The only boy she hadn't charmed yet was Potter. He seemed puzzled, yet horrified when she came near him, and Draco found this rather strange, as Potter was always very taken with Ginny. Ginny grew more flirtatious than ever, getting asked on many dates. Draco grew more resentful toward her as he watched her grinning across Seamus Finnigan, an Irish Gryffindor. He scowled, thinking of many ways to punch his head apart, and pull on Ginny's hair. What was going on with her? Finally having enough, he glanced at the red ribbon that was shining in her hair and stormed out of the Great Hall, punching the wall furiously. Then, he felt rather stupid as he felt his fist become more painful. Suddenly, there were footsteps and a pat on his shoulder.

He turned around, looking into the green eyes of Harry Potter, the person he least expected to see, or want to see.

"What do you want?" Draco snarled, still pissed about the stinging numbness that was surrounding his fist.

"It's about Ginny...there's something different, and since I know you guys hang out a lot together, I wanted to know if she confided in you about what's going on with her lately." Potter seemed troubled, and pretty desperate, since he was asking help from an enemy. Draco glared at him.

"We don't 'hang out' exactly. Sure, we talk, but what better way to piss off Weasley than to sleep with his sister?"

The amusement in his voice was probably what made Harry bang his hand against Draco's forehead, leaving him to smack the back of his head against the hard wall.

"Don't you ever say that again, you hear me," Harry snapped. "Why - don't - we have - a fucking - civil conversation - about why Ginny's acting this way."

Draco squirmed. "I don't know."

"Tell me the truth, Malfoy!"

Draco sighed. "The ribbon. The red ribbon...she was in my room, she found it, and then she put it on, and that's when these things started to happen."

Harry gave out an audible gasp. "When - when - where - when was she in your room?" he stammered.

Draco smirked at him. "Wouldn't you like to know?

His rival gave a disgusted snort. "Whatever, Malfoy. The room part is what Ron will have to deal with. But - wait, did you say a red ribbon?"

"Yeah."

Harry paused, and let him go. "Err- I got to go check something. Thanks."

Draco gaped at his retreating back. Thanks? From Potter? Things were definitely starting to fuck up.

~

February 13th.

"Ginny?!"

"I'm in the bathroom, dressing."

Draco gulped. "What do you mean, dressing?"

"I wanted to see how I look in the dress I'm wearing to the Ball."

"Ginny, I need to talk to you."

"Fine, come in."

Draco reluctantly swung the door open and stopped. His mouth opened slightly, and he gave out a breath.

Ginny was dressing slowly, a red, short, dress halfway up her thighs. Her back was bare, and available for Draco to see. He quickly covered his eyes with his hand with difficulty.

Finally, after some rumbling of fabric, she turned around and said, "You can look now."

He opened his eyes and took his hand away, and looked at the dress. The dress. It looked so familiar...

Her birthday party. Her swinging around, examining herself in the dress, she looked so beautiful, especially with the blood smeared across it, all the blood...

He shook himself. "That dress. You wore that to your...eighth birthday party."

She looked at him. "How'd you ..."

"Take that ribbon off," interrupted Draco suddenly. She gave him a blank look, before reaching up to pull it from her hair, leaving it shining on her creamy white shoulders. Draco suddenly had a deja vu, creamy white shoulders, where had he seen creamy white shoulders before? He shook himself again, eyeing her.

"You're not supposed to be here," she said, red creeping up to her cheeks. "How'd you get in? Only Gryffindors know the password, Draco. You should leave. Nobody's in the dorm right now, but once they get up from the Common Room..." her voice faded slowly as she looked at the hungry look in his eyes.

"What?"

"Nothing. Ginny," he stopped, looking at her dress again. She blushed, and turned away from him.

"Please leave."

"Ginny...something happened to you. When you wore that ribbon..."

"I know, okay! I know! Oh God, did I just let you see my half naked when you came in?"

He nodded reluctantly, causing her to groan. "What's wrong with me Draco? What's wrong with me?"

Draco didn't answer. He was looking at the smear of blood on the edge of her dress, near her hip. She spoke again.

"Stop, stop looking at me like that. What is it? Oh, the blood. I'm planning to clean it later..."

"Mandy gave it to you..." he murmured. Her head snapped up.

"What?"

"Nothing...don't clean it. Just wear something see through over it, so you won't get cold...that dress is awfully short, especially since you haven't worn it since you were eight."

"You're the boy..."

"What?"

Ginny shook herself. "Nothing." She pushed past him, and entered the dormroom. He followed her, and watched as she rummaged through her drawers. She took out her Hogwarts robes, and her uniform.

"You should really leave," she said again.

"Do you want me to?" he asked. She shook her head.

"No, but..."

There was a long silence as Draco sat on her bed. She sat there, cross legged on the floor, her uniform and robes on top of her lap, looking at him woefully.

"Did you mean, what you said, about me taking you to the ball?" he finally asked.

She shrugged, a blush growing again into her flesh. "I guess. I mean, it'd be fun, to have someone to dance with, unless of course, you'd rather go with someone else."

"No! I mean, no, not really."

Ginny smiled, the innocent look spread across her face. He wanted to sigh of relief. The girl, the girl that had been flirting with almost every guy in the school was gone. The innocent Ginny was back, and still in her sinful red dress.

"Are you going to just sit on my bed and stare at me all day?" Ginny joked. He smiled at her and reached his hand out, and she took it, sitting beside him on the bed.

"Ginny," he whispered, leaning close to her. She sighed, closing her eyes as the kiss came. His tender, soft way bewildered her, as she thought he would be rough and hurried, but she didn't want to complain. She found herself lost in the kiss, and it was far too late before she realized her back was against the bed, and he was leaning over her, her bare flesh brushing up against his covered leg. She pushed him away gently, shaking her head.

"You really need to go, please," she said, her voice cracking. Draco's eyes went wide.

"No!" the harshness in his voice scared her, and she backed away from him, the silk of her dress brushing against her legs.

He was obviously surprised himself, because a moment later he said, "I'm sorry. It's just...oh, never mind."

She smiled at him knowingly, and gave him another soft kiss on the lips before nodding her head toward the door. He started to get up, but then brushed his fingers against her hair.

"You look really beautiful in red," he said softly.

Ginny blushed, and enjoyed the tingling sensation of his skin against her scalp.

"Kiss me again, I need you to kiss me," she muttered, her eyes closed. His lips were on hers once again, except this time, instead of being tender, it was hungrily, and she felt her back against the softness of her bed again. She placed both of her hands on the sides of her face, ensuing the kiss further. Their tongues dipped into each other, and it was just too late, too enjoyable to stop. He was on top of her, and everything except the soft scent of his neck rushed out of her mind.

And on the bathroom floor, was a gleaming piece of red fabric.

~