Ciao! Ok. Here you go. There is an explanation of why it's so late at the bottom. Sorry to keep you waiting.
Chapter Eight: Bound
The blackened woods seemed to make the site much worse than it was; if that was possible. Thunder boomed in the distance and large black clouds rolled across the threatening sky. There were a number of people everywhere, most of which were wearing long pitch-black cloaks with masks.
Death Eaters.
But there were others, as well. In long flowing robes of different colors. They were running, screaming, even calling for help.
This was a massacre, or a killing. Hundreds lay dead on the ground while people who had managed to stay alive passed them; occasionally tripping on an outstretched cold limb.
Among them, stood a tall blond watching the scene with neither amusement nor distaste. Just merely watching, as if he wasn't sure what was going on. As he continued, red streaked his vision.
A blur it had been, but he was still able to make it out. It was a woman, Ginny. She had run past him with two small children at her side.
More movement met Draco's eyes as he saw several fellow Death Eaters pursuing her. But Draco did not move. He stood there, ice cold eyes locked on the scene of chaos before him and only when the screaming stopped did he began to stir. He slowly made his way toward where Ginny had gone off to. Why hadn't he before? What had made him stay?
He was running as if he suddenly realized what had happened to her, running as fast as his legs could carry him.
And suddenly, without knowing it, he came upon a clearing with Ginny alone, the two children gone.
And she was lying in a pool of blood and suddenly he knew.
This wasn't a dream. No matter hard he wished, this was real.
And he began to cry, very softly as he made his way carefully towards her. She looked weak, injured and bruised to the point of dying.
Her chest wasn't moving.
He picked her up as tears streamed down his cheeks. And when he looked closely he could see her chest moving slowly, but she was so weak. Her eyes opened a small amount and she looked at him.
"Don't bother with me…. leave…"
But he knew he couldn't. He was bound to her. He couldn't leave because of the connection they had. He had to find a way to save her.
"No… you need to hold on, I can find a way to help," he said desperately.
"Draco," she had said as if she hadn't heard him, taking a deep shaky breath. "I have to tell you something…"
"What? What is it?"
She took another breathe; it seemed to be killing her to get the words out. Or maybe it was because she was really dying.
"I…" her body heaved from the shaking. "I…"
And then she died.
With a large gasp of air Draco woke up quickly. The movement was so fast and uncoordinated that he toppled off the bed with a large thud, tangled in his sheets. His heart pounded as he rubbed the spot of his head that had hit the floor. His eyes had more water in them than usual.
The past several days – every night – had been like this. The nightmares, he shuddered. He hadn't known why and it was beginning to get in the way of his school work. But strangely enough every one was the same.
And in every one Ginny would die at the end; every single time.
And even in the dreams that he got to her in time, she'd still die, numerous ways, of course. With spells, swords, falling off of cliffs (that had happened more times than not) and others. The whole thing was leaving Draco feeling rather depressed, to tell the truth.
And, to top that off, every time he had one of these dreams, he'd wake up to the point of tears.
Malfoys didn't cry.
Well, if he wasn't a Malfoy, what was he?
Ginny was sitting quietly at the edge of her bed, watching the night's sky out of the open window. She had woken up just minutes before for no reason in particular. She had just felt as if something wasn't right.
But now she couldn't get back to sleep so she sat there, with her eyes droopy and her nightgown pulled tight around her to keep out the cold.
It had been five days since "The Great Hall Incident" as she and Hermione liked to call it and Ginny couldn't have felt worse in her life. She had only once, since then, talked to Draco and it hadn't come out how she would have wanted it.
Of course, she had her reason for liking him, but… she had her reasons for avoiding him as well. He, however, seemed to think that he was doing something wrong… or that she didn't care for him at all.
But that wasn't the truth. It was because she liked him so much that she was in this particular predicament. There were just so many things wrong with this whole situation that she couldn't possibly make it work out. Therefore, she had to stay away from him. She had already made up her mind that it was the right thing to do. The right thing for her, for him… for everyone.
And she didn't care how much it hurt her in the process.
Draco remembered running back to the dormitories that night. But the events were somewhat of a blur. He could remember throwing himself on his bed, his chest rising and falling faster than usual, thinking that what had just happened had been one of the most amazing things to have ever happened to him. Absolutely amazing but so utterly embarrassing. His cheeks had tinged pink, which was rare as he realized the whole school had seen him kissing Ginny Weasley.
How embarrassing. She had seemed to like it of course, although that didn't seem to matter now. She hadn't followed him and when he had seen her on the Quidditch pitch the night after it had happened, she seemed to be unmoved by him. But he knew that she had wanted to kiss him and he knew that she still did. Then what was her problem? Why did she keep avoiding him? What did that mean?
Frankly, right now he didn't give a damn about what it meant. Right then, the only thing he wanted to do was think about Ginny. Plain and simple; it was the only way to describe it.
The only thing he wanted to do for the rest of his life was to be with Ginny.
He was slightly surprised that it actually didn't surprise him.
Draco had really decided that he was going to kiss her from the moment she had walked up to him. But she had started talking and what she was saying seemed important. It had to be to get her all worked up like this. He could tell by the way that she was acting that she was nervous. At first he hadn't known why. She had started going on and on about something.
"I kissed you," she had just said. Draco, of course – thinking that she was talking about when he had kissed her during their detention – had been confused and he stared at her blankly until she begun to explain a little further.
She had kissed him while he was unconscious. So that made a little more sense then…
No… no it didn't make sense at all. Why would she want to kiss him?
Right, it had been a dare. That was she had just said to him. But she could have easily refused to do it and…
Draco froze as he heard her next sentence.
"No, listen to me Draco. I thought I wasn't going to like it; I thought it was going to be horrible but it wasn't. I… liked it,"
All Draco could do was stare blankly ahead. He continued to do so as she resumed talking.
"I mean maybe it was because you were sleeping. Or maybe it was because I wasn't feeling well. But that doesn't matter because what I felt when I kissed you won't go away…believe me, I've tried."
He didn't stop his staring. Something in the back of his mind was telling him that that exact same thing had happened to him and – in vain – he had tried to make it go away too.
He listened to what she said next.
"Are you trying to say that you think I've…" he had cut her off and now she did the same to him.
"Not necessarily thinking you did but… but hoping so."
She looked awfully embarrassed at the moment. Draco felt some odd emotion of realization speed through him but he pushed it down and changed his _expression to something bitter.
"And what leads you to these conclusions, Weasley?"
Oh, how could he be so stupid? Someone needed to come and hack off his tongue before he ruined what could very well be happening right now.
She didn't continue nor did she look like she could so Draco did instead.
"Are you saying that you hope I might like you?"
She actually cried. Not much. But Draco hated it. A single tear formed out of her eye and she wiped it away, probably hoping he hadn't seen it. But he had.
"That's not what I said," she put in defiantly as if trying to convince herself as well. He wasn't persuaded.
"But it's what you implied," he said, his voice lowering a tone as he dared to take a step closer to her.
Draco found himself continuing with a slight frown on his face.
"But in this case, your implications would be right…"
He looked at her and desperately wished that he wouldn't lose his balance from all the odd things he was feeling. He ignored the murmurs of the crowd as they begun to turn their heads to see what was going on. He didn't even mind hearing one of the Gryffindors give a tiny gasp as he placed his hands on Ginny's lower arms.
She seemed to snap back into reality as he did so. She stared at him with wide brown eyes.
"Dra…"
He didn't let her finish because at that moment he thought that it was the best time to kiss her. And that's what he did. He kissed her. Something he honestly had been wanting to do since the first time it had happened during their night patrol. And that had been a long time he had to wait to do something he really wanted to.
The hall had just gotten eerily quite.
Screw the other people in the room; they could all go to hell for all Draco cared.
His lips brushed against hers gently at first and then began to gain rhythm and speed like some intricate dance.
She seemed different this time. Sweeter, better, more alive…
And if she didn't kiss him back he wouldn't know what to do…
But she did and Draco was so pleased that he smiled although he was still kissing her. Her reaction to his kiss made him press against her harder yet he still tried to be gentle. Her arms – though seeming against her will – went up around his neck, her hands clung to him as if she was about to fall and needed support.
How could Draco possible keep her balance when he couldn't even manage his? That would be too much effort for him and he didn't want to put any energy into anything ever again except this kiss. As if he was passing his energy to her, and hers to him. Frankly, Draco didn't care if both of their knees gave away because it would be much easier to kiss her on the ground then up here where he was worried about falling simply because she made him dizzy with her presence. If that could have such an effect, this must be overwhelming for him but he didn't feel anything, just his lips moving against hers.
His mouth unintentionally began to lower. He was kissing her cheek, her jaw line, her neck; she seemed to cling to him harder. He moved back up to her mouth and kissed her lightly, wondering if he should take a breath now because he was indeed very breathless. No, that would be too much effort. He should just continue kissing her.
As he was about to bring his tongue into action she pulled away.
She actually pulled away.
Draco was shocked.
"Ginny, why did you…" he started, very much out of breath, but he faltered as he realized just exactly why she had broken off.
Her face was flushed very, very deep red as she glanced over his shoulder at the rest of the Great Hall, all of whom were staring straight at them with shocked expressions.
"Draco," she started quietly, "Everyone just saw…"
"I know… you think I can't tell that?"
There was a loud clatter from the Gryffindor table.
Ron had just dropped his fork in open mouthed horror.
Draco's breathing was exceeding its normal rate. He wanted to kiss her again. Oh, these people ruined everything for him. His stomach was doing something odd. He ignored the voice in the back of his head telling him to run for it. He just stared at the hall; his mouth open and his lips still tingling from the kiss. Draco looked up to the teachers table. Somewhere beneath his slight panic he saw Dumbledore lean over and say something to Professor McGonagall with a beginning of a smile on his face.
He had to get out. He had to leave. A buzz met his ears as he promised himself something else.
He wasn't going to leave without Ginny.
The couple seconds that he stood there mutely seemed like hours and even years. He'd kissed Virginia Weasley in front of the entire school. Everyone would be talking about this. Especially just how much he had just kissed her.
He took a step back words to leave and looked at Ginny. She was staring at him; her red hair matching her face, her brown eyes wide and her bottom lip quivering.
"Ginny?" he said so only she could hear him as he nodded towards the door, motioning for her to follow. She just stared and slowly shook her head from side to side.
Draco's face fell and it felt as though someone had just thrown a punch directly into his stomach. She didn't want to come with him.
Swearing very loudly, he turned and walked briskly through the door.
The hall erupted in noise as soon as he exited.
Six days after "The Great Hall Incident"
Professor Vexsta was pointing to the board as she explained different dueling positions and attacks. This was typically a lot of students' favorite part of Defense Against the Dark Arts. During times when this was taught, the students usually paid close attention, not wanting to miss a thing. This time however, something was different. Her seventh year Slytherins were acting odd.
"What is wrong with all of you?" she said suddenly and she turned around and put her wand roughly on the desk in front of her as she glared at them. It's not that the students looked bored, just… distracted – confused even. And Draco Malfoy, in particular, looked the worse. And Pansy Parkinson, two seats away from him, looked ready to burst into tears.
"Well?"
A few of them turned to look a Draco who clenched his teeth and narrowed his eyes as he glared at the edge of his desk.
She continued to stare at them for a minute and then sighed.
"For Merlin's sake! It was just a kiss. The boy only kissed that poor Gryffindor, leave him alone already!"
She saw Draco Malfoy's cheeks and ears begin to tinge with pink.
"It wasn't just a kiss," drawled a voice. Pansy glared over at Draco. "It was with that Gryffindor whore Ginny Weasley,"
Draco stood up angrily and was shaking as he glared at her. "Don't you dare call her that…"
"Why? It's only what she is…"
He moved so fast that Professor Vexsta couldn't stop him in time. Within seconds Draco had leapt at her and Pansy had been pinned against the nearby wall by the hem of her cloak. Draco face was inches from hers.
"Don't you dare call her that ever again. I mean it Parkinson, you wench, and it'll be the last thing you do…" he hissed
"Mr. Malfoy – Ms. Parkinson! Stop it this instant!"
Draco didn't let her go, he only tightened his grip. Wow, this kid was violent.
"Mr. Malfoy! Put her down!"
Draco narrowed his eyes at Pansy and seemed to hesitate but finally released his hold her. Pansy whimpered and sank to the floor.
The lesson continued with a tense air and Draco was asked to stay behind at class had ended.
As he put away his things, he didn't dare look up at the Professor. Of course, he didn't feel ashamed. Nothing of the sort. He had never liked Vextsa and now didn't seem the right time to start. And whatever happened to her supposed connection with Voldemort? Well, it's not as if he cared anymore. None of that really mattered.
After he was finished Draco walked slowly up to her front desk to see that Vextsa was already waiting for him.
"Mr. Malfoy…" she started.
"Yes, yes I know. It was very horrid of me to do that. May I skip the lecture and go to my next class?" he said rather icily.
Her eyes narrowed as she stared at her student closely.
"No, you may not go to your next class just yet," she said. "What you just did was unacceptable."
Draco suddenly launched forward into explanation. "But she called…!"
"I understand what she said and that it may have been hurtful to you because of…"
"Hurtful? To me?" Draco stammered. "I don't know what you're talking about Professor, but if…"
"Don't play fool with me, Malfoy. You know exactly what I'm talking about, probably more than I do. Obviously, there is something happening between you and the youngest Weasley. Now, although many would wish to know what exactly is going on, it is no one's business but your's and Ms. Weasley's. However, that does not mean you can go around harassing your classmates whenever you simply feel like it. That does not justify what Ms. Parkinson said but you need to be able to control your actions or they will get you in trouble."
Draco wasn't exactly listening but nodded solemnly all the same.
"No, I'm going to have to take points from Slytherin on behalf of Ms. Parkinson's behavior but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to administer you with detention."
"What?! Why?"
"Because your behavior was unexpectedly childish, and classroom etiquette does not call for it. Now, I suggest that you go to your next class and try not to harm any innocent bystanders on your way…"
And so, Draco's reign of "unexpectedly childish" behavior began. Anyone even so much as looked at him wrong and they'd be wishing they had never gotten their acceptance letter to Hogwarts.
Unsurprisingly, this earned Draco a number of detentions and points were often taken away more often than not.
So, Draco sat on his bed, most angry in particular at the last detention he received – feeling that the teachers must be plotting against him. How else would they catch him every time he got into a fight?
Draco threw his pillow angrily against the opposite wall over Blaise's bed which was currently unoccupied. So was every other bed aside from his in the dormitory. It bounced off silently and landed on top of the duvet.
It was a beautiful February afternoon. Although they usually had cold weather this time of the year, surprisingly there was a nice warm breeze and the sun was bright. Many of the students took advantage of it being a weekend and were outside. Not him. No thank you.
Yes, it was very unlike Draco to sulk about getting a silly detention but this time was different, different than the other times that week.
Because – and this was the most horrible part – he had to spend it with Ginny.
He had merely been trying to tell her how he felt about… her. Only… it had come out wrong, very wrong. The row that pursued had been horrible for Draco. She really misunderstood easily.
It had gone about as normal as all their other fights. He'd throw an insult at her and she'd snap back so quickly and efficiently that Draco didn't think it was humanly possible for someone to do so.
But then Vector had to walk by and see them and he got a detention again. Again.
Didn't the teachers learn that putting Draco and Ginny in detention wouldn't solve anything?
However, this was – in a way – going to be a form of punishment for him. He couldn't bear to be near her. It was horrible. She wouldn't look at him, she wouldn't talk to him. Most of the time it didn't even seem if she had acknowledged him at all.
But he wanted to talk to her – he wanted to see her, and perhaps do more than that. But how could he do that if she tried with all her might just not to be in the same room with him for very long.
What was wrong with her? She had said that she liked him. She had said all that stuff back in the Great Hall. What was the matter now? Why wouldn't she just bloody make up her damn mind so he could stop all this moping around business?
It's not like it was any fun or something. Draco was having a horrible time.
Oh, and it was the worst from the Gryffindors, especially Harry and Ron. Draco shuddered as he thought about it. Ron had been horrified but quickly realized the amusement of this situation. From what he could tell, Draco had been turned down by his little sister numerous times. He absolutely loved making fun of Draco for it. And Harry had no problem joining in on it. However, Hermione – the Mudblood – didn't seem to want to have anything to do with this.
Draco often saw her having deep, private discussions with Ginny and when they would notice he was looking Ginny would blush, Hermione would narrow her eyes and look at him knowingly, and they'd walk away. It was starting to really get on his nerves.
At least all hope wasn't lost; she still wore his bracelet very securely around her wrist at all times.
He was just about to chuck another pillow when the door opened. His arm froze in mid air.
"Hey Dra – what the hell are you doing?" It was Blaise. He noted Draco's behavior with upraised eyebrows. Draco didn't greet him.
"I'm venting some energy…" Draco said, finishing off his toss with a flourish. Blaise's eyebrows didn't return to their normal position yet.
"You mean anger?" he asked, sitting on the edge of his own bed just as the pillow toppled off of it.
"No. Go away," Draco said firmly.
Blaise sighed as he started taking off his cloak. He straightened his robes and continued to stare at Draco curiously.
"You know," he said slowly, "you don't have to lie about it… I already pretty much know what's going on…"
"Oh do you now? Fine, call it frustration. I'm letting out my frustration," Draco leaned back into his bed and stared at the ceiling.
"By mutilating my bed?" Blaise asked with a smirk.
"It's not hurting it, they're only pillows,"
Blaise stared at him as thought he was waiting for him to continue.
"What are you frustrated about, Draco?" he asked after it seemed that Draco wasn't going to.
"That's none of your business,"
"It's very much my business because your bad mood tends to affect me," he said a-matter-of-factly.
"How so?"
"Whenever you're mad or – er, frustrated you take it out on other people,"
"Do not,"
"Do too. And you also do things like…" Blaise leaned over and picked up a pillow from the ground. It was almost all the way ripped in half and the white cotton filling was spilling out, "this."
"I didn't do that," Draco said non-convincingly.
"It's got to do with that Gryffindor girl you kissed. I already know. Just tell me what's going on…"
Draco sighed. "It hurts…" he muttered truthfully feeling a deep pain in the pit of his stomach. Blaise seemed to perk up and this.
"What hurts?" he asked anxiously with a slight worried tone. Draco looked him squarely in the eyes.
"Your face will if you don't leave me the hell alone…" he said venomously.
Blaise only sighed and leaned back into the pillows. It didn't seem as if he was going to get any information out of Draco. Not just yet. It might take awhile. You never knew these things when you were dealing with a Malfoy. They were very unpredictable.
"Blaise," Draco said suddenly and his tone was almost defeated, "she won't talk to me – she won't look at me. I hate it," he said angrily.
Blaise's eyes widened.
"So that means that you really do – "
"Yes, now go the hell away."
Blaise didn't seem to want to leave now that he was getting somewhere. He still sat at the edge of his own bed, staring at Draco.
"You like her, then…" he mumbled. Draco only responded by letting out an angry puff of air. Blaise continued.
"For how long?"
Draco looked at him, wondering if he should answer. It really wouldn't hurt to tell him. They'd all find out eventually.
"A very long time," Draco said evenly, not looking at him. He heard Blaise shift his weight on his bed.
"And you haven't given up?"
There was silence and then suddenly.
"Of course not, and I'm not about to."
They just sat there on opposite sides of the room and suddenly Blaise's voice broke their lack of conversation.
"That's never happened to me…"
"What hasn't?"
"I've never liked a girl as much as you like her…"
"What?" Draco sat up in his bed. "Who said a thing about how much I like her?"
"Calm down…" Blaise said as Draco started to lean back into his bed again.
"I can just tell by the way you act. You've been acting different… nicer even. More restrained with what you do. And now you're even sad that it didn't work out the way you wanted…"
"I'm not sad, screw you. And I haven't been acting different…"
"Yes you have and you still are… you wouldn't have told me any of this in the first place if you had been acting normal. I wouldn't have even been able to get passed the 'I'm venting some energy' reply from you… in fact; you wouldn't have been letting out frustration in the first place because none of this would have happened if you hadn't really liked this girl…"
Draco clenched his teeth and continued to stare at the ceiling.
"And don't act like I'm wrong either because you know it's true. Before you were around her so much you were one meanest, hardest guys I knew. And I mean that as a compliment…"
They were quiet again for a little while. Draco tried to think of what Blaise was saying to him.
"So what's her name anyway?" Blaise asked.
Draco didn't open his eyes from when he had closed them a few minutes earlier.
"Ginny Weasley," he said hoarsely. He saw Blaise smirk.
"So it's not Malfoy yet? When are we going to be hearing the wedding be – whoa! Did you saw Weasley?" Draco, childishly, put his hands over his face and nodded.
"Are you serious?"
"Very," Draco said miserably.
"Weasley…. But won't your father…?"
"I know, I know…" he said.
"Oh…" Blaise paused. "Oh…"
Draco frowned. "Oh what?"
"If my father knew that I liked a Weasley… that would be the end of me. And your father's worse than mine is (and I mean that as a compliment…). You must really like –"
"Blaise, will you quit?"
But Blaise only persisted.
"You're father will kill you, you know?"
"I know…"
"But you know what? I bet he could do worse things… I heard there's this one Dark Arts spell that…"
"Blaise, please shut up,"
"No listen… it's really bad. What it does is erases the memory of a person so that they forget everything that has to do with something. So... if your father used it against her because of you… he could easily take away all of her memories with you so that she couldn't even remember your name and would think that nothing happened. And you would be getting a side of it was well as you would have to live with the memory of her but would always know she didn't even recognize you and…"
"Blaise, shut up! That isn't going to happen!"
Blaise amazingly grew quiet for at least a little while. But again, a few minutes later, his voice rang out.
"Do you like kissing her?" he asked. Again, as with many of the other questions, Draco didn't answer at first.
"Yes…" he said evenly.
"Was it the first time? In the hall I mean…"
"No."
"Is she why you broke up with Pansy?"
"What is with all these questions?"
"I'm just asking… is she?
"…yeah…"
"Wow… I'm sure Ginny might be nice and all but Pansy sure is a lot more ho-"
"No she isn't," Draco said firmly and a little louder than he first thought, suddenly feeling defensive of Ginny. He didn't care if Pansy was hotter than Ginny.
"Pansy hasn't got anything over Ginny. And she never will…"
Blaise surprisingly didn't ask any more questions after that. He must've got the point.
One Day later. Hey… we need to get this story moving don't we?
Slowly, Draco trudged out onto the grounds. He felt as if he were being led to his own execution. His heart was heavy and his head bowed. Half of him was excited to see Ginny again and the other was afraid of what would happen when he did.
It was cold and damp from the previous storm. Draco had been careful to make sure he brought his extra cloak. He wrapped it around himself for warmth and was surprised to see that when he got there, Ginny hadn't brought one. She was standing in the Green House talking to Professor Sprout, and looking rather cold. Professor Sprout seemed to be slightly irritated and neither of them noticed Draco come in. He watched with a raised eyebrow.
"…rather ridiculous I think," Professor Sprout was saying. Ginny rolled her eyes and tried to subdue the shivers.
"I'm fine, really. There's nothing wrong,"
"But you kids will be working outside, in the cold, and it could rain. And look," Professor Sprout had just spotted him, "he's brought his own…"
Ginny suddenly noticed him and paled. "I don't care that he brought his…." She mumbled.
"His own what?" Draco asked, stepping into the conversation.
"Your own cloak dear, the extra one. You brought it because it's cold, did you not?"
"Well, yeah," Draco nodded slowly.
Professor Sprout turned back to Ginny.
"I guess I'll have to let you learn the hard way instead. Try not to catch a cold while you're out there… Pomfrey would kill me…"
Professor Sprout sighed. "Well, you two should be starting, I want you to try and get this all done as soon as possible. If you need me, I'll be in Green House six."
She handed a large bucket of water and an odd looking rag to Ginny. She did the same for Draco.
"Give me you wands, both of you," she ordered, holding out her hands. Draco glared at her. "Exactly what is our detention supposed to be?" he asked, slowly handing over his wand as he stared at the bucket.
"You'll be cleaning the Green House windows – no magic,"
Draco's mouth dropped. "All of the…"
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy, all of the windows – all of the Green Houses."
Ginny stared at her blankly. "But – how many Green Houses are there?"
"Ten total. I'd get started if I wanted to be done by breakfast…"
Draco groaned.
About three and a half hours later they were almost finished… with Green House three that is. Each "house" was taking roughly an hour and every once in a while they still had to refill their buckets and get more soap. They had made sort of a routine; Draco would stand up on the ladder and Ginny would take care of everything she could reach from the ground. Aside from small directions to the other, neither of them talked.
Ginny moved the rag in circle across the glass. As she saw some of the bubbles fading she dipped her hand back into the bucket and continued. Big long circles along the windows. She had about two more panels to go and Draco seemed to have the same amount. They worked in silence. More circles then.
After a few minutes she noticed her water going low. She looked up at Draco.
"I have to go and get more soap. 'Be back in a bit,"
When she heard him grunt she knew she was okay to leave.
She walked slowly with her bucket gripped in both of her hands. He had been like that the while night. No… not grunting… just quiet in general. He would barely respond to her when she tried to talk.
She had been watching him during the night. She could tell that he knew she was but he never acknowledged or told her to do otherwise, so she continued.
Ginny could feel the ache in her stomach as she remembered how he looked up on the ladder. His hair had fallen in front of his face and it shone in the little sunlight that there was. His eyes had stayed on his work and seemed so concentrated. Concentrated on what, she wasn't sure. She'd watched as he bit softly on his lower lip in deep thought. Every time, Ginny would hope he was thinking about her and she felt a surge of happiness when he took the smallest of glances at her. She wouldn't even mind that every time he did he'd make up some excuse like he was only checking if the ladder was secure; as if it would change since the last five minutes when he'd "checked" it before. And the after his brief moment of thinking she'd head him give a sigh and it made her want to run up on that ladder and hug and kiss him senseless. Of course, she could very well do that and that's what made her so mad at herself. She wanted to kiss him so bad but she knew, she just knew that it was the wrong thing. He couldn't possibly like her for just… her. It must be lust or something, she didn't care what Hermione said people had told her…
Yeah, that's it! Spending so much time with her must have caused him some kind of sexual tension and he just had to let it out and who else with but weak little Ginny Weasley? He probably thought he could control her or something, didn't he?
Well, then he was right. If he asked her, she would probably jump off a broomstick 100 feet in the air without a second thought – as if it was the most natural thing in the world. And that would only be because he asked her.
And if he kissed her? Well, she would just have to die right then and there. When he had kissed her earlier that week… well, it must have been the most amazing kiss in history. The boy must be a Sex God or something…
Oh no… now she would be forever referring to Draco as a Sex God…
Actually… it didn't sound half bad…
Oh, she couldn't get him out of her mind. The sight of him, the smell of him, the taste of him. It was all so wonderful.
Ginny at first had thought that what she felt was only physical attraction. But deep down she knew it wasn't, because she liked him. Even though he was annoying and mean sometimes, she was addicted to who he was. She loved his sarcasm, his sneers, his drawls, his lack of caring, his ability to stay cool in almost any situation. She loved his humor, his laugh – whether it was deep and mocking or genuinely adorable, his faithfulness to the things he care about, his knowledge, the way he thought that no one was better than him. In her eyes he wasn't conceited, he was just very confident with himself. Everything that was bad about him found some way to seem good to her.
Controlling her, was he? Ha! He had her on strings dammit!
She walked carefully back with a full bucket only a few minutes later.
Draco – oh God, he was gorgeous – was almost done with his last panel now. He turned as he heard her coming
"I'd hurry it up if I were you…" he said, his voice unreadable, "you'd want to get finished roughly at the same time as me so we can move to Green House four together… or…well, I guess I could wait for you,"
Ginny stared at him before she realized he was waiting for her reply. He wanted to go the Green house four with her? He'd wait for her? With a lurch in her stomach she answered.
"Oh, right…okay."
She set off to work quickly. For the next several minutes they worked in the regular silence. It was becoming evident to Ginny that she was indeed very stupid to not bring an extra cloak, as it was now freezing outside. She shivered and looked up at Draco. He looked perfectly (of course…) warm. Damn him. Why couldn't he just there and wrap his nice warm arms around her like some nice warm thing the ould? Then all would be wall and she would be happy. Perhaps he would as well.
She continued to think of how warm they would be, snuggled up in one of the Green Houses, when suddenly a lot of noise met her. There was a great deal of creaking – wood probably – and mumbling – Draco probably – coming from his direction.
"Um…" his voice cracked the chilling air. "Do you think you could come over here and hold the ladder for a bit? It's getting really wobbly,"
Again with the strings and the controlling–ness. Hold the ladder? Hell, she get up on the ladder with him and wouldn't care if it fell. She'd be content being near the damn ladder.
"Yes I'll hold the ladder, Mr. Sex God…" she mumbled.
"What was that?" he asked quickly. Ginny shook her head.
"Nothing,"
Suddenly, she remembered that he had been serious about the ladder thing and she rushed to help him…
She wasn't nearly fast enough. With a loud crash the wooden ladder toppled to the ground and Draco's swearing could be heard across the campus.
Ginny's heart leapt into her throat as she frantically searched the ground for him.
Please don't be hurt – Please oh please don't be hurt…
She didn't see him anywhere and her concern grew considerably. What if he was hurt? What if he broke his leg? Or his arm? Or cracked his head open? What if the almighty Sex God was dead?!
"I'm up here, idiot!" his voice called angrily.
Ginny nearly died of happiness. "Draco, you're okay!" she said as she turned to him. His annoyance seemed to subside a little as he noticed her concern.
She looked at him. He was holding onto the ledge of the roof. Her heart pounded in her chest.
That's it. She would just put the ladder back up. Nice and simple as anything. She turned to the ladder again.
Ginny swore rarely, but this seemed to really call for it.
She stared numbly at the ladder; cracked right through the middle.
"Dammit!"
"What? Where's the ladder? I can't hold on forever, Ginny!"
"Oh Draco… the ladder it – it broke,"
"What?!"
She heard one of his hands slip.
"Fuck…! Then how am I supposed to get down?"
"I don't know, I – I'll catch you!"
"No you will not," he said firmly, "quit being so dense,"
"Well it's the only idea I have…"
"That doesn't mean it's a good one!"
"Ooh… I know, I know. I'll run to Green House six and get Professor Sprout. She'll come back with a wand and help you down,"
Why hadn't she thought of that first? Oh right… she had liked the idea of a Sex God toppling down on her.
"You'd better hurry because I don't know how long I can stay up here,"
"Okay…" But Ginny stared at him for a moment. She couldn't leave. He could hurt himself… he need her. Something turned in the pit of her stomach. What if he fell while she was gone? What if he…
"Hurry up dammit!"
"Okay, okay!"
Ignoring the fact that she was freezing and her joints were frozen stiff, Ginny ran as fast as she could to Green House six. The ground was wet and she constantly lost her footing but she didn't care. She had to find Professor Sprout.
When she approached her destination she was very nearly out of breath but she didn't have time to catch it. She opened the door quickly and thrust herself inside; panting for air.
"Professor Sprout, Professor Sprout, Draco is…!"
But she broke off when she realized that – aside from the numerous collections of odd plants – the Green House was empty.
Her concern escaladed to fear. She could try and find Professor Sprout. That would just take much to long and she could be anywhere. Draco needed help. He couldn't wait that long. It must've already been ten minutes or so.
She slammed the door behind her and began to run back to Draco. Suddenly, something caused her to stop. Something small and wet had fallen on the tip of her nose. She frowned and…
Wait… there it was again, only this time on her lower lip.
She held out her hand in confusion and realized what it was. They were rain drops…
It was raining!
Horrible pictures came to her mind. Draco could slip… he could crack his head on the ground and there'd be no one to save him. Her eyes welled with tears and she tried to push the site of him falling out of her mind with something good that the rain had cause. It worked for a while and made her want to get to him faster.
The rain poured down in thick sheets that were ice cold. Ginny held out her hand and watched some gather about in her palm. She shivered but didn't go inside. The cold helped her think well. She looked down at the small silver bracelet Draco had given her. It felt oddly warm and comforting against her skin and the only thing that she needed now was for Draco himself to be here too.
She sighed and tried to subdue her shaking. It was no use to come out here to think and only be able to do so about how cold you were.
It had only been a day since the incident in the Great Hall. Whenever Ginny thought about it she got this odd feeling of longing in the pit of her stomach and felt as though she was going to cry. She had, right after leaving that night. She'd cried herself to sleep because she had liked him so much but everything was so wrong.
She had stood there, in the Great Hall; confused, scared, happy, and something else all at the same time. Draco had left. He'd asked her to come with him…
So why the hell hadn't she gone with him? It was stupid really. But he had gone and Ginny was standing alone in the middle of the Great Hall with almost everyone – including teachers – staring at her and waiting to see what she did next. She vaguely noticed the small smirk on Dumbledore's kind face and the slightly shocked and amused one on McGonagall's. Snape, on the other hand, seemed as though he was going to faint, vomit, or run around naked pronouncing that the world was coming to an end. Ginny had thought that he might perhaps do all; he was certainly crazy enough to…
And Ron was staring at her…and so was Dean. She didn't give a damn about Ron but she felt distantly sorry for Dean. Seeing your girlfriend snogging one of your enemies is never a good thing. What if she had been with Harry? That would have been so completely ironic she would probably laugh years following it…
I bet I'm in love with him, she thought dazedly as she stared at the exit of the Great Hall. I bet that I've loved him for a long time and just haven't realized it. I probably even loved him when he's acting like King Prat.
And he probably doesn't even love me…
Without warning, Ginny ran out of the Great Hall and didn't stop until she reached her dormitory. She had flung herself on her bed. The tears followed immediately. Ginny had that same feeling that you get when you think that whole world is against you. It probably was, in her case. At least… that's how it seemed. Why couldn't she be with Draco? Because no one wanted her to. The Slytherin's didn't. The Gryffindor's didn't. She knew that Ron would be against it… and so would Bill… and Charlie, and Fred and George, and Percy… And then her parents would be disappointed. And knowing Draco's family, they'd be furious…
So… she came to the conclusion that the world was against her…
Ginny's sobbing had grown harder into her pillow.
She was sobbing because she couldn't have him. She was sobbing because he was probably using her. She was sobbing because he had kissed her… she was sobbing because she realized just exactly how much she wanted him. Because she realized exactly how he made her feel. Like she was the only one in the world he cared about, the only one worth noticing…
And he was probably even lying. Hell, she hadn't known him that long… she wasn't familiar with exactly everything that he had done and couldn't pinpoint everything about his personality and how he thought. He was lying to her then… this was a game that he was playing probably to get off of boredom.
And it was horrible that she still seemed to care about him even after all this.
"Why…" she had asked, "why does this have to happen to me?"
Suddenly, there was a low creaking sound.
"Ginny?" came Hermione voice timidly. Ginny heard the door shut behind her
"Unmfpt… what?" she said sadly into the pillow.
"I… wanted to talk to you…" she said. Ginny felt the bed droop down as Hermione sat on it.
"About what?" Ginny asked. She sobbed, "Did you come to say good-bye to me? You should because in a few minutes I'll be dead. I want to die. I deserve to die and suffer slowly and painfully. I don't want to live anymore… my life doesn't…"
"Ginny… shut up for a second," Hermione said, cutting through Ginny's slightly bitter and mocking tone. "You're not going to die, and I doubt that you want to… I'm sure Malfoy doesn't want you to either…"
This caused a great trouble with Ginny. "How (sob) do you know (sob) what he (sob) wants? (more sobs) He doesn't care about me… you're only (sob) saying that to make me feel better…"
"Ginny… I just know. Ron told me that he got Malfoy to admit that he had feelings for you and Harry said that when he was teasing him about you during the Quidditch match, Malfoy got all shirty and nearly was ready to kill Harry. And I also heard him yelling at Parkinson after you were taken out of the game. Ginny… he was furious you were hurt. And the fact that he had caught you in the first place shows that he cares what happens to you. He could have just let Harry catch you because you know he would have, he was nearly there, but Malfoy wanted to save you on his own. And Ginny… he looked worried when you sat there all bloody and not moving in his arms. It must've took you at least a minute to come to. And I know that I really, really, don't like Malfoy, but I have to admit that he's gotten softer since… since you,"
Hermione had been rubbing Ginny's back the whole time and talking in a soothing voice.
"I heard him yelling at Parkinson too…"Ginny mumbled after a few minutes.
Hermione had stayed there talking to Ginny for the rest of the night. Now, as Ginny sat in the rain, she was glad for the comfort that Hermione had been able to give her then. Now Ginny just sat alone out on the Quidditch pitch. She didn't even feel like talking to Samantha right now.
She was in the middle of some more serious thinking when she heard footsteps on the wet ground behind her. She didn't bother to turn around, thinking that it would be Ron or something.
"What do you want?" she asked miserably. The person continued walking to her.
"That's no way to talk to me…" a deep husky voice said with amusement. She felt her insides freeze and her heart stop pounding. Why was he here… why was he – of all people – here?
"Draco," she said quietly, pretending to take interest in the back of her hands. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I thought I'd take a stroll around the grounds for a bit… I couldn't get to sleep…"
"In the rain?" she asked suspiciously.
"Isn't that what you're doing?" he drawled. Ginny managed to let out a shaky breath.
"I suppose. But do you have to…" she stopped in mid-sentence as Draco sat down on the ground next to her… his hand rested on top of hers. Her heart began beating this time, only it was much more furiously than it had been before.
He seemed to notice her change immediately.
"Do you not like my hand there?" he asked simply. Oh God she wanted to kiss him…
"No, it's fine. I don't mind…" she said quickly. "Fine… it's fine…" His hand seemed to close over hers more tightly after she said this. His hand was warm and shockingly white against hers.
"Why did you come here?" she asked after a few minutes. She was still shivering like mad and her hair was starting to stick to her head. Draco seemed unmoved by the rain.
"Why didn't you follow me?" he asked evenly, carefully avoiding eye contact with her. Ginny wanted to look at him then but she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to turn away once she did. She heard Draco swallow roughly.
"Well?" he asked.
"I… don't know,"
"Don't lie, Ginny. You have a reason and I want to know it. I deserve to know it…"
"You don't deserve it," she lied, just as she had done before. "Draco, you're just complicating things for me. I don't know what I'm supposed to do anymore. People are looking at me oddly, some tease me, Ron is furious even if he doesn't want to show it, Harry just keeps laughing every time that he sees me, and I've already lost Dean…"
His hand was gripping tighter on hers again. "You don't care about Dean,"
Again she lied. "Yes I do,"
She heard Draco sigh and they were silent for a moment. After a few minutes he spoke.
"So," he said slowly, "the only reason that you aren't with me is because people don't want you to be? Because people laugh? Because your brother's mad and people look at you? People look at me all the time…"
"No, that's not what I…"
"It sounds stupid to me. Ginny, how do you think my father's going to act? What do you think he's going to say… or do? I'm in a worse boat than you are and I'm still willing to work things out but you're just being stubborn," he was beginning to sound hurt. Ginny's stomach churned.
"Draco…" she said, "please don't…just – just leave me alone,"
He didn't say anything and slowly he moved his hand away from hers.
"Ginny, you must be freezing," he said finally.
"No, I'm fine," she said shortly, still not looking at him. It was hard though, because he had now positioned himself in front of her.
"You're going to catch a cold…"
"No really, I'm fine…" but Draco was already unclasping his Slytherin cloak.
Please don't put it on me… she thought, Please, I wouldn't be able to bare that…
She felt his heavy cloak wrap around her wet shoulders. She closed her eyes as he began to re-clasp it slowly. When he was finished he rested his hands on her chest, still holding the silver buttons in his fingers.
"I think it's stupid that we can't work this out…" he said suddenly. "It's completely idiotic."
"Draco…"
He cut her off. "You shouldn't care what all those wankers at the school think… they don't matter. I've embarrassed myself so much that I don't even bother with them any longer."
Ginny finally willed herself to look at him. His hair was matted to his forehead, his cold eyes were blazing, and a drop of water was trickling down his pointed nose. She watched as he carefully brushed it away with the back of his hand. Slowly, his hands still on her, he began to lean forward. His eyes began to close and Ginny had the sudden thought that he was going to kiss her. Her stomach turned to lead and she pressed her lips together so that he wouldn't have access to them. He was getting closer – why did it seem to take so long for him to move a couple of inches? – and she could feel his warmth, could smell him…
At the last minute Ginny turned her head and Draco ended up planting a kiss on her cheek. He sat there with his lips pressed against her skin and he was taking deep controlling breaths. Ginny found that his hands had moved to her shoulders and were now shaking as they held on. He didn't move for quite some time.
Ginny could feel her heart pounding in her ribcage, they were going to break it was so hard. She was taking deep shaky breaths. She wanted to turn her head, grab him, and kiss him like mad but she couldn't. Then all of this would have gone to waste if she were to do that.
"Draco," she said softly, "I think… I think it would be best if you were to just leave…"
But he had already pulled off of her and was slowly walking back toward the castle, his head and shoulders drooping slightly. Ginny sighed and didn't bother stopping her tears.
"I'm sorry Draco," she said quietly to herself, clutching onto his cloak, which he had left behind. Slowly, she looked down at it. It was warm and it had a small crest on it, just like her Gryffindor one, except its colors were green and silver for Slytherin. It reminded her of him, it smelt like him, and it matched almost perfectly with her bracelet. Maybe he had planned it that way – the bracelet that is. Maybe he had wanted her to match him. She knew he wouldn't miss this cloak… he had others… perhaps he would let her keep it, then.
Well… she wasn't going to ask. She didn't feel like seeing him again, not now, not ever, because she knew the next time she wouldn't be able to resist him as she just had.
When he came into view she realized that he was indeed slipping. In fact, if something didn't happen right then, he was going to fall.
Oh God…
Ginny decided what she was going to do and it happened so fast that one minute she was standing in shock a good 20 yards away from the Green House, and the next she was on the ground with a Sex God sprawled on top of her, groaning in pain (Sex Gods weren't supposed to groan in pain… maybe in other things but pain wasn't supposed to be on the list…). She had tried to stick to her original plan of catching him and it had worked…
…well, sort of.
"What the hell happened?" he asked, wincing.
"I… broke your fall," she said simply as she looked up at him. Draco closed his eyes momentarily.
"I told you, you couldn't catch me," he said faintly. Ginny bit her lip.
"Yeah… well, I – "
He cut her off with a dry laugh. "You're an idiot."
Ginny continued to look at him and – being as his eyes were still closed – took the opportunity to make sure he wasn't hurt. He had a bruise over his left eye but other than that he was perfectly fine. It suddenly dawned on Ginny that he was still on top of her. Her heart pounded and her stomach churned. She bit down on her lip, not being able to refuse him for much longer.
But how could she do anything if she was supposed to try and stay away from him?
Ah-ha! She had a brilliant idea. If she merely looked as if she was overreacting than…
Yes! Of course. It was perfect! Why hadn't she thought of it before?
Ginny flung her arms around him, made a big show of braking down into tears, and buried her face in his shoulder. Draco's eyes snapped open immediately in surprise.
"Oh Draco, you're okay," she said happily.
He choked on his response. " I – of course I am,"
Ginny noticed that his demeanor softened and she cheerfully noted that he – almost on impulse – returned the hug (even though it was rather loosely…).
She just leaned against him for a while. He was warm, just as she had thought. Oh, and he smelt wonderful. Like a fresh forest or a meadow. Just like he had smelt when he was unconscious. She clung to him harder and she was sure he could feel her heart beat.
"I thought you were going to die…"
Oh God, would he really buy this?
"Will you quit overreacting, Ginny?" she grinned against him – no 'Weasley' this time, "I'm perfectly fine,"
"I'm just glad you're alright," she said, realizing she had yet another opportunity to take advantage of the situation. Ginny leaned up and kissed him soundly on the cheek, letting her lips stay pushed against him as she just sat there, taking in his wonderful sent.
Draco had frozen under her contact; his hands were now gripping her back. And as she began to pull away from him, Draco turned his head and – before she was out of reach – caught her lips in his.
A million emotions shot through her veins like a shock of electricity and her arms automatically clung lower to his back; pressing him against her. Draco pushed her to the ground – never breaking the contact with her lips – so that he was fully on top of her now. He loosened his arms so that his hands could cup her face.
Ginny was in complete bliss. Draco was kissing her. He was… No! No, this was wrong! She couldn't do this… she couldn't. It was so completely wrong.
She tried to ignore the fact that it felt so right. Like they were meant for each other. Her lips made for his. Her…
NO!
No, no, no, no, no…
She turned her head and instantly – boom! – the contact was broken.
Draco lay on top of her, his chest rising and falling rapidly. His eyes shot open and he scanned her face in shock.
"What?" he said angrily, "What is it exactly that I'm doing wrong?" he spat the words at her slowly. She closed her eyes and her lip quivered.
"Well?"
"I don't know Draco…"
He let out an annoyed breath. "What is it? Because I don't get it. I know you like me, and you know that I… am… oh, I just don't get it!"
He took her silence and shaky breaths as an answer to continue.
"Is there something wrong with me? It that why?"
Ginny choked back her tears.
"Well?"
"No," she said miserably, "There isn't a single thing wrong with you. And it's not fair,"
Draco stared at her for a while and finally pushed off of her and stood up.
"I don't get you, Ginny Weasley, "he said, looking down at her, "and I think it'll be a long time before I ever will,"
They cleaned for the next several hours in a horrible, tense, silence.
Draco realized now, as he entered his room after the long bout of cleaning, that this whole avoiding Ginny or controlling himself while he was around her was not going to work at all. No, not one bit. It was much too hard and he already proved to be unsuccessful at it.
Well, then what was he supposed to do? Obviously, something was wrong with her. There was a reason that she kept ignoring him and turning away before anything happened. But why couldn't he make her see that they could work it out. Was she blind?
Draco flopped down on his bed with exhaustion ready to fall asleep. One thing, however, kept him awake for a while.
She had called him a Sex God.
Ginny thought he was a Sex God…?
Brilliant!
Five days later. Saturday night. Quidditch pitch.
When it came to Quidditch, Draco was usually brutal to his team. There were no
friends here, nor enemies, all there was, was the game. He never let anyone slack
off, including Blaise. He was tough and was constantly making them practice.
With the last game of the season coming up, the one that determined who won the
cup, Draco was running his team harder than ever.
"Listen up, you guys," Draco addressed the rest of the team, "we did well against Gryffindor in the last match but we could have done better. Our last game of the season is Ravenclaw so we've got to stay focused and do our best at the match. I want you to go to no ends to win this game. Foul them as much as you can; our main goal is to stop them from scoring. They're in second place at the moment and a win would get them the cup," he looked at them all seriously. "This is my last year and my last game and I don't want any screw ups from any of you, do you got that?"
A few of them nodded solemnly.
"Zabini," he turned to Blaise. "I want you to do you best at the hoops. If everything goes right they'll be taking a lot of foul shots and I'll need you to stop them."
"I will, Draco… but, what's the point of coming out here this late at night, in the rain, to practice? Couldn't we have come out tomorrow morning?"
"That's exactly the reason. Every time you have to play in harsh conditions – all of you – you bitch and moan about it. I can't control the weather and you've got to know how to play in it…"
"But we already do know how to play in it,"
"Pitchard, the next time you interrupt me, you're off the team. You guys need more practice, and its people like you," he glared at the third year. "And you Blaise, who bring the team down. Every game we have is in bad weather. It's either too hot, too cold, raining, or snowing. And that is where we always mess up."
"But Draco, we've practiced and practiced five days a week for months, don't we deserve a break? The match against Ravenclaw isn't even scheduled until late March."
"Pansy, all you've got to worry about is not giving me another poor performance like last game."
"Poor performance?!" she shouted.
"Now today, we're going to work on some drills with the chasers. I want the beaters to act as if they're on the other team and are trying to stop them from scoring..."
"What the hell do you mean by 'poor performance'??"
The locker room grew quiet at her outburst. Some might have had the nerve to interrupt or backtalk to their captain but what she had done was beyond the line.
"You idiot," Blaise hissed as Draco turned to glare at her. "He's going to take you out."
But she wasn't listening to him. "All you cared about was that I hit your…"
"Pansy," Draco broke in before she said anything. "Calm down."
The rest of the team stared in shock at how composed he had sounded and that he wasn't furious at her by now.
He was, Draco was just trying not to show it yet.
"But…"
"Pansy," he warned. "I'll talk to you after the team goes out. Stevens," he turned to a dark haired boy in his fourth year. "I want you to take over for beater while Pansy can't play, I'm sure you've had enough practice as a chaser, you're the only one that deserves a break."
A few of the people scowled at this.
"Pansy," Draco ordered, "give Eric your bat."
Slowly, she handed it to the boy, never taking her eyes off of Draco.
The second the team was out of ear-shot, he started on her.
"Pansy," he said quietly. "What's your problem?"
"My problem?! Draco, what's your problem? My performance was fine!"
"Pansy, why can't you just quit? This is the last game of the season, this is your last game at Hogwarts – do you really want to do this to yourself?"
"I'm not doing anything, the only problem is you. You're ruining it for everyone,"
"I am not. I'm trying to help you guys. But you constantly…"
"Draco, you're the problem and you know it. You're the problem with me at least. I gave a perfect performance last game. What happened to you? You used to be the epitome of all that was Slytherin. Everyone looked up to you, you know? And now, ever since Weasley came along…"
"Don't bring her into this," he said firmly.
"No Draco, I've been meaning to talk to you about this for a while. And…" she suddenly became serious and her voice lowered. "I just want to know what's going on. I don't even care what it is, anymore. I used to be able to talk to you, and you used to be able to talk to me. Usually no matter what it was. And… I just want it to be that way again. Please just talk to me…"
"What do you want to know? I can't promise I'll tell you everything,"
She glared at him with an emotion that he had never seen on her before. Her chest was rising and falling very slowly but deeply as if she was trying to control it. Her eyes – he could see – were beginning to shine with tears. She couldn't possibly still like him this much, could she? It had been several months since their break up. Draco was about to speak when something stopped him.
Pansy, after taking a deep sobbing breath, leaned forward and kissed him. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her body pressed into his. For a moment, he was about to return her action, but…
Voices raced through Draco's head, forcing him to remember Ginny. Forcing him to recall conversations. With her, with Blaise. Things that had happened, including reason why he liked her just so much.
But, as he jerked back to reality he remembered that he was kissing Pansy. Ginny was the reason that he had broken up with this girl. He couldn't just let that all go to waste.
And besides, he was beginning to realize that he had fallen in love with Ginny quite some time ago. No other girl would do.
With that, he pushed her off of him roughly, causing her to give him an extremely hurt look.
"No Pansy, don't – stop this."
She sounded out of breath. "But Draco…"
"No, Pansy – we're over, I'm sorry if it's not what you want but you have to face it."
"Draco…what happened to us?" she asked. There was a sad look in her eyes. It didn't have any effect on him. Good.
"Pansy, don't ask stupid questions, you know what happened," he said firmly.
"No. I can guess at what happened, but I want you to tell me because then I know it's the truth,"
Draco waited a while before talking. "It was all those detentions…" he said.
"And? Draco, you've had tons of detentions before but nothing like this has ever happened. Was it her? Is that it?"
"Yes."
He watched as Pansy's eyes filled with tears. Again, no effect. He must really not have cared much for her then. "But... how – why?"
"I dunno! It's not like I wanted it to. It's not like I said 'Oh, please God, make me fall in love with Ginny Weasley. Maybe then I can break up with my current girlfriend, have everyone hate me, get killed by both my dad and hers, and ruin my life. I think it'll be dandy…' Of course I didn't ask for it,"
She stared at him blankly. "What did you just say?"
"I said that I hadn't asked for it to happen…."
"No. You just said you fell in love with her," her eyes clouded. "You love her? You… you never said you loved me, but when a Weasley comes along, you automatically fall in love…"
"What are you talking about? I never said I loved her,"
"You might as well have, I can't believe this…"
"Pansy, it – it doesn't matter. She doesn't feel the same way and I don't even know what I feel. It sure as hell isn't love."
"Yes it is. You've practically said so. You love her. You love her. I know you do. I can tell. How long has it been now? Months? Does she know? Draco, you've already ruined it for me… and you've already started to screw it up for another girl."
"Pansy…"
"No. You're going to screw her up. You love her, and you aren't going to tell her because I know you and it's not your thing to get mushy. And you're going to screw her up because I can tell she likes you, and you're going to leave her like you did me and she'll be alone and miserable,"
Draco was shaking with some kind of intense emotion.
"Pansy, go practice," he said suddenly.
"But…"
"No. I want you to go outside and practice…. now. Just leave me alone,"
So, several minutes later, Draco trudged out of the locker room shaking from anger and the cold. He looked up at the players, all who seemed to be doing what they were supposed to be. He watched as the chasers did difficult maneuvers in order to challenge their team mates.
He finally joined them and watched as they followed his orders in order to get ready for the match against Ravenclaw. The Chasers swept in and drilled Blaise, getting him ready for all the foul shots that the Ravenclaws would be taking. Meanwhile the Beaters were busy trying to stop them from scoring. It was working out perfectly. They were going to win. As Draco just began to search around for the snitch a flash of red on the bleachers distracted him.
He looked over to see a red headed girl with pigtails sitting in a dark black Slytherin cloak, watching him practice.
And slowly, a smile spread across his face and not even all the galleons in the world would have stopped him from calling off practice early just so he could go down and see her.
Sorry about the cheesy ending and how fast the chapter seemed to be moving. I just really wanted to get it done and I guess I was in a hurry. Sorry, sorry, sorry.
I'm also so terribly sorry that it's so late. SOoOoO late. I think you all deserve an explanation.
Here it is.
About a month and three weeks ago, my house went up for sale. We were going to be having agents and people coming in at all times. My dad didn't want the laptops getting stolen. This chapter – like all the others – was on my laptop. However, before he could take it to my Grandmother's I completely forgot to save this to a disk. So… I had to wait until we got the new house to access this. It was 23 pages at the time… and I was pissed I hadn't been able to post it sooner because it was so nearly finished.
-Noto