Disclaimer: The standard.nothing is mine except the plot and a few characters (the ones you don't recognize, obviously, like Adrienne, and Marion, and whichever others that have or will appear.) Btw I totally forgot to do the disclaimer, and I'm way too lazy to go back and edit each of the previous six chapters and then upload them, one by one, so lets just pretend that they have a disclaimer, okie? ^_^

A/N* silverallie ~ Here I have to clarify. Before the fifth book, Blaise was actually only mentioned once, and that's in the first book during the sorting in which the gender was never specified. And while I know that the name is one originally derived from a French male, it's been commonly used for women over the ages. The very first fanfic I read with Blaise as a character (Serpent's Bride. . . a VERY good one, btw) used the Slytherin as a female. So the only way we would know for sure of Blaise's gender is if it was specified in book five, which, consequently, I've not finished reading. But even if book five revealed that Blaise is indeed a he, I can't change my writing now. Many fics do portray Blaise as female, mine included. ^_^

Chapter 7. The Eyes Have It

The realization hit her flat in the face, like a bucket of icy water.

She was in Draco Malfoy's bed.

Alarmed, Ginny was about to jump out of the bed and demand to know if he had taken advantage of her when she realized that he wasn't in the bed. In fact, he was lying rather contentedly on the chaise across the room. Even in sleep, he looked impassive, Ginny noticed with a small smile. Possibilities spun through her mind, and Ginny decided that she must have fallen asleep on the job. I guess he's not that heartless, she thought with surprise, crawling out from under the covers as gingerly as possible.

The velvety emerald blanket slung across him was nearly sliding off, and as she made her way to the door a flash of maternal instinct stopped her. Something told her it would be best to dash out of the room before he awoke, but for some inexplicable reason she made her way over to where his still form was resting. She was just going to keep the blanket from falling to the floor, Ginny told herself, so if Draco had indeed helped her in any way, which was a thought so preposterous she wanted to laugh, then Ginny wouldn't feel guilty.

What she hadn't taken into account, however, was the small round table at the foot of the chaise, and she winced in pain as her toes made contact with the hard wood. "Blimey!" She cried before she could stop herself, grabbing her foot and hopping up and down.

"You know, you make such a racket waking up they can probably still hear you back at Hogwarts."

Ginny froze.

Draco's eyes opened slowly, focusing his stony gray gaze on her, but she could swear there was a twinkle of humor. He seemed slightly more relaxed, maybe due to the tiredness reflected in his eyes. And he didn't seem to be mocking her this time; his tone of voice had actually been teasing, and maddeningly soft, and it surprised her, astonished her, knocking her speechless so all she could do was stand and stare like a bloody idiot.

Realizing that she was in a position which rendered her much like a stork, Ginny released her ankle and took a step forward hesitantly. It was, however, a bad move, because her foot caught on the beautiful persian rug, sending her sprawling across the chaise and into his lap.

His hands caught her for the second time that summer, steadied her, the touch burning as she raised her head to look into his face, half- expecting Blaise to barge in like last time. "We have to stop meeting like this," Draco murmured hoarsely, his voice thick with longing and his breath tickling her ear, causing her own breath to catch in her throat.

A rush of feelings flooded through her; first confusion because he had yet to push her away, then a strange excitement that he hadn't, then more confusion because she liked the way his arms wrapped around her waist so perfectly, and lastly surprise, because in the depths of his eyes she saw mirrored the exact same thoughts. Her heart was pounding so hard drums resounded in her head, and given the silence of the chamber and the proximity of their bodies, she was positive Draco could hear it.

Draco moved his neck slightly, closing the last few centimeters between their faces, and gently pressed his lips to hers. The touch shocked Ginny, stars exploding in her head and shivers tingling down her spine, the same intensity of emotion boiling in the pit of her stomach as it always did around him.

But this time, it wasn't hate. It was far from hate.

He ran one hand through the soft curtain of red hair as he deepened the kiss, so concentrated on how right she felt he stopped thinking about the fact that this was Ginny Weasley he was snogging. She fit into his body so smoothly like a ball in a glove, complenting, filling, completing him, and he could believe, if briefly, that her sole existance had been created for him, for this moment.

Something inside Ginny's head reminded her that this was Malfoy whose lips were moving across hers, whose fingers were tracing circles through the thin silk of her nightgown. She should have panicked, she should have thought about all the times he'd ruined her life and all the evil things she'd wished his way. But for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to tear away from his searing kisses, and she didn't want to.

And then it stopped.

Draco had pulled back, Ginny realized, and she sat limp, missing the warmth of his body and hating herself for wanting more. They were both suddenly immensely aware that she was still nestled in his lap, and he stared pointedly at her, his mouth set in a grim line. Embarassed, she scrambled off and landed awkwardly on the far end of the chaise.

They sat looking at each other for a few moments, neither daring to speak the first word. Neither wanted to acknowledge to each other what had just happened, and neither wanted to admit to themselves how much they had enjoyed it. His breath was ragged - with what, Ginny still wasn't sure - and the fire that she'd seen seconds ago had now extinguished, leaving those steely gray eyes again cold and blank.

"I-I-I'm sorry." Ginny said lamely, for lack of better things to say in the unbearable silence.

He eyed her, thoughts masked behind an expressionless face. "What for?" He said shortly, his voice not gentle nor teasing as it had been.

"This. That." She stumbled over her words, feeling the heated blush that had touched her cheeks.

He leaned back and continued to survey her, a dim interest shining through his half-lidded eyes. His gaze settled surreptiously on her lips, and for a fleeting, shamefully hopeful moment Ginny thought he wanted to kiss her again. Instead, his mouth curved into a broad, flat smile, and he chuckled mirthlessly. "Liked that, did you?" He snickered.

The moment was most definitely ruined. "Don't flatter yourself," Ginny lied, trying to inject as much hate as she possibly could that moment. He raised his eyebrows at her, challenging her word silently. She blushed once again, and broke the gaze, wanting to contradict his egotistical assumptions but somehow not finding her voice.

"I don't have to," he said smoothly, "if you're planning to do it for me."

"Why don't we just forget this happened," Ginny interrupted, refusing to look at him. Disturbed by the calmness of his demeanor, she added for good measure, "You mindless prat."

He stood up, tossing the blankets half-heartedly to the floor. "Good," he sneered. "I've already started. Now while I go wash out my mouth, its time for you to start cleaning my room."

The door slam echoed in the now empty chamber, and Ginny sat alone and confused, wanting to sob, laugh, and retch all at the same time.

She opted for laughing.

~*~

"Ginny!"

Adrienne had never been so glad to see her fellow maid. She flung her arms around the redhead the moment Ginny returned from Draco's chamber, nearly toppling them both to the floor. "I was so worried about you," she cried, her voice muffled.

Laughing, Ginny retracted herself from Adrienne's embrace. "It's nice to see you too," she said. "Care to tell me why I deserve such a warm welcome?"

Adrienne's eyes widened. "Last night," she reminded.

"Ah yes," Ginny smiled, relieved that she didn't have to ask Draco for an explanation. "See, I'm still not clear on what happened."

"Didn't Young Master Malfoy tell you?" Adrienne knitted her thin eyebrows in confusion.

"Not exactly," Ginny answered uncomfortably.

"Oh dear," Adrienne pressed two hands to her cheeks in mock disgust, immediately setting Ginny at ease and causing her to giggle. "Well, we have a lot to talk about, in that case."

~*~

Draco paced restlessly in his study, the events of that morning replaying themselves in his mind incessantly. He, Draco Malfoy, had snogged Ginny Weasley. And what was worse, he had initiated it.

Stopping and picking up a smooth glass paperweight, he fumbled with it, glaring at the two silver eyes reflected back at him. They were nothing like her eyes, the warm cocoa flecked with gold, and he nearly smiled thinking about them. He inhaled deeply, remembering how clean she had smelled, and how soft her skin had been, and groaned, wishing for someone to interrupt him or something to think about so he wouldn't have to face the truth.

The truth was, Draco had enjoyed the kiss.

"No!" Draco shouted, slamming his fist down onto the table, paperweight tumbling to the ground. She was not only a Gryffindor, she was a Weasley. And girls, especially Weasleys, were not supposed to affect the way he thought in any manner. He was a man, wasn't he? That must have been it, he had responded the way any normal male would have. No, he thought desparately, the kiss had not affected him at all. It couldn't have. He wouldn't let it.

He would just have to make sure something like that never happened again, Draco decided. And somehow, he'd have to make it clear to the weasel that what had happened was purely a mistake, and one he most definitely did not plan on making again.

~*~

"And then, Blaise had to reveal that she was the one who drugged the water," Adrienne exclaimed, nearly doubling over in laughter. "The look on that little whore's face was priceless!"

Ginny smiled feebly. She was settled cross-legged on Adrienne's bed, listening to a detailed explanation of the previous night's events. "I knew Blaise had it for Malfoy," she said with a forced laugh, "but I never knew she had it that bad."

"Yes well, it seems they were getting pretty frisky," Adrienne chuckled, "if you know what I mean. And she seemed mad as hell that Young Master Malfoy gave a damn about what happened to you."

"He was putting on a show," Ginny said quickly.

"Well, you do know him better than me," Adrienne commented, curiously noticing the younger girl's reddening cheeks.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

Adrienne shot her a strange look. "It means," she said, slow and deliberate, "that since you attend school with Master Malfoy, you would obviously know him better than I do."

"Oh." Ginny couldn't bring herself to look Adrienne in the eye.

"But anyways, her outfit!" Adrienne continued, eagerly changing the subject, "I have never seen a smaller dress."

Though she hadn't been there to witness the spectacle, Ginny could imagine. She didn't particularly want to, but Adrienne's extremely elaborate description didn't leave her much room to think otherwise. "She's a witch," she recovered, "so she totally deserves Malfoy."

"You really hate him," Adrienne noted.

"No shit," Ginny agreed vehemently. He was such a git, she thought angrily, trying vainly to forget their early morning encounter, and so full of himself, too, thinking he could make any girl succumb to her knees. She herself was glad that Malfoy's so-called charms never had any effect on her.

Then why did the idea of Malfoy and Blaise together bother her so much?

~*~

Draco sank into the soft leather of his chair, rubbing his temples with slender fingers. What he needed was time alone, away from Blaise, away from his mother, and most of all, away from Ginny. "I can't fire her," he muttered darkly, heaving a deep sigh, "so I can't exactly get rid of her."

Suddenly, an idea clicked in his head and he sat up sharply, a smile creasing his face. "That's it!" He cried. "Draco Malfoy, you are truly brilliant." Sending Ginny on her much-wanted vacation was the perfect solution: he could show her that the kiss had meant nothing to him, and at the same time achieve peace and tranquility at the manor.

Wait, Draco stopped himself, incredibly disappointed with the glitch that had appeared. If he granted Ginny her wish, it would only seem that he had indeed developed some feelings for her, wouldn't it? What I need to do, he thought, is find an excuse to have the home to myself. He glared into his reflection, practicing what to say. "I need time with . . ." he trailed off, desparately searching for a name to fill the blank. Blaise? No, she had already left that morning, and he couldn't exactly ask her back, not that he wanted to.

But Ginny didn't know that.

It was a fool-proof plan, a win-win situation that Draco was positive couldn't go wrong. In fact, he'd go find the weasel right this moment to break the news. Naturally, he thought smugly, she'd be excited at first, probably grateful, and while he savored the idea of her in debt to him, he knew by the time she left the Weasley-Malfoy hatred would be high as ever.

So what if he was sending her to the waiting arms of Harry Potter?

~*~

"So that's basically why you woke up where you did," Adrienne finished with a shake of her head, "But I was really so terrified that something had happened to you, I mean, when I saw you lying there on the couch not moving I seriously thought you were dead. And I could never let myself live with that if you really had died, it would have been all my fault."

"But I'm not dead," Ginny reassured, "and it wouldn't have been your fault anyhow."

"And I really am sorry I didn't tell you earlier," Adrienne went on, "but Blaise scared the bloody hell out of me."

"She has a way of doing that," Ginny agreed. Then she frowned. "But wait, where is she now? She must be asleep, because it's been awfully quiet all day."

Adrienne was cut off by a sharp, nearly angry knock on the door. "Weasley?" An icy male voice demanded, "Are you in there?"

Smiling apologetically at Adrienne, Ginny leapt off the bed and opened the door, wishing that his loose slacks and heather sweater didn't make him look so damn breathtakingly good. "What do you want, Malfoy," she snarled, every bit as domineering as he had been.

He glanced between the two maids, and beckoned towards the hall. "Out there," he directed, "then we'll talk."

Not really having a choice, she followed him obediantly through the servant quarters and into the open foyer, never failing to notice the beauty and elegance that Malfoy Manor projected. Her observations, however, overlooked the fact that he had stopped and whipped around, propelling her into his chest.

"Watch where you're going," he said, glowering at where her hands had rested against him, his words bitter and sneering but the look in his eyes not so quite this time.

She stepped back quickly, a little too quickly, her pride causing the automatic apology to catch in her throat. "Don't blame me for your mistakes," she spat, crossing her arms across her chest and shooting him her meanest scowl.

He looked down, almost amusedly, at the fiery redhead ready and willing to attack him like a pitbull on its haunches. "Calm down," he smirked.

"Just tell me what you want," she scowled, no doubt ruffled by his collected conduct.

"Well, Weasley," he put an unneccessary emphasis on her last name and continued slightly hurriedly, "I've decided that you can take the little vacation you wanted, and I'm going to give you a whole week off; it doesn't violate the contract, I checked. I could do with some peace around this place."

She stared at him, disbelieving and utterly stunned. "Oh Malfoy!" was all she could say.

A stupid, childish smile spread across her face, causing him to demand, "What?"

"I was wrong," Ginny said wryly in a tone laced with gentle humor, "I guess you do have a heart."

He almost laughed at her words. He wanted to really, from the way her freckled nose was crinkled from that big, lopsided grin and the frank nature of her voice. But then she stepped a bit closer to him as if to hug him, close enough for him to smell the girlish scent of her peach shampoo, and all his earlier resolve came flooding back, cold yet strangely unwelcome.

He stiffened, setting possibly the nastiest expression upon his face and striding away. The smile was immediately displaced. He wanted so much to hold her in his arms again, to kiss the frown off her face, but he couldn't. He was a Malfoy, damnit, and she was a Weasley, and nothing would ever change that. He knew painfully well that the more he distanced himself from the temptation that was her, the better.

"I'm not Potter," he said snidely, meeting her confused face with a chillingly calm fire gleaming in his own. "So don't even try. Just go home to your little scarheaded boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," Ginny said in the smallest voice.

"Does it look like I care? Just leave," Draco snarled.

"Why?" Ginny shot back, her face a flaming red from frustration and confusion, the hurt rapidly transforming to anger. "You want to spend time alone shagging your precious Blaise?"

He blinked at her for a moment, her words registering in his mercury eyes. He hadn't expected her to be the protagonist of his ingenious plan. "Yes," he finally said harshly, still glaring down at her. "And you want to know why? Because she's nothing like you. She's everything you'll never be, you little brat, and-"

His tirade of insults ended abruptly when a loud smack echoed through the room, as Ginny's flat palm connected hard with the soft flesh of his cheek. He gaped wordlessly, stretching his jaw to make sure it was still connected and touching the swelling skin, angered that she had slapped him and grudgingly in admiration that she had the courage to do so.

Ginny stepped back, hurt flashing across her face as her eyes swelled with tears she didn't want to even form. This was Malfoy, after all. Expecting anything humane coming from Draco was really too much to ask, Ginny told herself, silently berating herself for the kiss that had happened that morning, more for actually enjoing it. "Consider me gone," she said shortly, trying to hide her crestfallen expression. "I'll be back in a week, even though I never want to see your ferret face again." Choking back a sniffle, she turned on her heel and fled.

Silently, he watched her leave, satisfied that he had finally pushed her away. But if anyone else had been watching, they'd have seen something else in the murky gray depths of his eyes.

Pain.

~End of Chapter 7

A/N* AHHH ITS TURNING ANGSTY!

Acknowledgements at the end because SOME PEOPLE (hint hint vicky even tho I luv u) don't like them at the beginning.

Btw aj ~ haha sorry to disappoint you, but there's going to be some heavy H/Hr/R in the next chapter lol . . . but don't worry, its still a DG fic which means that a majority will be Draco/Ginny, but I figure that since I brought the infamous trio into the first chapter, they have to reappear sometime, right? Vivaciously ~ oui, je regrette, it is a DG fic (as you've probably figured out by now) Vicky ~ less dialogue, sorta? Joycie ~ don't forget, we are so going to corrupt him Beth ~ Wish we coulda had DM day! Kristie ~ good luck with your surgery, thanks for all your help ^_^

Muah to all my excellent reviewers

Hope you all had fun reading OoTP!