A/N: I had a really hard time with this chapter, mainly because I tried to make it all seem believable. But somewhere after the fourth page I just gave up so forgive me if it's OOC. Please, please review if you read this, I'm finding out more and more everyday that people read this and I never know.
Shameless Plug of the Week: My future fic, (also D/G if you want more) 'Too Late', has six chapters and I think 12 reviews. I love this fic a lot, but I would love for some more comments. If you could just have a look see? *pleading puppy eyes* Please??
lol, onwards!
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"All right, enough with the…just enough," Hermione said, standing up. Ginny and Draco looked at her, both looking annoyed that she had interrupted. "Ginny, what's wrong with you?" Ginny laughed, a cold laugh that didn't match her fiery hair and previously warm personality.
"You mean what was wrong with me," she said, making it quite clear that the subject was closed. Hermione sighed, brushing her hair out of her eyes, and sat down.
"Just leave her alone, she'll snap out of it soon," Hermione whispered to Harry and Ron. "I'll look in my books to see if it's a spell." They nodded and Hermione cracked open a book. Ginny rolled her eyes and turned back to Draco.
"I need to talk to you," she said simply. He raised an eyebrow.
"Ok. Talk."
"Alone." Ron looked up sharply.
"I am NOT about to let you go off with him alone," he said with great disgust. Ginny glared at him.
"Relax, I'm not about to snog him. In fact, I very well may curse him, so keep your gob shut," she replied. Draco was interested, however hard he tried to disguise it.
"Curse me? I highly doubt it," he said smirking. She smirked right back.
"Don't be so sure of yourself," she warned him pointedly.
"Fine. We'll talk. But not now," he agreed, opening his sketchbook again. Ginny tilted her head.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want to," he replied bluntly. She shrugged and sat next to Harry.
"Whatever." Ginny sighed in annoyance, tapping her boot against a beam. Harry looked at her strangely. She noticed his worried glance. "Not you too! Come on, I thought you'd be okay with this at least," she said, pleading with huge brown eyes.
"It's just not like you Ginny," he replied, his voice troubled. "I don't know what's up with you." Ginny grinned impishly.
"Well that's just half the fun!" she said giggling all of a sudden. "No one knows what I'll do next!" Meeting the skeptical looks of the people around her, she took out her wand. "Look, I'll prove it. You don't know if I'll do this-" Harry suddenly sprouted a magnificent mustache, "or this-" Hermione sprouted rabbit ears, "or this-" Draco suddenly had half his face painted in maroon, half in gold, "or th-" Harry grabbed her wand arm, now looking more angry than concerned.
"Change us back," he said in a low, dangerous voice. Ginny laughed again.
"Come off it, yours and his," she jerked her head towards the now enraged Draco (decked out in Gryffindor colors), "are completely fixable. All he needs is some water and you just need a razor." With a flick of her wand Hermione's ears were gone.
"Thank you," Hermione said stiffly, sounding disapproving and annoyed.
Ginny mocked a curtsey. "Yeah well, I knew if I didn't do it I'd have to look at you like that for the next hour or so." Draco turned to look at himself in the window and nearly had a heart attack.
"Get this…this filth off of me!" he said wildly, trying to smear it but finding it impossible.
"Oh oops- it has an Unsmearable Charm on it," she said giggling now. Pansy was looking at her with admiration.
"You know Weasley," she said getting up, "I may have underestimated you."
"Now that's a shocker," Ginny muttered.
"Shut up, I'm giving you a compliment," Pansy said, narrowing her eyes. "Just don't go rooting through my clothes next time! Conjure your own, you certainly seem capable." Ginny shrugged.
"Yeah I probably am," she reasoned, looking down at her wand happily. Draco, fuming, took out his wand and mumbled something. Silver and green replaced the maroon and gold.
"An improvement, but Unsmearable Paint nonetheless," he commented dryly. Hermione looked over and laughed, joined in by Ron.
"I must remember this," Ron exclaimed, grinning. For the moment, it looked like he had forgotten about his sister in the way he was sniggering at Malfoy. Draco, fuming, turned from the group so that his back was facing them.
"No fun," Ginny whined. "You didn't even curse or anything!" She sounded like a bored child wanting live entertainment. Meanwhile, Hermione was rooting frantically through her books, although in reality all she was doing was flipping through the pages randomly. Suddenly Draco turned around, his eyes narrowed at the smirking redhead across from him.
"What is this Weasley? You just woke up this morning and decided to completely change?" he asked, sounding menacing and icy as winter frost. For the first time since her grand entrance, Ginny looked unsure of herself.
"I-I just…" she faltered, holding the heart pendant of her necklace with her fingers anxiously. Pansy and Hermione's eyes widened as they tried desperately to telepathically tell her to buck up even though they knew it was impossible to get in her head like that. Ginny took a deep breath; everyone waited. "I'm fucking sick and tired of being treated like a three year old! 'Oh Ginny, you can't do that' or 'Oh Ginny, let Mummy plait your hair' or even 'Oh Ginny, you know you can't stay out late it's dangerous out there!'. It's crap, and if this is the only way I can let them see I'm 14 then so be it." Hermione and Pansy tried to conceal their surprise. That was one rant that Ginny had come up with completely on her own. Draco merely shrugged and turned back around.
"I figured," Ron said after a pause. "But you know Gin, if you'd just get back into jeans and trainers then I think I'd be in favor of more recognition," he offered, looking desperate to get his sister back to the way she was. Ginny narrowed her eyes.
"Do you want rabbit ears? I didn't think so." Five minutes went by with no sounds but Pansy humming, Hermione flipping pages and Draco sketching with his quill. It seemed as though everyone was thinking very hard about the recent events; this year was nothing like they thought it would be.
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Draco didn't know what was going on: first the Weaslette comes swaggering in leather, then Pansy was quiet for an entire fifteen minutes, and then the redhead had dragged him outside to 'talk and curse him senseless'. "The only reason I'm out here's because it's making your brother furious," Draco drawled, sitting on the grass. Ginny shrugged.
"As long as you're out here," she replied, sitting across from him Indian style. Draco smirked when he saw her slightly wince at the tightness of the leather pants.
"Leather isn't something to be taken lightly little girl," he remarked, looking at her with interest as her brown eyes seemed to lose their warmth and sparkle instantly. The new image, although unsettling to the stomach, was intriguing…Draco felt like he could get used to it.
"Let me just get this straight- I hate you," she informed Draco.
"Well most people do," he said.
"- and don't give a fig's wrinkles about what you think of me," she continued, pretending not to have heard his interruption.
"Then what is the point of this?" he asked impatiently, leaning back on his elbows looking bored. Jesus Christ this girl is persistent, he thought angrily.
Jesus Christ this guy is obnoxious, Ginny was thinking. This is ridiculous, I can't believe Hermione and Pansy talked me into this, what on earth am I thinking?!? "I can't do this!" she burst out unintentionally, meaning to keep it to herself. Draco fell, surprised at the outburst.
"God Weasley, what's your problem?" Ginny gulped and shook herself internally.
"You," she replied simply, trying to sound slightly seductive. Truth is, she had absolutely no expertise in that area as the only date she'd ever been on (if you could call it that) was the Yule Ball with Neville. Seduction just doesn't play a part on a date with Neville. Point in fact is that with Draco it did: and it worked.
"Me," he repeated, not sounding surprised.
"You plague my thoughts," Ginny said softly, trying to remember the speech Pansy had recited for her earlier. It was a battle she was determined to win.
"Excuse me?" Draco asked, taken aback.
"You heard me," Ginny shot at him, gleeful because Pansy had anticipated his reaction down to every last detail and had worked it into the speech. This won't be as hard as I thought, Ginny thought to herself happily, trying to ignore the voice screaming 'THIS CAN'T END WELL YOU FOOL!' "I can't get you out of my head." This put a Muggle tune into her head that Hermione sang to herself sometimes, and this annoyed Ginny, but she barreled on. "It's like…it's like everything I was ever warned against wants to take over, and you're at the top of the list. Invading my blood…my mind…my heart." Draco was as pale as a picket fence at this point.
"OK Weasel, this is creepy enough as it is," he said motioning to her outfit. Ginny, thinking very hard of all the people he had hurt, inched closer to him.
"Maybe," she said, "but isn't that what makes it interesting?" Becoming increasingly perplexed and edgy, Draco found himself rooted to the grass in a very un-Malfoy manner. Malfoys are never speechless, but if one had to describe his state then it would be just that. "Come on, don't tell me you never thought about it- Sneakoscopes never lie."
"I-"
"Shh…" Ginny cut in, putting (a very nervous) finger on his lips. Calming herself frantically, she took in a deep breath and brought her lips down to his.
Much to Draco's shock and dislike, the kiss was gentle and warm. He found himself wanting more, wanting to be holding her as she kissed him. Oh what the hell, he thought wildly, and began to respond to it. Ginny's eyes widened, unknown to Draco whose were closed, and then hid a smile: that was what she needed. She pulled away and a true malicious twinkle was in her eyes.
"Yeah right," she whispered venomously, although really quite unable to believe what she had done. "Do you really think you'd ever have a chance with me?" With one jaw drop of Draco's and a triumphant smirk of Ginny's, she sauntered back into the train carriage. "Mission accomplished," she muttered to herself as she slammed the door behind her. Pansy and Hermione looked up with a start, and grins appeared on their faces.
"Well?" Hermione asked, unable to suppress the curiosity.
"What?" Harry asked, looking at the three girls in confusion. Ron looked equally puzzled.
Ginny shrugged and grinned, wiping her hand on her mouth. "I did what I had to do." Pansy jumped up and, much to Ron and Harry's astonishment, gave her a huge hug.
"We finally put him in his place! Well done you," she squealed. Laughing, Hermione got up and joined the hug.
"What in the bloody blazes-" Ron began, but as cut off by Hermione.
"This time it won't just be a flippant remark from one of them," Hermione nodded towards Ron and Harry grinning. Everyone looked at her confusedly.
"Flippant Hermione?" Harry asked.
"Offhand, facetious," Hermione absently explained, sitting next to them.
"Facetious?" Ron looked even more puzzled.
"Teasing, not se- oh never mind."
"So what exactly did you do Ginny?" Harry asked, the expression of confusion still evident on his face. Ginny squirmed uncomfortably, noticing the stickiness of the leather to the seats with distaste.
"Nothing special." Ron looked like he didn't believe this, but it was Harry whose eyes widened in epiphany.
"Oh no," he began but Ginny cut him off, blushing furiously.
"It's no big deal, I'll use Listerine when we get to Hogwarts or something." Harry shook his head disapprovingly.
"Ginny, you really shouldn't have done that…and you agreed to this Hermione?" he asked incredulously.
"What's Listerine?" Ron asked, getting more and more frustrated by the minute.
"Mouthwash," Hermione explained, before clamping her hand over her mouth. Ginny groaned.
"Thank Hermione," she said, putting her head in her hands. Ron's blue eyes, normally jolly, turned into two twin pools of disgust.
"You let the foul-that foul thing put his- oh I can't even say it," Ron moaned.
"But it worked! He's miserable I swear!" Ginny squeaked, trying unsuccessfully to hide behind a broadly smirking Pansy (thoroughly amused at the show of brother protectiveness) and also attempting to quell the rising guilt within her.
But she wasn't just feeling guilty about kissing a Malfoy- she was miserable for hurting someone that badly.
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"Fucking tramp," Draco hissed angrily after Ginny had slammed the train door. "That no good fucking tease!" he growled, clenching his hands into fists. No one, especially a harmless Weasley pest, made Draco Malfoy look that bad. No doubt it would be all over school that Draco had kissed little Ginny Weasley, and no one would blame her because they'd think he forced himself upon her. No one would believe him if he said "But it was the other way around I swear!"
He sighed and put his hands in his pockets. It wouldn't even be that bad if she had got up and left without making any sort of impression; for example, if Pansy had done the same, he wouldn't give a fuck. But somehow, in some weird way, when Ginny Weasley slammed the door she had slammed something hard and painful into Draco's chest. Somewhere above his stomach, but he couldn't quite locate it. And he didn't like it.
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