Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
Chapter 14:
Morning After
Ginny woke up slowly, the way one does from a particularly restful sleep or on a morning when the promise of complete leisure hangs heavily in the air. Awareness seeped into her little by little and she lied there for long moments in a sense of utter contentment, not daring to open her eyes or even to move lest that feeling fade. She hadn't slept in ages, it seemed, and she wasn't willing to let the sensation go just yet.
It was a rare, blissful sort of peace – something she didn't experience often in a house full of siblings and a room full of fifth years. She hadn't gotten enough sleep, of course, to make up for all that she'd missed and she would be exhausted later as she had been since her first restless night, but for now she was feeling pleasantly energized.
Even before her bout of insomnia, Ginny couldn't remember ever sleeping so well. Though, she had woken once – the fire had been left to burn, and with all the windows shut the room had become overly stuffy. She had only stayed awake long enough to peel off her robe and marvel briefly at how spectacularly the moonlight shone on Draco's hair – Draco!?
Her eyelids snapped up faster than the wings of a golden snitch and she was suddenly aware of a quiet laughter sounding behind her.
Swiftly propping herself up on her elbows, she turned to find Draco sitting up and… and laughing. Draco. Laughing. Ginny was beginning to wonder if she wasn't still sleeping.
What's so funny? She followed his line of vision. He was looking at her, just… well, not at her face. She glanced down at herself, cheeks burning. Of course – green pajamas.
She was suddenly more embarrassed about her state of dress, than waking up in his bed and only vaguely remembering how she had gotten there, but knowing with utmost certainty that she had somehow humiliated herself. All she could think to do now was find something to hide under….
Where had she left her robes? Her eyes alighted on a crumpled pile of black amidst the green of the floor rug, and she went for it. Or, rather, she would have, if Draco hadn't second-guessed her and grabbed her around the waist to pull her back towards him just to spite her.
She couldn't hold in a squeak as a mad scramble for the article of clothing began. Draco was the victor. He stood with the robe held triumphantly in his arms, the bed like a barrier between them.
Ginny narrowed her eyes, though really she wasn't very angry. "Draco – you give that back!"
One side of his mouth drew upwards as he shook his head. "I don't think I will."
"I can't walk around all day like this," she told him, holding out her arms to indicate her clothing.
"Not even for me?"
"You're ridiculous." She folded her arms as if to somehow prove her point.
He just shrugged noncommittally and pulled his wand out, seemingly from nowhere. A spell poured from his lips, though not one she recognized, and the tip of his wand tapped the black fabric of her robe. It didn't occur to her to try and stop him until he was finished and a pair of dark penny-loafers dangled from his hands.
Quite by accident just then, Ginny's mouth fell open. Without her wand, she couldn't turn them back…
"You did not just do that," was all she could think to say. Inwardly, Ginny winced. She was just inviting sarcasm with that one.
Draco's expression turned bemused. "Well, that was inane." He could have done much worse…. "But, hey, if you decide to stomp my feet with these, you probably won't send me to the hospital wing."
She stared at him in utter silence for a drawn out moment before snorting into her hand. The sound quickly became full-out laughter, and she drew closer to him as she pressed her palm harder over her mouth in vain.
"You're still sore about that!" she giggled, taking the loafers from his hands and unaware of why that was so amusing. "I'd almost forgotten!"
"Yeah, well, you weren't the one limping up several flights of stairs," he said, giving her a half-lidded stare.
"That's true… well alright, I won't step on your feet anymore. Now, change them back."
"I don't feel like it."
Ginny frowned at him. "I can't walk back to the common room in my nighties!"
"They'll turn back, you know," said Draco, rather pointedly.
"I can't wait around all –" she paused in mid-sentence as a more pressing matter occurred to her "– Merlin! What time is it?" Ginny's eyes flew to the window. It was light out. Too light.
The realization that it might not be early morning seemed to stop Draco in his tracks as swiftly as it did Ginny. He blinked at the question, and then darted over to his desk. She watched him pull a pocket-watch out of the drawer. His eyes widened and she heard him curse under his breath – not a good sign.
"Well?"
"It's almost one," he said, "Lunch will be over in… roughly twenty minutes."
"You're kidding."
"Of course. I enjoy lying to people about ridiculous things."
Ginny leveled her gaze at him and then, deciding it wasn't worth it to comment on his remark, held up the loafers. "Change them back."
She wasn't sure what she had been expecting when she said that, but she wasn't overly surprised when Draco merely glanced from her face to the slippers and back and said, "No," like a petulant child.
She groaned, wondering if all hope was lost when she spied the bureau on one side of the room and found that it wasn't. If she couldn't have her own robes…
Ginny picked one up from where a multitude of identical black school robes sat folded on a shelf, all with the Slytherin house symbol proudly attached on the left breast. She slipped it on, acutely aware of the scent of Cyprus and blackberries – something she had come to associate with Draco, though she'd never seen him around anything of the sort.
"Would you like a matching scarf while you're at it?" Draco asked from somewhere behind her. He sounded genuine, but she knew he was being sardonic.
"No, thank you," she replied. When she turned around he looked her up and down appraisingly. Her cheeks heated for no reason that she could think of.
"You could almost pass for a Slytherin like that."
She gave him a shy little smile. He was only teasing her, but his eyes were so… warm when he said that.
"Oh, highest of praises." Ginny dropped the loafers onto the floor and slid her socked feet into them. She had neglected to put on any shoes when she left her dorm last night, so at least carting her former robes around wouldn't be a problem. She cinched Draco's robes tighter around her frame to hide the distinguishing features of her pajamas. "Alright then, go see if there's anyone in your common room."
His eyes rolled up to the ceiling, but he slipped out the door without comment and returned a moment later, holding it open for her.
"No one's there; now get out of here – I've got to dress too, you know."
It was only then that she appreciated the fact that he was wearing only a black t-shirt and loose sweatpants beneath that robe. Draco had pajamas. Who knew?
"I love you too, dear," she deadpanned in response to his rush to be rid of her presence.
Draco just grinned at her. Well, alright, that wasn't all he did…
After a few moments Ginny was out the door, looking only a bit rumpled and heading down the hall in a state of heady pleasure. She licked the taste of him from her lips and sped up, smiling absently.
At the moment Harry was fairly annoyed with Ron and Hermione. Usually they left him out of their bickering; he didn't want any part of it and as long as they didn't make him choose sides and made up with each other eventually, they could have their own civil war if they wanted.
He didn't like to see them fight, certainly, but after six years of close friendship, he had accepted their squabbling as a way of life. As long as they were all still best mates in the end, he was alright with it. And if that was a little selfish, then so be it.
This time, however, they were bloody attacking each other and he was getting caught in the crossfire. Not pleasant.
Can't they just get along?! Harry paused to blink when he realized how much that sounded like something out of a Mr. Rogers program.
Well, they were fighting again, at any rate, and he didn't want to be around either one of them at the moment so here he was. Alone in the common room at lunch, working his way through the manual that came with his broom-servicing kit. Kind of sad, sure, but he was feeling unsocial in general. Whether or not that was a result of Ron and Hermione's verbal fight-to-the-death match was difficult to tell.
From outside he heard someone blurt out the password and he looked up as the portrait swung open and Ginny stepped in, looking a little the worse for wear. When she spotted him she stopped and stared in the very same way he had seen a deer do once on some nature program right before it got rammed by a car… well, okay, maybe it hadn't been a nature program, but he had still seen it.
"H-Harry! Hi!" she smiled, folding her arms over her breasts a little too quickly for it to have been natural.
She was obviously up to something… she looked somewhat embarrassed actually. Well, whatever it was it was probably nothing dangerous. Ginny was the last person he would suspect to be involved in anything… untoward.
"Hey, Ginny," he tossed out casually.
"What are you doing here?"
Harry smiled and made a sweeping gesture towards the Firebolt across his lap. "Just tuning it up."
"Oh… well, I'd best be going – I left some books in the dorm… See ya, Harry!"
And she was gone. He frowned after her for a moment.
Was that a Slytherin badge he'd seen…?
Nah…Harry shook his head and was about to turn back to his previous occupation when the clock chimed suddenly. He glanced at it and began to put away his work with speed. How had it become so late without his noticing? Lunch was over – if he didn't get going now, he'd be late to Transfiguration.
Just as he was at the door, Harry spared a glance towards the girls' dorms. Well, Ginny was probably aware of the time anyway, and he couldn't even get in the dorm to tell her if he wanted… He shrugged and was out the door.
It was a Wednesday; the middle of the week and but a period after lunch. It was a time when students ought to be rambunctious and energized from their forty minute freedom. But one student was not, quite the opposite, actually.
Minerva couldn't help but glance towards Ginny Weasley as she strolled down the rows of desks, looking over the student as they worked. Her flaming hair was looking a bit unkempt, her uniform a little wrinkled, her pale skin accentuated by the dark smudges beneath her eyes. The poor dear looked as if she might drop out of her seat any second. Was she ill, perhaps?
Minerva shook her head. That couldn't be it. Most students would be begging sick leave if they had even a cold… A snippet of conversation rose in her mind and Professor Trelawney's voice spoke in her ear.
"…sleeplessness and resulting fatigue are all observable symptoms of this blessing – of course that is only if the two are not in the vicinity of one another…"
No. That couldn't be it. Yes, Albus had told the staff to keep a closer eye on the students in case they exhibited any of the signs, but… Well, she wasn't about to believe such ridiculousness! Sibyll couldn't even tell where this 'star-crossed' pair supposedly lived, much less who they were. All she could say was that the two were young wizards. And since there was really nothing they could do even if they did know who it was the staff had merely been put on alert in case the two in fact did exist, and did attend Hogwarts. All they could really do for the pair was inform them of the situation, make them more comfortable, etc.
It all seemed like a load of hog-wash to her. Still… if Albus believed it…
Minerva paused. She had come to Ginny Weasley's seat. The girl was having trouble turning a lizard into a cushion – and that should have been a third year spell! Normally Ginny was adept at nearly all transfigurations, but if she could hardly even complete the review for her O.W.L.'s then something had to be wrong.
After a few more tries the lizard became a downy green throw pillow, while the girl looked perhaps a little less green herself, though still apparently exhausted. Minerva watched as Ginny planted her face in the cushion and closed her eyes, seemingly unaware of her Professor's presence.
Minerva was about to inquire after her student's health when the door to her classroom swung open and Draco Malfoy strode into the room as if he owned the place – not that that was saying anything. He always had that superior sort of air about him and though teacher really weren't supposed to form biased opinions about their students his arrogant gait tended to make her think a bit lower of him.
Not that she thought particularly highly of him in the first place… He was a rule-breaker, a rude character in general, and a Slytherin to boot – he was also currently holding out a piece of paper, clearly expecting her to take it.
Minerva took the note soundlessly and read it over, then frowned.
Apparently Ginny had been late to Potions… as well as missing all of her morning classes. Perhaps she was ill after all. And she now had a detention for it – which Severus had decided to hand off to her on the claim that he was too busy. She barely refrained from snorting out loud. As if she wasn't.
But she would take it anyway. She didn't have it in her to leave one of her Gryffindors at the mercy of their dreaded potions master. She spelled her answer onto the paper, the lettering pouring from her wand into an elegant script.
Minerva nodded curtly to herself as she folded the note and waited for Draco to retrieve it from her outstretched hand… and waited, and waited, and waited…
"Mr. Malfoy?"
He glanced up quickly from where his attention had previously been directed – which happened to be in Ginny Weasley's general direction, but he had no reason to look at her so Minerva dismissed it – and snatched the paper from her hand as if to make up for lost time.
"Yes?" He sounded rather weary, and now that she had a closer view of him, he looked it too. Perhaps something was going around?
"Take this back to your classroom please."
Draco just nodded, yawning as he left the room. At the same time she heard Ginny – who had sat up at some point during the visit – muffle another behind her hands.
Minerva couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
Ginny was serving detention with her tonight. If she noticed any further oddities, Minerva decided, she would alert the headmaster…
But not because she believed in any of Trelawney's rubbish. She was simply concerned for her student. It was probably nothing more than a passing illness.
A/N: Just to be clear: I HATE this chapter!! Ok… moving on…I KNOW this was incredibly, unforgiveably late, but… please don't hate me!! Agh… I think I'm just going to stop apologizing for my late chapters because… they're always late somehow. And school started a few days ago…. Yeah, on to the reviews – of which I'm not answering very many (I'm sorry! No time!):
Black_Dots: Huh… I didn't know that about the w's… anyway, I read your review and… I just have one thing to say; so… much… praise!!! I felt so warm and fuzzy inside… but it made me really nervous about this chapter… I don't think this one lives up to all the other ones, and I don't know why, so I can't fix it… and on top of that this chapter took _way_ too long to get out… Sigh… *tearfully watches temple crumble into a pile of rubble*… oh well, there's always next chapter (which is slowly but surely becoming my new motto…)
xXxmandyxXx: Actually, I was a fluff machine before this -.-; You should see some of my other stuff… sigh… I can't help it…
Yami's Girl Forever: Hey! That's what I think they should be like too! They annoy each other, but deep down they're really in love… eh… but maybe it's getting too fluffy for that? I dunno…
Queen of Night: Eh? Something in your throat? *ahem* Anyway, I'm sorry if you don't like the fluffiness… there's gonna be more *makes a face*… but still plenty of bickering!
Karen1: Yeah, that's pretty much it… they can only sleep around each other… haha… maybe it's a little weird, but it made sense when I came up with it…
Souten: Yay! You like the owl! If I had an owl, I'd want it to be like Lewelyn… he's just fun… but anyway, glad you like!
Bulma Greenleaf: Yes. I am terrified of your cute deadly dragons… *cringes in fear* especially since I _did_ notice that was a threat… Ah! Dragons!! *runs and hides*